Since urban sprawl is such a noticeable part of today's American landscape, students may already be familiar with many of the characteristics of sprawl and the issues that accompany it. In this lesson, they will investigate how sprawl impacts the environment, people's daily lives, and the local and regional economy. Students will draw mental maps to illustrate their impressions of modern suburbs, and view maps and aerial photos of a nineteenth century town that has recently become a modern suburb. They will conclude by researching and reporting on the sprawl situation in a nearby metropolitan area.

Geography

Standard 2: "How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context"
Standard 12: "The processes, patterns, and functions of human settlement"
Standard 18: "How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future"

Three to five hours

• Computer with Internet access
• Writing and drawing materials

Students will

• read and discuss an article excerpt about sprawl;
• draw mental maps of a fictitious sprawling suburb;
• analyze pictures and text about a suburb that has experienced sprawl;
• visit a virtual New Urbanist suburb and list and discuss the ways that this suburb and its sprawling counterpart affect the environment, people's daily lives, and the local and regional economy; and
• research and write reports on the sprawl situation in their own area.

Have students read the excerpt from the National Geographic magazine article about urban sprawl.

Discuss the issues that arise in this excerpt. In particular, pose these questions to the class:

• Why does Spellmire lease his land?
• What does Spellmire say is wrong with Warren County's zoning codes?
• What irony does Spellmire observe in the new residents' attitudes toward his farm?

Ask students if they are familiar with the word "sprawl" as it relates to urban and suburban development. If so, what do they think the word means? What examples of sprawl have they seen?

Have students read the characteristics of sprawl and traditional urban centers and villages, under the headings "Sprawl is typically characterized by..." and "Sprawl is distinct from..." Discuss these characteristics; have students seen examples of them?

Ask students to imagine this scenario:

A small town was established in the late 19th century. It was located about twenty-five miles from a major city. Since the trip to the city was too long for people to make on a daily basis, the town was self-sufficient and did not consider itself a suburb.

With the opening of a freeway between this town and the city in the 1960s, some people began to use the town as a "bedroom community." Within the last decade, the town has experienced a huge influx of people from the central city and other suburbs. Many new subdivisions have been developed, along with shopping malls and "business parks."

Ask students to sketch maps of this town as they think it would look today. Their maps should show street patterns and types of available transportation (e.g., bus routes, light rail tracks, or major "feeder roads").

Discuss students' mental maps as a class. In what ways do they reflect the characteristics of sprawl students have read about?

Have students use MapMachine to create maps of Louisville, Colorado. They should enter "Louisville, CO" in the Find a Place box. Then, have them select "Street Maps" on the left side of the page, and zoom in and out on the Denver metro area to find the location and the relative position of Louisville, as well as its basic layout. They can also choose other types of maps to learn more. [Note: To save time, you can download this street map for them, print it out, and make copies for the class.]

What do students notice about this town's street pattern? They should notice that it has a central grid pattern surrounded by streets that twist and wind. Many of these outer streets end up in cul-de-sacs. They will also notice several large roads which surround most of the town but divide parts of the outermost areas.

Explain that Louisville is an older town on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. It was incorporated in 1882. Over the past few years, a good deal of land in this area along the road between Denver and Boulder has been developed into new suburban residential areas, "business parks," and shopping malls. Thus, the older grid pattern is surrounded by the twisting and winding residential cul-de-sacs that have become popular places to live.

Ask students to compare what they have seen in the Louisville maps to the mental maps they created. Did they have an accurate idea of what an older town that's become a sprawling suburb looks like?

Discuss as a class the possible impacts of sprawl on the environment, people's daily lives, and the local and regional economy. What do they think might be the impacts of recent suburban developments on these factors?

Have students make charts with three columns and four rows. Ask them to label the second column "Sprawl" and the third column "Traditional." Ask them to label the second through fourth rows "Environment," "Daily Lives," and "Economy."

Have students take a tour through National Geographic's "New Suburb" to see examples of sprawl and what modern planners call "New Urbanism." Explain that New Urbanism is a movement to develop modern suburbs that resemble older city centers and towns.

As students go through this online feature, ask them to fill in their charts to show the impacts of sprawl versus traditional (or New Urbanist) town design on the environment, people's daily lives, and the economy.

Discuss students' charts as a class. You might want to have them compare the things they have found in the New Suburb to this list of the impacts of sprawl.

Ask students, either in groups or individually, to research the sprawl situation in their metropolitan area or in a metropolitan area in their part of the country. They should also research the national sprawl situation to find out more about the issue in general.

These Web sites will be helpful:

Congress for the New Urbanism (This site has a good slide show "Tour.")
Sierra Club Sprawl Campaign (Link to Reports; most of these reports have ratings and information about sprawl in the individual states.)
Sprawl Guide
Sprawl Watch Clearinghouse (Link from the drop-down menu to "In the States," and select your state.)

Also check out your local newspaper's Web site.

As they go through the sites, students should take notes to answer these questions:

• What are the primary economic, political, environmental, and social arguments against sprawl?
• What is New Urbanism? How effective has it been so far?
• Which parts of your metropolitan area (or the one you've chosen to study) provide examples of sprawl?
• Why has sprawl occurred in these areas?
• What have been some of the impacts of sprawl in these areas?
• What discussions, if any, have been held among citizens or politicians concerning how the effects of sprawl can be lessened and how sprawl can be curtailed in future development?
• What do you think should be done about the sprawl situation in this area? Do you think it's really a big problem, or are things okay as they stand now?

Have students write "sprawl reports" for the metropolitan area they have researched. Their reports should address the questions above.

Have students undertake a sprawl photojournalism project. Ask them to use digital or regular cameras to take pictures of sprawl scenes in their area. Then have them write captions to accompany their photographs and create a sprawl exhibit in the classroom. Their project should attempt to answer these questions:

• Where does sprawl exist?
• What does sprawl look like?
• Is sprawl a big problem?

Congress for the New Urbanism
National Geographic Magazine: The American DreamUrban Sprawl
National Geographic: Virtual WorldThe New Suburb?
Sierra Club Sprawl Campaign
Sprawl Guide
Sprawl Watch
Suburban Sprawl Slide Show
Vermont Forum on Sprawl