The idea for this lesson plan was inspired by Marie Loiselle of the Maharishi School in Fairfield, Iowa, who received a teacher grant from the National Geographic Education Foundation in support of a project called Geographic Learning and City Growth.

Since the dawn of human evolution, humans have migrated across continents in search of food, shelter, safety, and hospitable climate. People still move for these reasons, but new reasons for human migration are arising, such as job relocation and overpopulation.

This lesson will review the reasons humans move around the planet. It will then focus on migrations to and from communities, looking at the push/pull factors that lead to migration to and from certain regions. Students interview a person who migrated to the community; gather background information on the subject, including push/pull factors that motivated the person to move to the community; and create a written report or oral presentation with the results.

Geography, demography, history

Standard 1: "How to use maps and other geographical representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report, information from a spatial perspective"
Standard 9: "The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human population on Earth's surface"
Standard 12: "The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement"
Standard 16: "The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources"
Standard 18: "How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future"

Two to three hours

• Computers with Internet access
• Large piece of chart paper
• Blank Xpeditions outline map of the world
• Access to reference materials and sources related to the local community's history
• Drawing and writing materials

Students will

• use a map of human migration to think about their own potential migration and the reasons behind that decision;
• answer and discuss questions about migration in terms of their own community;
• explain migration in terms of push and pull factors;
• relate migration patterns to economic, political, social, and environmental factors; and
• research an individual who has migrated to their community and write a report about the person's background and motivation for moving into the community.

Ask students if they have ever lived somewhere else. Then ask if they remember moving, and if so, how they felt during and after their move to a new home (excited, sad, afraid, happy, bored). Have students share the reason (if they know, or want to share) why their family moved to their current home and how they felt about moving. Poll students and record the results. How many have lived in more than one place? How many have lived in a different city? State? Country? What were some of the reasons? How did students feel about moving to a new home? Locate North America on a map of the world Then ask students to look at the Atlas of the Human Journey which depicts when and where ancient humans moved around the world. As a class, guide students through each time period on the interactive map, and discuss how people did not move to North America until much later in history.

Then ask students to think about a place they might like to move to when they are older. Have students brainstorm a list of reasons why they think they would like to move there. Then discuss why they chose that location. What would be the downside of moving? Create a T-chart on the board and have them record the pros and cons of moving to a new location.

Then ask students to think about some of the reasons people might want to move to their state, city, or town. Possible answers could be related to the weather and climate, job opportunities, natural resources, the economy, culture, etc.

Ask students how they define migration, and keep track of their answers on a large piece of paper or poster board. Students' answers may relate to the migration of birds, butterflies, or other animals.

Activity 1: The Basics of Migration: A North American Perspective

Have students examine the Atlas of the Human Journey at National Geographic's Genographic Project, looking at the patterns of migration across the globe. Allow enough time for students to explore the text, images, and video clips presented for each time period depicted on the interactive map. Depending on your students, you may prefer to guide students through each screen of the interactive map. Next, discuss students' impressions of how people have moved from Africa to other parts of the world. When did people first migrate to North America? How did ancient people move from one part of the world to another? How long did it take? Why did they travel along the paths depicted on the map? Why does the map show more migration to the southern part of North America? Why would people have migrated to the south rather than the north? How is the migration shown on the Atlas of the Human Journey maps different from the movement of a family from one city (state, country) to another? (Students should understand that the map represents the movements of large groups of people, rather than just a family.)

Why do people move? Ask students to think about the reasons that people migrate. PBS provides this page with background information on human migration and the "push" and "pull" factors involved. Explain to students that people are sometimes "pushed" from their home to a new place, or that there are reasons for leaving their home. Other times, they are "pulled," or attracted to, a new home. Have students brainstorm a list of push and pull factors and write them on the board or chart paper. Then ask students for some real world examples of things that have pushed or pulled people away from or to North America, as well as to and from places within North America. Examples could include the westward expansion of the United States and Africans brought to America for slavery, as well as current examples, such as refugees. Discuss the differences between voluntary (e.g., moving to another country to look for work) and forced (e.g., displacement by a natural disaster) migration.

