Questioning Chernobyl

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Description: The nuclear accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine, had immediate as well as long-lasting affects on people throughout the western part of the former Soviet Union as well as throughout Europe. Students will study the reasons for using nuclear power as an energy source as well as the potential dangers.

 Grade level(s): Middle                   Standards: OAS, GFL, CC       Produced By: Janet Hall

Developing South America: Defining the Physical and Political Boundaries

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Description: Students will develop cartographic skills by designing the physical and political boundaries of South America. They will use symbols to create their own free hand design of the physical and political boundaries of South America while also locating and categorizing the different economic systems across South America. Students will then examine the importance of the founding of and the continued use today of the Strait of Magellan.

 Grade level(s): Middle                           Standards: OAS, GFL                 Produced By: Denise Aguilar

By Road, By Rail, By River

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Description: Economic decisions for four centuries have been based on how quickly a product can get to market. Transportation evolved to keep up with market demands. Trails became national roads, river and sea-going transportation increased in size to take on larger and more specialized loads, and rivers themselves underwent transformation into canal systems connecting larger bodies of water with inland ports.

 Grade level(s): Middle and High School   Standards: OAS, GFL               Produced By: Jayne Marley

Railroads and the Landscape of a Community

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Description: The purpose of this lesson is to examine the expansion of railroads in the U.S. (especially in Oklahoma), their economic impact, and how they shaped local landscapes.

 Grade level(s): Middle and High School   Standards: OAS, GFL             Produced By: Ann Kennedy

Outsourcing to Asia: The American Demand for Consumer Goods

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Description: The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the changes in manufacturing that have occurred in the United States in recent years, as well as analyze the impact of "outsourcing" to Asian countries of components and parts of products previously made in the United States.  Students will also have the opportunity to consider possible economic reforms that could improve production, quality, and availability of goods worldwide.

 Grade level(s): Middle                         Standards: OAS, GFL               Produced By: Heather Braucher

The Dividing Line of Asia and Europe: The Ural Mountains

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Description: Students will discover the physical boundary between Asia and Europe: the Ural Mountains. They locate the Urals and analyze the differences and similarities among the five regions in the mountain system. Students will determine the reasons for movement among humans in the regions as well.

 Grade level(s): Middle                             Standards: OAS, GFL                   Produced By: Denise Aguilar

Major World Political Systems

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Description: The purpose of this lesson is to provide students information on representative governments and authoritarian systems throughout the world.

 Grade level(s): Middle                       Standards: OAS, GFL               Produced By: Susan Smith

China's One-Child Policy: Impact on Population Growth and Culture

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Description: The purpose of this lesson is to acquaint students with the one-child policy of China and assist them in understanding how this has had an impact on the population growth and culture of China.

  Grade level(s): Middle                        Standards: OAS, GFL            Produced By: Susan Smith

Ethnic Origins: Who am I?

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Description: Students will recall or discover their ethnic origins and plot them on a world map.

 Grade level(s): Middle                         Standards: OAS, GFL               Produced By: Heather Braucher

Super Size My Geo-Knowledge: The United States

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Description: Students will gain an understanding of the cultural, political and economic features of the United States and apply the knowledge to analyze problems and propose solutions created by human environment interaction.

 Grade level(s): Middle                         Standards: OAS, GFL             Produced By: Heather Braucher

Sweden's Mixed Economic System: Understanding the Advantages and Disadvantages

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Description: Students will examine the similarities and differences between various types of economic systems in the world. They will compare the pros and cons of Sweden’s mixed market system and discover the types of products that are a part of this type of economic system.

 Grade level(s): Middle                             Standards: OAS, GFL                   Produced By: Denise Aguilar

Coal- China's Abundant Energy Resource: Economic Blessing or Plight?

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Description: Coal has played a very important role in China’s rapid development, providing jobs, opportunities, and better standards of living for growing numbers of China’s people. However, as with all change and progress, there are both positive and negative repercussions.  The purpose of this activity is to help students understand and relate China’s coal mining and usage to the impact it has had on the environment, people, and economy of the country.

 Grade level(s): Middle                         Standards: OAS, GFL, CC         Produced By: Lynn Tilley

Double Cropping as a Means to Supply Food in East Asia

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Description: The purpose of this lesson is to show students why double cropping will increase crop production on a limited amount of land.

 Grade level(s): Middle                       Standards: OAS, GFL, CC         Produced By: Susan Smith

Content and Literacy Connections: Analytical Writing for Geography

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Description: The purpose of this lesson is to help students become independent thinking, readers and writers.

Grade level(s): Middle                        Standards: OAS, GFL, CC        Produced By: Pam Merrill

The Ever Disappearing Aral Sea: Understanding the Reasons for the Continuous Decline

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Description: Students will develop an understanding of the importance of water to the survival of people and places. They will examine the ways human actions can impact places environmentally as well as economically. They will determine the specific causes regarding the shrinking Aral Sea in Central Asia and discuss possible ways to reverse this problem.

 Grade level(s): Middle                             Standards: OAS, GFL, CC                   Produced By: Denise Aguilar

Terraced Farming in East Asia

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Description: The purpose of this activity is to provide students information on how terraced farming in East Asia provides solutions to their food needs.

 Grade level(s): Middle                         Standards: OAS, GFL, CC       Produced By: Susan Smith

China's Three Gorges Dam: Cause for Celebration or Controversy?

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Description: The purpose of this activity is to help students understand why China built the Three Gorges Dam, the controversies that arose, and the impact the construction of the dam had on the environment and people. This lesson provides an opportunity for students to understand how progress and change can have both positive and negative consequences.

Grade level(s): Middle                        Standards: OAS, CC                Produced By: Lynn Tilley

The Vanishing Rainforests of Indonesia: An Examination of Indonesia's Life Changing Problem

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Description: Students will discover the reasons for deforestation. They will compare and contrast the effects of this process by looking at the good and the bad. They will locate areas in the world affected by deforestation and examine more specifically the affect this process is having on Indonesia and what the population is doing to remedy the situation.

Grade level(s): Middle                            Standards: OAS, GFL                  Produced By: Denise Aguilar

To Drill, Or Not To Drill, That is the Question!

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Description: Lawmakers have to make decisions about the use of resources that affect their citizens today and in the future. Deciding how to use the nation’s resources is not an easy process when two values are at odds: preserving natural resources and delicate ecosystems or protecting the economy. This was the dilemma for lawmakers when environmentalists fought to preserve Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge while opposed by oil companies who wanted to drill there for oil.

Grade level(s): Middle                        Standards: OAS, GFL              Produced By: Ann Kennedy

Exploring El Niño and La Niña

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Description: Students will understand how El Niño and La Niña are formed and how climate patterns can determine if an El Niño or La Niña event is likely to occur.

Grade level(s): Middle                      Standards: OAS, GFL              Produced By: Susan Smith