Students investigate the history of their community and make map overlays to look for patterns in
how its housing, water and wastewater systems, and green spaces have changed over time and in
relation to each other.
For the complete activity and more like this, purchase the Forests, Water & People activity collection at Shop.PLT.org and/or attend a professional development training in your state.
Below are some supporting resources for this activity.
Download the copyright-free student pages that are included with this activity:
Backgrounder - Exploring Forests to Faucets 2.0 (PDF)
Backgrounder - Maps and GIS (PDF)
Student Page - Community Mapping Research Plan (PDF)
Student Page - Team-Housing (PDF)
The following tools and resources may be used to enhance the activity.
Access USGS topographic maps! In 1879, the USGS began to map the Nation’s topography. TopoView shows the many and varied topographic maps of each of these areas through history. These datasets are useful studying change over time, particularly in terms of the natural and cultural features of a chosen area.
A mapping tool made possible by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that enables users to interact with a range of environmental data in order to assess the environmental health of their community. See the activity “Environmental Health for All” in PLT’s Explore Your Environment: K–8 Activity Guide for details.
This U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Water Science School website offers information on many aspects of water, along with pictures, data, maps, and an interactive center where you can share your opinions and test your water knowledge.
NESDIS gives access to global environmental data from satellites, manages these data relating to the Earth and solar environments, and conducts related research. The website lists resources for students and educators. The resources include posters, slide sets, teacher guides and quizzes, a glossary, fact sheets, and handouts.
This Smithsonian Institution website provides students (and teachers!) access to views of conditions and events on earth that are nearly impossible to document from the Earth’s surface. The site proves interactive; explaining how satellite imagery is gathered and used to better understand the world around us.
Orion magazine has reinstated its popular column called “The Place Where You Live.” This is a space where students and educators can share thoughts and experiences related to their communities or personal places. First-hand feelings are shared, such as what connects individuals to their special place, the history it holds, their hopes and fears for it, as well as resources necessary to protect it, prepare it for the future, and/or improve it.
As we know, trees represent more than just beautiful natural elements of our land, they also provide shade, manage water, stop erosion, protect streams, soothe the soul, clean the air, protect the quality and health of water, and attract homeowners, renters, and shoppers. Check out this Doodle Lecture created by Alabama Cooperative Extension that unveils the many benefits of having trees in our communities.
This Interactive Climate Change Model, developed by the New York Times, asks: How much hotter is your hometown than when you were born? Global temperatures continue to rise each year and in many parts of the world temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit will become more frequent. Discover how much warmer your hometown is now than when you were born and investigate future projections.
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