In small groups or with the whole class discuss the following questions:

• What are some different types of human movements?
• What are some patterns of migration in North America? In the United States?
• Why do students think the United States has a distinct pattern of regional movements? Do students think more people move from the north to the south or south to north? What about east to west and west to east movement? Why do they think this is so? What effect do a region's economy, climate, politics, and culture have on migration to and from the area?

Activity 2: The Basics of Migration: A Community Perspective

Using the Atlas of the Human Journey, have students review some of the possible motivations people have had for migrating to different places in North America. Have students brainstorm and discuss some possible reasons that whole groups or even communities of people might move to another location. Some historical examples include environmental disasters such as "Love Canal," or the loss of industry in an area, that cause people to look for work in another part of the country. Then have small groups of students investigate their own community's history by conducting research using historical documents, newspaper articles, photographs, and other documents. You may wish to collect these resources in advance and make them available in the classroom, or arrange for a class field trip. Some possible places to look include the public library, a town or city historian, local museums, and newspaper archives. Have students brainstorm a list of community members to interview—people who could share information about patterns of movement to and from the community as well as personal histories. During their research, have students seek information about the motivations (push/pull factors) that caused people to move in and out of the community. Some possible questions include:

• What push factors have students identified? Have there been major disasters in the community? (Such as a flood, outbreak of disease, a chemical spill) Have any large employers or industries left the area? (The town once had a major mining or agricultural industry, for example)
• What pull factors have students identified? Have groups of people come to the community for some reason, such as a warm climate, cultural resources, job opportunities, etc

When students have completed their research, have them create and share presentations that depict migration to and from their community. Have students draw pictures that show these push/pull factors and then explain their drawings to the class.

Discuss with students some of the reasons that it's important to look at migration. Why do different communities have different push/pull factors? How does that make a place unique? What can we learn about ourselves from this kind of information? Why is it important to preserve and pass on this information for future people?

Ask students to interview a person in the community who migrated in one form or another (e.g., emigrated from another country, moved from another state, or moved from a rural area to an urban area or vice versa). Have them develop a series of questions to gather background information on the subject as well as push/pull factors that motivated the person to move to the community, and then present the results to the class.

After all students have presented their reports, have students compare and contrast information. What are some similarities among the people interviewed? Differences? What trends do students notice? What are some reasons people have moved to the community? On the board, make a list of the push/pull factors students identified during their community interviews. How does this information compare to what they learned previously about migration to their community? Have students reexamine their earlier definitions of migration. Do they think their definition was accurate? How is migration different from just moving to a new home? How is it similar to moving to a new home? Have the class come up with a definition of migration.

In their small groups, have students create a map of community migration, modeled on the Atlas of the Human Journey map, but focused on the migrations to and from their community and what they've learned in their interviews and research. Students should be sure to include on their maps:

• the path people have taken to and from the community (to/from other cities, states, countries)
• explanatory text
• the dates of the migration being represented

• Have students create an imaginary immigrant character living somewhere in the world today. Ask them to write and illustrate a series of journal entries describing their family background, reasons for leaving their home, journey to a new place and their experiences upon arrival.
  
  
• Have students photograph (or sketch if cameras are not available) people and places that represent the migration into the community. Examples could include an ethnic community such as a "Chinatown," ethnic grocery stores, a "Jewish Community Center," street signs, signs in other languages, etc. Have students brainstorm locations and people first, and be sure to get permission to take photographs in businesses, libraries, etc. Then have students label photographs with the dates, places, and short descriptions of the migrations represented by each. Compile all the photographs into an album or wall display.
  
  
• Have students research migration patterns across the United States and North America and create maps similar to their community maps using a blank map from Xpeditions.

Geographical Mobility: Population Characteristics
Migration Policy Institute: Migration Information Source
National Geographic Magazine: Changing America
National Geographic News: Forecast Sees Halt to Population Growth by End of Century
Population Reference Bureau
US Census Bureau
United Nations Population Division
University of California, Davis: Migration Dialogue