Land Use Lesson 3 : Classifying Land Use
Enhancements
1. Playground Land Use Mapping.
Prepare an outline on paper of the periphery of the school playground. Explain to the class that they are going to map the land uses on the playground. They should include the following on the maps.
• The relative location of the land uses, such as the location of equipment, game areas such as for kickball, hopscotch, a painted playground map of the state or of the United States, etc.
• Places where the grass is worn or where the surface is hollowed out due to overuse.
Upon returning to the classroom, make a display of the maps and discuss where the playground land is used for specific purposes, such as hopscotch, and where is it used for other activities. Indicate where it gets much use and where it gets little use. This can even be sketched on the classroom board. The areas that are heavily used could be classified by the students as busy areas whereas areas that have grass that is not badly worn could be classified as slow areas. Students can further discuss how busy areas might be protected. For example, in some places signs are put up to ask people not to walk on the grass. In other places, yellow plastic tapes are put up to warn people not to enter that area. Each of these represents a way to manage the land use. Also, keep in mind that this type of land use is at a much different scale than managing the land use in a township or a county.
If there are examples of overuse on the playground, then discuss the overuse as an example of too much use and the negative impact on the land that is caused by individuals. How could the effects of overuse be corrected? Ask students for suggestions. Could the land use at that location be moved elsewhere? Should there be more than one location for the activity that has much use, such as a swing set area?
Complete the discussion by asking if the class has any examples away from the school grounds where they think the land is not used in the best way or is overused. Discuss the individual’s responsibility when using the land.
2. Ownership vs. Stewardship.
In this lesson, students learned the difference between ownership and stewardship. To reinforce this understanding, have students divide a piece of paper into two columns. On the left, they should make a list of things they own. They should then consider each item in that list. For which items are they stewards? That is, for which items do they take responsibility for proper use and maintenance? These items should be listed in the right hand column. When they compare the two lists, do students conclude that they are good or bad stewards of the things they own? Do students conclude that they are good or bad stewards of the things they do not own but use such as a park, a beach, or a baseball field? How might they become better stewards?
Extensions
1. Graphing Land Use.
The Land Use Measuring Stick is a special graph created to convey the relative area of land used for various purposes in Michigan. The same data could also be conveyed through a circle graph (also called a pie chart). Ask students to use the percentages provided in the Land Use in Michigan overhead transparency to create a pie chart of land use in Michigan. Which method best shows how land is used in Michigan—the table, the measuring stick, or the circle graph? Why?
Students could also create a pie graph of ownership of Michigan forests and compare the table and graph as means of conveying the same information.
2. Ownership Inventory.
Encourage students to take an inventory of who owns the land uses they experience on their way from home to school. They should encounter government owned land uses (the school itself, roads, possibly public housing or government buildings), land uses owned by individuals (homes, small businesses, agricultural land), and land uses owned by companies (larger businesses, chain or franchised businesses). Who owns most of the land that students travel past on the way from home to school?
3. Poll on Ownership and Stewardship.
This lesson distinguishes between land ownership and stewardship. Have students conduct a brief poll of adults in the community to determine how aware they are of the concept of stewardship. For example, each student could ask two adults a series of three or four questions similar to the following:
• What does it mean to be a landowner?
• What does it mean to be a steward of the land?
• Who is responsible for stewardship of public lands?
• Which is more important to you – to be a landowner or to be a steward of the land?
Students could pool their results and create graphs and charts showing what they learned. This would be an effective display for a time when parents are in the building. Do most people understand the distinction between land ownership and stewardship? Do most people recognize public responsibility for stewardship of public lands? Is stewardship important to people?
4. Land Use Changes.
This extension entitled Threats to the Forest provides students the opportunity to color a page showing land uses in an area where there was once forest. There are houses and a mall. Begin by having students identify the different land uses in the picture and the forest that remains.
Next, ask: Why may have people made the decision to build houses and a mall in a place where there was once a forest? Discuss with students the concept of land use change that this picture demonstrates. After discussing those issues, students may complete the picture using colored pencils and/or crayons.