Urban greenspaces (UGS) play an important role in the well-being of communities. With guidance from a teacher, students can be empowered to lead and design a modern UGS that supports communities and biodiversity. This lesson plan was developed with students and their communities in mind to promote awareness of the benefits of UGS between health,…

Courses: Digital Storytelling, Community Journalism. Objectives: This course is designed to introduce students to basic concepts in digital storytelling and community journalism. "Immersed in urban oil" is an interdisciplinary project-based, community-engaged course focused on documenting the historical and contemporary oil…

The Minneapolis Green Zone Initiative was created in 2016 with the goal of "improving health and supporting economic development using environmentally conscious efforts in communities that face the cumulative effects of environmental pollution, as well as social, political and economic vulnerability" (Green Zone Initiative 2019). Two…

That primary source documents have the power to bring the past alive is no news to social studies teachers. What is new in the last 10 years is the number of digitized documents available online that teachers can download and use in their classrooms. Encouraging teachers to utilize this ever-increasing treasure trove of resources was the goal of…

Looking for social studies adventures to help students find connections to democratic citizenship? Look no further! This book provides just the answer teachers need for engaging students in field trips as researching learners with emphasis on interdisciplinary social studies plus skills in collecting and reporting data gathered from field…

A classroom activity to introduce students to the intrinsic and economic values of biodiversity.

Children are exposed to a wide variety of images related to New York City through various media outlets. They may have seen glimpses of Manhattan by watching movies such as Spiderman or Stuart Little or by taking in annual television events such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or the Times Square New Year's Eve celebration. Additionally,…

Suggests ideas for a teaching unit designed to help children learn about recreation, business and industry and shopping centers in urban areas. (CM)

Describes a garden project by elementary students in an urban school. Students chose to rehabilitate a courtyard area and have since created three separate gardens including a butterfly garden. The project was a collaborative endeavor involving parents and other community members working with students and their teachers. (DLH)

Reproduces a poem about an urban landscape by Jayne Cortez and reflects on how students are willing to tackle its complexities and its ideas about beauty. Finds that the poem is effective for a discussion of beauty among students. (PA)

This notebook serves as a guide for learning activities in environmental education. Twelve themes are treated in four groups: (1) sense of place includes history and landscape; (2) the natural environment covers air, water, energy, and landforms; (3) the built environment includes architecture, transportation, and housing; and (4) the social…

This paper describes a humanistic social geography course which emphasizes the exploration of the inner city area of Cincinnati, Ohio. Included is a description of the course's origins, goals, and methods. (JDH)

Presents an eight-step process for developing and presenting a supplementary unit to help students in grades 5-12 understand in greater depth the story of America's cities. (RM)

These materials discuss the history of Chicago, Illinois, including prominent persons in the city's past, and landmarks for which Chicago is well known. A number of activities are suggested, some of which concern Chicago's industries, historical sites, architecture, newspapers, ethnic groups, and history. A list of books about Chicago for…

This manual was written to accompany workshop curricular materials concerning the design and implementation of alternate forms of citizen participation mechanisms. The materials were prepared for use with management-level and pre-service personnel involved in urban management within a political environment. Three curricular modules are presented…