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Content Area: Social Studies
Index: 6.6E Grade 12 CPI 8
Standard: 6.6 - Geography
Strand: E - Environment and Society
Cumulative Progress Indicator: 8 - The student will delineate and evaluate the environmental impact of technological change in human history (e.g., printing press, electricity and electronics, automobiles, computer, and medical technology)
Grade: 12
Sample Activities:
· Obtain a copy of Choices for the 21st Century, a unit on Global Environmental Problems developed by the Brown University Center for Foreign Policy Development. Prepare excerpts for study from this publication and empower students to explore the major global environmental problems and evaluate alternatives for U.S. foreign policy through role-play. Students then develop their own options for U.S. policy. In the process, they learn the distinctions between the industrialized, or developed, world and the nonindustrialized, or developing, world. (These comparisons can be obtained through other sources such as the World Bank, computer software, atlases, and the Population Reference Bureau). In the process, students develop an understanding of the effects of competition in the global economy and the relationship between national economic priorities and global environmental problems.
· With the assistance of the library media specialist, students consult encyclopedias, magazine indices, the Internet, and other resources to research examples of technological advancement. As they explore the issues surrounding one or two major technologies (preferably one from the past and one from recent times), students should begin to see connections between geography, history, culture, economics, and political forces. Discuss these connections with the class. This general topic, “The Environment and Technology,” presents opportunities for the development of thematic units combining several disciplines. For example, students can focus on issues surrounding the invention of the automobile.
· Prepare several readings for students selected from standard histories of automobile culture. After these readings have been assigned and discussed, the class brainstorms the ways the automobile has changed American culture and the physical environment from Henry Ford’s Model T invention in 1908 to the present time. Examples include changing housing patterns and the development of the suburbs; the building of roads, highways, and malls; the development of ancillary industries such as tire production, assembly plants, and advertising; and the movement of goods through trucking. Students discuss the economic impact of this invention, including American dependence on fossil fuel and on parts that are supplied by other countries. The crisis in American foreign policy emanating from the oil shortage in 1973 and the causes of the Gulf War show students the economic and political effects of uneven global distribution of resources.
· Students examine pictures of the changing models of automobiles showing both changes in technology and in style reflective of American tastes. Students discuss current tastes in automobiles and the increasing economic implications and trade policies.
· Air pollution is the major adverse environmental consequence of automobile use. Students research the extent of the problem and identify the areas particularly prone to air pollution, explaining the reasons why. They examine and evaluate governmental policies to mitigate the problem, such as antipollution devices, stipulations on the miles per gallon of gasoline, taxation on gasoline consumption, mandated speed limits, and high vehicle occupancy incentives. Students compare U.S. policies with those of other countries. The study could include research on mass transportation networks and their viability in solving transportation problems in the Unites States and other countries.
Inspiration Templates:
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