The City of the Future - from a current perspective and from the past : Philadelphia 1876 Buffalo 1901 World's Columbian Exposition (look for city architecture changes, Innovations and Legacy, Famous Firsts, The White City model) New York World's Fair 1939-40 Seattle 1962 New York World's Fair 1964 Futurama's City of the Future
After visiting these sites, students should be prepared to discuss ten major ideas observed. As with all web sites you visit for this assignment, take notes whenever appropriate. It is suggested that you keep a list of unfamiliar terminology; you may wish to incorporate some of them in your final product. Write a one page summary weaving together major issues which urban residents of the past faced compared with those of the present. Check early with your teacher regarding the expectations for this Lesson.
Your teacher has selected appropriate sites on the internet for you to visit for this activity. You and your classmates will be divided into five research teams, based on the four steps of the O.S.A.E. process (the part each plays In this 'Teaching the O.S.A.E. Skills for a Field Trip' Lesson) plus a Miscellaneous category. Note that there's always some overlap among process groups and their place within this broad topic. Your teacher will tell you which sites to visit within your group.
Instruction
You and your team will be assigned one of the following Groups to research on this topic. Visit each of the URLs (Universal Resource Locator - web address) in your assigned Group. Be prepared to carefully cite each URL's author (when known), the documents' Title, organization name, date and important facts as presented. As you research the O.S.A.E. process Group assigned to you and your classmates, keep the Big Question in mind.
Go to top
Resources
The O.S.A.E. Process Steps + 1
Group 1 (Observation)
How does one analyze the urban scene?
Look for patterns in the spatial order
Work from obvious to complex (Central Place Theory) explained. A Project
Peel away the Layers of the city
How does scale effect our observations?
Take one's Observation to the Next Level
Making a Leap in Logic Logic and Function of Ornament
Ask open ended questions of yourself and others
Group 3 (Analysis)
Pulling together dispirate data
Researching for answers. Ask the locals, then the city, then county, then regional planners, then state and federal officials.
Urbanisation in Britain 1780-1914 includes theories and discussion of urban growth; Sorting fact from fiction
Group 4 (Evaluation)
How well does this scene "work" in the local context?
What moral and ethical decisions have been made? (Read 'Defining Geography' paragraph)
What economic and political decisions have been made?
What modifications would you would suggest or discourage and why?
Group 5 (Miscellaneous) Ask your teacher which sites you should visit.
Association of American Geographers Urban Geography Speciality Group
Virtually Vancouver an important urban center (QT player needed)
The Virtual Geography Department now located in Colorado
Carl Steinitz, Landscape Architect History of Planning & City Planning
Jacob Riis' early photos of urban slums caused a furor
Geographic Education and Public Policy from the perspective of Geographer H. J. deBlij
Bridging the Urban Landscape 600 historical photographs and images
"Engaging Local Communities for Regional Change" from College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, U-MN (.pdf reader required)
What happened to downtown Topeka?
Regenerate damaged and neglected public lands in urban communities with wildflowers; involves kids and the homeless
KidsClick visit major world cities and other topics for kids
Walking Tour of Edinburgh and Urbanisation in Britain
Urbanization Theories
Origin and History of Cities: 4000 BC to 1750 AD a slide show presentation. More Cities in History
Mapping the Urban Landscape Some GIS tools.
Panorama of New York City
State organization of local municipalities
State organization of local neighborhood Associations
Carfree Cities Better Environmentally Sound Transportation
Panorama Photos of Cities Library of Congress
Bibliography, Pre-Industrial Cities Cities in Pre-Industrial Europe, Grinnell College
There are heaps of books on the topic of urban sprawl, siting of mega-stores in suburbs, designing of pedestrian and bicycle-friendly traffic, preventing shopping malls from locating on prime agricultural land, defending Main Street from chain stores, and ways to become politically involved in order to make a difference (the art of public presentation). You are invited to share readings from these sources.
While reading the content at these web sites, take appropriate notes on paper and in computer text files. If you wish, subdivide your team to faciliate completion of the tasks. Several of you might research the sites while others can type the notes and prepare them for the next step. Be sure to check with your Instructor for details. The study of "Teaching O.S.A.E. Skills for a Field Trip" can be a daunting task, which is why you and your team have been asked to reseach only one component of the process. The larger task of understanding this important topic has been chunked into smaller, manageable sizes.
At this point, the Issue which you and your team must address is "What does this part of the process contribute to our understanding of the Lesson?" Your research should be directed towards answering the Big Question.
To see what to do with the O.S.A.E. Skills in a practical way during a field trip, click here.
Conclusion
Now that we've completed our WebQuest Lesson, let's answer this important question : Has this activity addressed the Big Question? What have been the most significant points you've learned during this activity? After your internet research, analysis, product design and creation, do you have a deeper understanding of a real, gray area, challenging topic? Consider what you've learned from this experience and how you can apply that knowledge and those skills in new ways. Write a one page summary of this WebQuest activity and what's it's meant to you. Give specific examples from your research, analysis, product design and processes you used to reach your conclusions.
Terms used in this Lesson:
Your teacher may have given you a feedback sheet or several URLs to visit before you complete your group's product and your evaluation of this activity. Submit a copy of the answers to the questions listed above, plus your electronic notes, and final product to the teacher and keep a copy for yourself.
"How to Read a City: A Geographic Perspective" was published in Magazine of History Vol. 5, No. 2 (Fall, 1990) 68-71; "What is the Essence of Geographic Literacy?" was published in Focus, by the American Geographical Society, (Summer, 1990) 26 - 29)
(WQosae.html)gen 21 April 2001
