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Overview:
This lesson introduces students to the various ways that public lands are valued, used, and managed in the United States. Students will compare and contrast different types of public lands, then simulate the decision-making and communication involved in converting private land to public land, taking into consideration the location, terrain, and climate of the land, as well as the needs and desires of the region's residents. Students will imagine that they are able to bequeath a parcel of land to their state for public use, then create an argument for the best use of the property.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, math, government
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 1: "How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective"
Standard 13: "How the forces of cooperation and conflict among people influence the division and control of Earth's surface"
Standard 14: "How humans modify the physical environment"
Standard 18: "How to apply geography to interpret the present and plan for the future"
Time:
Three to four hours
Materials Required:
Objectives:
Students will
- compare and contrast the characteristics of various public lands, including national forests, wilderness areas, national parks, national wildlife refuges, national recreation areas, national monuments, and national landscape monuments;
- consider the best use for pieces of public land in their state; and
- create a proposal to persuade legislators and the public about the best use for a hypothetical piece of public property by emphasizing its cultural, economic, and environmental values.
Geographic Skills:
Asking Geographic Questions
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Begin by asking students to think of places they have seen on vacations, on television, in photographs, or in movies. As they are conjuring up those images, ask them to think of the ways the land is used at each of these locations and generate a list on the board. Possible responses may include extracting natural resources from forests or bays, growing and harvesting crops on farms, building or developing homes and businesses in towns and cities, preserving beaches and parks for recreation purposes or for aesthetics, and leaving natural ecosystems alone.
Ask students if they know who decides how land is used. Explain the difference between privately owned lands and public lands. Tell them that during this lesson they will be examining the problems and challenges associated with converting private land to public land.
Print out the definitions for public land designations. Distribute copies of this information to each student. Have students work in pairs to analyze two types of public lands, choosing from national forests, wilderness areas, national parks, national wildlife refuges, national recreation areas, national monuments, and national landscape monuments. Distribute copies of a blank Venn diagram, or have them draw their own. Have students use the Venn diagram to note the similarities and differences between the two types of public lands. Once the pairs have completed their comparisons, develop a list of the common characteristics of all the types of public lands on the board. Then list the unique characteristics of each.
Ask the students their opinions about how governments should decide the purposes and uses for particular pieces of land. Explain that they will have an opportunity to be the decision-makers regarding a hypothetical parcel of public land.
Development:
Prior to this lesson, identify four or five parcels of undeveloped land in your state. If possible, try to select parcels with varying terrain and location. Organize students into four or five small groups. Provide each group with a map of your state, indicating the group's assigned parcel of land. Explain that each group of students represents a family that owns a large parcel of land and wishes to generously donate it to the state. The group is charged with determining the best usage for the land and presenting its plan to state legislators and residents.
Have students begin by identifying characteristics of their assigned land, including the terrain, climate, and location. Is the land in a city, a suburb, or a rural area? Is the area surrounding it residential, commercial, or undeveloped? Are there public lands nearby? What roads provide access to this land? Are there forests, fields, creeks, or rivers on the property? What type of vegetation is found on the property? What wildlife lives in this area? Are there any buildings already on the property?
Once the groups have familiarized themselves with their property, conduct a brainstorming session about possible uses for the public lands. Their ideas might include the following:
Preserve its natural environment. Setting up natural preserves on the land with limited human intrusion would allow native species to return, preserve the land's biodiversity, and benefit the health of the inhabitants of the entire surrounding area.
Create a park for recreation. Designating the land as a national or state park would guarantee open spaces for hiking, swimming, and other outdoor activities, and would provide the community with a safe and scenic place to convene.
Create a cultural center. Designating the land as a historical landmark would allow the land to be used as an education center. Museums, statues, and preserved historic buildings could teach visitors about the history and ecology of the community.
Allow businesses to develop. Allowing development on the land could raise revenue and help revive the community's economy. Casinos, golf courses, a city mall, or even a new sports stadium could be
built.
Develop the site for the military. Giving the land to the U.S. military would provide resources for homeland security or other government operations.
Give each group adequate time to decide how it thinks its land should be used. Have the groups develop a proposal to the state's legislature that outlines what they believe is the best use of the land. Proposals should include a description of the property, a map of the space, and an argument for the proposed plan.
Closing:
Explain to students that prior to presenting their plan to the state legislature they need to gain the endorsement of supporters. Have each group present its plans to the rest of the class. The class members can represent various parties (e.g., neighboring communities or environmentalists) as they question and challenge the proposal. Once each group has presented its proposal to the class, discuss the challenges each group faced in getting approval from the rest of the community. Discuss what might happen next in the process. Who would have the final decision about the property?
Suggested Student Assessment:
Have each group write or act out a public service announcement (PSA) for a local newspaper, television station, or Web site advocating its plan for the land. The PSA should convince the audience that the plan is in the best interest of the people and makes the best use of the land in its natural form.
Extending the Lesson:
- Stage mini-debates between economic developers and open-space environmentalists. Give each side time to develop as many reasons as possible for developing land for residences or businesses, or for keeping space as public land. Invite teachers or administrators to act as judges and moderators as students discuss reasons for their positions.
- Have students create a brochure for their new public land. Include a map that shows locations of activities and natural features.
- Have the students look for other examples of land-use debates throughout the United States. Have them research a current or historical dispute in which different people value land for different reasons (for example, drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or raising entry fees to Yosemite National Park).
- Using their math skills, have students create a map to scale of their parcel of land.
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