Activities
A. Direction, orientation and measurement and scale of Maps
Method: I will demonstrate basic concepts such as North, how to take measurements and create a scale, creating angles using North on the compass and graphically representing a physical space on the high school campus.
In the computer laboratory, we will use Google Earth(r) to navigate using the web views of the earth and locate Capital High School
I will divide the class into 3-4 teams. Each team will take a segment of a physical space and represent it on graph paper.
Resources:
Compasses
Tape measure
Graph paper
Pencils
Computer Lab and Google Earth(r) browser
B. History as a Map of Change
Method:
- Using maps, the class will do quick notes on:
- "What is important to people in this map?"
- "What do you think is the map maker's point of view?"
- "Why did he or she have this point of view?"
- "What is important to him or her?"
- "What is important to the people represented in this map?" "What is important to you on this map, and why?"
- "What changes are reflected over time on these maps?"
- "What is the date of this map?"
- "What languages, symbols are used on this map. Why?"
Resources
- Maguey Plan Map 1564
- Lewis and Clark Exploration map of the Northwest Passage
- Civil War maps: Production of cotton, Ownership of Slaves, Wealth in the late 1860's
- Imperial Federation Map showing the extent of the British Empire in 1886
- North American Indian Cultures: A Legacy of Language and Inspired Ideas" National Geographic map 2006
- "The Population Map" 2007
- "What's Up South? World Map"
- Peter's World Map 1974
- Rand McNally Atlas of US History 2006
C. Symbolic Map of the Student's community
Method:
Teacher and students summarize the symbols found in previous maps in Activity B on large poster sheets
Each student will read the articles "Maps aren't just the geography of place" and "We Don't Need no Stinking Maps"
We will play the game Santa Fe "Monopoly Board game" to learn the importance of real estate, the concept of purchasing, mortgaging and paying interest. We will learn about economic activities relating to property ownership, mortgages, buying and selling property.
In groups of 3-4 students will come up with appropriate symbols in the following categories: Teen interests, Jobs, Schools, Roads, Stores, Restaurants, Property,
Next, each student will draw his/her own "map" using symbols of their community, their family and their environment. Students will make a legend and decide importance, scale and relative importance of the symbols they use.
Each student will present, describe his/her symbolic map
Resources
- Poster Paper
- Colored Markers
- Santa Fe Monopoly Board Game
D. Poverty Seminar
Method:
Teacher presents a graphic that states: What Don't You Have If You Are Poor? Discussion highlights responses include both tangibles (job, education) intangibles (friends, self-confidence). Teacher discusses the converse of poverty: wealth (money, property, labor income, bank accounts, investments, education and health).
We will learn and make flash cards to define and learn geographic, economic and social terms used in making maps:
- Population
- Ethnic Group
- Racial Group
- Native lands
- Rural and Urban
- Population Growth Rate
- Property
- Capital
- Investment
- Per Capita Income
- GDP/GNP
- Factors of Production: land labor and capital
- Agricultural production
- Forests and types of environments
- Technology and innovation
- Landlocked
- Topography: water, mountains, coastal shoreline, lakes etc.
Students learn to measure poverty using US Census data and Sach's economic ladder of development.
Groups of 3-4 students do math calculations of how maps take aggregate numbers of income to calculate per capita income and percent of poverty
Students examine "Poverty in America: A growing way of Life" Tony Pugh, McClatchy Newspapers, April 2007 to see how statistics form the basis for economic maps.
Teacher presents 4 selected maps of the US: Poverty by State, Poverty by County in New Mexico and Poverty Distribution by race (Hispanic, Black and American Indian). Students identify the five major regions of poverty in the US and the correlation with race (US Mexico border, Appalachia, the Rural South and the Four Corners). Discussion on why poverty exists in those regions.
Students study the US minimum wage. They investigate "How it became $9.50 in Santa Fe?" They listen to the PBS broadcast on "Janitors for Justice and Illegal Immigrants. " Discussion of how City Council and employer decisions are made about minimum wage.
Students are given a grid for Internet study of selected US States (New Mexico, California and one other of their choice for comparison) and developing countries.
Students do "fill in the blank maps" of Africa, Asia. They develop words or symbols to represent agricultural crops, industry, natural resources such as streams, rivers, large cities and regions in developing countries: Mexico, Bolivia, Kenya, India and/or China.
Resources
- The End of Poverty 2005
- Magruder's American History 2005
- Vocabulary for Social Studies students NM Benchmarks
- Materials for flash cards
- Photocopies of the article "Poverty in America: A growing way of Life" Tony Pugh, McClatchy Newspapers, April 2007
- US Census Data Maps
- PowerPoint Presentation on US Census, Maps and Poverty 20078
- CIA Maps
- Blank maps of Africa, Asia and the Americas
- Blank maps of Mexico, Bolivia, Kenya, Poland, India, China and .the former Soviet Union
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