Poster Activity Land, Air, and Water

Michigan’s Land, Air, and Water

Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support Land, Air, and Water Poster Activity 3.1

Subject/Target Grade3rd Grade Social Studies

Duration2-3 Class Periods

Materials per class• Michigan’s Land, Air, and Water poster• Land, Air, and Water PPT• Michigan Land Stewardship & Land Use/

Cover poster

per group• One placemat poster of Michigan’s Land,

Air and Water• Land Use Connections

(student activity)• Economic Activity Resource Cards• Consequences of Land Use

(student activity)

per student• Michigan’s Land, Air and Water

(student activity)• How is the Land in Michigan Used?

(student activity) Lesson OverviewThe three major land uses in Michigan (agriculture, urban development and forestry) are represented on the poster, as well as some economic activities based on other important natural resources (e.g., gravel mining, tourism/recreation). Spatial thinking skills in this lesson are region, comparison, and association.

Objectives Students will be able to:• describemajorlandusesinMichigantoday• describesomepositiveandnegativeeffectsofland

use activities on air and water quality• namemajoreconomicactivitiesinMichiganthat

depend on water• namemajoreconomicactivitiesinMichiganthat

depend on soil or land and explain why each is located there

Michigan’s Land, Air, and Water

Michigan Grade Level Content

Expectations

Social Studies:• Use thematic maps to identify and describe

the physical and human characteristics of Michigan. 3 - G1.0.2

• Use a variety of visual materials and data sources to describe ways Michigan can be divided into regions. 3 - G2.0.1

• Describe major kinds of economic activity in Michigan today, and explain the factors influencingthelocationoftheseeconomicactivities. 3 - G4.0.1

• Describe how people adapt to, use, and modify the natural resources of Michigan. 3 - G5.0.2

For P

revie

w O

nly

Land, Air, and Water Poster Activity

3.2 Poster Activity Land, Air, and Water Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support

Background InformationThere is a difference between land use and land cover. Forests represent land cover, while houses represent land use.

There are many ways to classify land use:1. Activity on the land (farming, recreation, residential)2. Function it serves (commercial, industrial, service, transportation)3. Structural characteristics – surface materials, etc4. Site development characteristics – what land use would be suitable?5. Ownership – (government, private, business)

Humanactivitiesandphysicalcharacteristicsofalandscapeinfluencethetypeoflandusethatcan/mayoccur.Also,specificlandusesaffectwaterandairquality.Forexample:• Sandorgravelminingmightcausewatertocollectandbecomepolluted,orproducedustwhich

could affect air quality. • Constructingparkinglotsmightcausewaterpollutionfromrunoffofoil,gasoline,orgreasefrom

the cars.

Opening Discussion: (Slide 3)• Islandanaturalresource?• Isitrenewable?• Whataresomewayspeopleuseland?

Procedures

1. Give each group a placemat poster. Allow students to observe the poster for one minute quietly. (Slides 4-5)a. Think, Pair, Share for one minute about poster.b. WriteonesentenceaboutwhatyouseeontheposterontheMichigan’s Land, Air and Water

student activity sheet.

2. Workwithapartnertolistplacecharacteristics,dividingthemintonaturalandman-madefeatures.

Advance PreparationReviewPowerPointtocheckformattingonyourcomputer.Itmightbenecessarytochangefontorfontsize to appear correctly on your computer. To use as a classroom presentation, appropriate slide numbers are indicated in parentheses under Procedures; alternatively, any slide may be printed as an overhead transparency. Make copies of student activity sheets and Economic Activity Resource Cards. Prepare placemat posters as described in Procedures #3.

For P

revie

w O

nly

Poster Activity Land, Air, and Water

Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support Land, Air, and Water Poster Activity 3.3

3. Fold the poster into thirds vertically. (Optional: laminate poster and draw lines to make thirds. Students use assigned third to do worksheet.) Each third could be considered a region – what characteristic is most common in the left third? (agriculture or farming).Whataboutthecenterthird? (urban, residential) and the right third? (use of natural resources, tourism). (Slides 6-9)

There are many land uses/covers shown on this poster. Ask students to name as many as they can. Assigneachgrouponeofthe‘thirds’(left,center,right).Askthemtomakeobservationstofillin part 3 of the student activity sheet for their third. Some answers are provided, but accept students’ reasoned answers. Share answers. (Slide 10)

4. Using the entire laminated poster, use these questions for students to discuss: (Slide 11)• Whatcomparisonscanyouseebetweenthedifferentareasof

the posters? How are the different areas alike and different? (Similarities: human use, changes in environment, use of resources; Differences: different major land uses)

