Audience: Teachers grades 2-12

Length: 1/2 day to 3 days

Benefits of professional development on land use:

    Land use integrates history, economics, environmental studies, government, and cultural studies, making it a perfect lens for social studies courses. Science teachers can focus on the relationship between land use, watershed, and habitats, while math teachers can use demographic and census data as the basis for analysis, graphing, and other skills. Language arts teachers can focus on humans' relationship to the land as a theme in literature. All educators will appreciate that students are interested in their communities, making land use an immediately relevant topic.
    In short, land use is an appropriate topic for educators from across the curriculum, or as a focus for integrated instruction or team teaching.

Workshop activities and outcomes:  

   Our approach models hands-on strategies teachers can replicate in the classroom. Participants walk away with knowledge, instructional resources, and teaching strategies they can use to help students:

map the connections among land use, the environment, and their health. assess the ecological, economic, and social impacts of land use trends. use mapping and primary source data to track changes in the community. participate in a role play to experience how local land use decisions are made. develop projects to improve the community.

A student draws a map of what her community might look like if it were planned using principles of sustainability.

See what it looks like in the classroom. View examples of student projects on these topics.

Learn more about resources on land use and sustainable communities available from our curriculum library.

View other introductory professional development programs.

Learn more about our custom programs, designed for schools interested in substantive professional growth through on-going learning, support, evaluation, and peer-driven replication.

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Our programs are competitively priced, and schools often use federal or state funds to pay for them. Contact us to discuss your needs and get a quote.