• Whichpartoftheposterseemstohavethemostagriculturalland? (left side) The most urban land? (center)

• Whichlandusesdon’tyouunderstand?• Howcouldlanduseaffectairquality? (by putting dust or chemicals into the air)• Howcouldlanduseaffectwaterquality?(chemicals or pollutants in soil could seep into

groundwater or be carried into streams or rivers)• Whyisitimportantthatweknowhowlanduseisrelatedtoairandwater?(The way we use our

land affects our economy, but also all the air we breathe and the water we consume and the food we grow)

5. Howdoweusetheland,thesoilandthewaterinMichigan?Lookattheplacematandfillinthechart on the How is the Land in Michigan Used? student activity sheet with all the ways you notice the soil, the land, and the water being used. Then choose one answer and write a sentence telling how soil, land or water relates to an economic activity in Michigan. For example, how does shipping on the Great Lakes help our economy? Repeat activity using a different answer from the worksheet. (Slides 12-15)

6. Connections: Using a laminated placemat poster, one student in the group should circle a land use. Theirpartnershouldfindanotherlandusethatisrelated,circleitanddrawalinebetweenthem.Bothstudents should be able to explain the connection. As an option, have students use the chart Land Use Connectionsstudentactivitysheetwiththesetwolanduses(LandUseAandLandUseB).Write a connection with all the ways you see that use the soil, the land itself and the water. (Slide 16)Examples might be: a. residential areas – shopping (people living in the houses shop at the mall)b. barge – factory (barges carry raw materials to the factory and possibly products to markets)c. campground – lake (people camping will use the lake for swimming, fishing, boating)d. Electrical generation plant – houses (electrical generation plant produces the electricity used

by the households)

Spatial Thinking Skill: Regions

Spatial Thinking Skill: Comparison

For P

revie

w O

nly

Land, Air, and Water Poster Activity

3.4 Poster Activity Land, Air, and Water Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support

7. Review the many land uses/covers shown on this poster. Have each group of students identify thespecificeconomicactivities/usesassociatedwiththemajorlandusesonthemini-poster. (Students may have to use the large poster to do this, or give them the Economic Activity Resource Cards.) Examples below: (Slide 17)

8. For each use, write a positive and negative effect for humans, air, water, or land on the Consequences of Land Use student activity sheet. Remind students that whatever goes in the air or on land nearly always ends up in the water. Do one or two examples together. Besuretohelpstudentsunderstand that wise use has helped to lessen some of the risks of land use. (Slide 18)

Extension/EnhancementsUsing the Michigan Land Stewardship & Land Use/Cover poster, have students point out (both in Michigan and in the Great Lakes region) what land uses occur most often in urban areas (residential, business, factories, etc); agricultural areas, and forested areas. (Slide 19)

1. Wherearedifferenttypesofeconomicactivitiesandlandusesprobably located?

a. paper mills: timber products near forests – northern Michigan

b. factories: near cities, especially near Great Lakes c. agriculture: in southern Michigan – good land, good weatherd. roads: more in southern Michigan where there are more people

2. WhereinMichiganmighttherebethemostchanceforanimpactonairorwaterquality?(agriculture puts chemicals in the ground, which may leak into ground water; traffic puts pollutants into the air; residential areas cause air pollution)

Left Center RightEconomic Activity:

Agriculture Economic Activity:

UrbanEconomic Activities: Natural Resources

• Irrigation• Cropdusting• Manurespreading• Animalfeeding• Planting

• Lowdensityhousing• Highdensityhousing• Businessdistricts• Roads• Factories-industries

• Landfill• Logging• Gravelmining• Electricalgeneration• Recreation• Water

Spatial Thinking Skill: Association

For P

revie

w O

nly

Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support Land, Air, and Water Poster Activity 3.5

STUDEN

T ACTIVITY

Michigan’s Land, Air and Water

One sentence about my poster:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Name______________________________________

Natural Characteristics Man-Made Characteristics

Land Use Type Estimate (small, medium, large)

Agriculture

Forests

Open Space

Lakes, Rivers, Streams

Answer the following on the table below for your third:

1. What are the land uses on the mini-poster you are using?

2. Estimate the amount of each land in that use (small, medium, large).

3. Add any other land uses and estimate the amount.

Circle one: Left Middle Right

1

3

2

For P

revie

w O

nly

3.6 Poster Activity Land, Air, and Water Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support

Michigan’s Land, Air and Water

One sentence about my poster:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Natural Characteristics Man-Made CharacteristicsAcceptreasonableanswers.Examples:woods,trees,lake,river

Acceptreasonableanswers.Examples:houses,campgrounds,factory

Answer the following on the table below for your third:

1. What are the land uses on the mini-poster you are using?

2. Estimate the amount of each land in that use (small, medium, large).

3. Add any other land uses and estimate the amount.

Circle one: Left Middle Right

1

3

2

Land Use Type Estimate (small, medium, large)(SuggestedAnswers) Left Center Right

Agriculture Large Small Small

Forests Small Small Small

OpenSpace Small Small Large

Lakes,Rivers,Streams Small Small Medium

Residential Small

Urban (industrial, business) Large

Landfill Small

Transportation Small

Mining Large

Answerswillvary.

For P

revie

w O

nly

Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support Land, Air, and Water Poster Activity 3.7

STUDEN

T ACTIVITY

How is the Land in Michigan Used?

List as many examples as you can for each of the following:

Choose two of the answers above. Write one sentence for each chosen answer, telling how it relates to an

economic activity in Michigan.

1) __________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

2) __________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Name______________________________________

How do we use the soil in Michigan?

What do we build on theland in Michigan?

What activities use water in Michigan?

For P

revie

w O

nly

3.8 Poster Activity Land, Air, and Water Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support

How is the Land in Michigan Used?(Possible Answers)

List as many examples as you can for each of the following:

Choose two of the answers above. Write one sentence for each chosen answer, telling how it relates to an

economic activity in Michigan.

Examples:

“Orchards produce berries and cherries and apples to sell.”

“People pay to enjoy campgrounds in Michigan.”

How do we use the soil in Michigan?

What do we build on the land in Michigan?

What activities use water in Michigan?

Crop farming Houses Shipping

Orchards Factories Recreation

Gravel and sand Roads/railroads Irrigation

Pasture Campgrounds Wastewater treatment

Forest Shopping mall

Landfill

For P

revie

w O

nly

Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support Land, Air, and Water Poster Activity 3.9

STUDEN

T ACTIVITY

Land Use Connections

You and a partner should find two land uses that are connected. Fill in the table with your ideas.

The first one is done for you.

Name______________________________________

Land Use A Land Use B Connection

Houses Shopping Mall People live in houses and shop at the mall.

For P

revie

w O

nly

3.10 Poster Activity Land, Air, and Water Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support

Economic Activity

Resource Cards(For use with Consequences of

Land Use Student Activity)

Cut apart cards and give one

card to each group, or give

entire copy to each group

Economic Activity: Urban

• Lowdensityhousing

• Highdensityhousing

• Businessdistricts

• Roads

• Factories/industries

Economic Activity: Natural Resources

• Landfill

• Logging

• Gravelmining

• Electricalgeneration

• Recreation

• Water

Economic Activity: Agriculture

• Irrigation

• Cropdusting

• Manurespreading

• Animalfeeding

• Planting

Center Right

Left

STUDE

NT RESOURCE

For P

revie

w O

nly

Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support Land, Air, and Water Poster Activity 3.11

STUDEN

T ACTIVITY

Consequences of Land Use

Name______________________________________

Economic Activity Positive Consequence Negative ConsequenceFo

r Prev

iew

Only

3.12 Poster Activity Land, Air, and Water Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support

Consequences of Land Use(Possible Answers)

Economic Activity Positive Consequence Negative Consequence

Irrigation More crops can be grownAdds to permeation, may take pollutants into the groundwater

Crop dusting Controls weeds and insects Adds chemicals to soil

Manure spreading Fertilizes the fields Adds chemicals to soil

Animal feeding Profits from raising animals More manure

Planting Profits from crops Adds chemicals to soil

Low density housing Peaceful, scenic homes Fertilizer on large lawns

High density housing More homes in less space Sewage, trash, etc.

Business districts Retail businesses (jobs) Traffic, parking, etc.

RoadsTravel availability, tourism jobs, relaxation

Air pollution. Lack of farmland

Factories-industries Jobs, products Traffic, industrial pollution

ForestOxygen, green space, animal habitat

Lack of space for homes, buildings

Landfill Eliminates trashTakes up space, ugly, may leak into groundwater, runoff

Logging Lumber products, jobs Loss of trees, habitats

Gravel mining Product for roads, etc Change of surface areas, dust

Electrical generation Supply of electricity Pollution

Recreation Tourism (jobs); relaxation Traffic, water and/or air pollution

Water Transportation; recreationGasoline, chemical pollution; loss of habitat

Open space Space! Natural areas Depends on use, runoff

For P

revie

w O

nly