The Challenges of Urban Sprawl
Objective
Students will demonstrate their
understanding of urban sprawl by
examining online resources about
urban sprawl and recording written
responses to teacher-generated
questions.
Vocabulary
Urban sprawl
Suburban sprawl
Job Sprawl is another land use symptom of urban
sprawl and car-dependent communities. It is defined as
low-density, geographically spread-out patterns of
employment, where the majority of jobs in a given
metropolitan area are located outside of the main city's
Central Bussines District(CBD), and increasingly in
the suburban periphery.
CCR Anchor Standard
Standard #4: Produce clear and coherent writing in
which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Standard #8: Gather relevant information from
multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility
and accuracy of each source, and integrate the
information while avoiding plagiarism.
Accessing this lesson online:
It is not necessary to print out these lesson
materials! Go to
http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/341
and click on the Suburban Sprawl icon to view
this Power Point presentation, which includes
live links to the resources in slide show view.
Urban Sprawl
Maryland
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-atnasa/2002/11oct_sprawl/
LEVITTOWN, NY
LEVITTOWN, NY
Aero
Acres
Aero Acres
WHERE’S COLUMBIA?
Rubric
Cornell Notes
Name:
Topic:
How does urban sprawl affect our lives?
Summary:
Essential Questions
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In your own words, write a definition of urban sprawl.
Name three causes of urban sprawl.
What are the statistics concerning urban sprawl?
How did World War II trigger urban sprawl near Baltimore?
What are the pros and cons of urban sprawl?
Describe four ways that urban sprawl negatively impacts the
environment.
What effect will the changes that occur as a result of building a
community have on the different species that live in that
environment?
What financial problems have been created in Queen Anne’s County
as a result of urban sprawl?
Why is it necessary for people to plan communities instead of just
building houses, businesses, and services as they are needed?
How is Columbia, MD an example of a carefully planned
community?
Resources I
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/enviro
nment/habitats/urban-sprawl/
Read page two of this site to get the statistics on
urban sprawl.
http://geography.howstuffworks.com/terms-andassociations/urban-sprawl.htm
Read pages three and four of this web site to
determine the pros and cons of urban sprawl.
http://tclf.org/landscapes/aero-acres
Resources II
http://tclf.org/landscapes/aero-acres
Read this web site to find out how urban sprawl began
near Baltimore during World War II (9141-1945).
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-atnasa/2002/11oct_sprawl/
This site contains an animated graphic of how
Baltimore City was grown dramatically since its
beginning.
Resources III
 http://www.mdp.state.md.us/PDF/OurWork/AKRF_QAC_%2
0Final_Report.pdf
 This web site explains how Queen Anne County (on the other
side of the Bay Bridge) is suffering because of urban sprawl.
 http://wd.northwestern.edu/assets/Watersheds-7-UrbanSprawl-article-questions.pdf
 A quick overview of urban sprawl.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia,_Maryland
 About Columbia, MD (a planned community)
Extension Activity: SIRS Researcher
 www.bcpss.org, Login,Password=your first name (first letter
capitalized).
 Click on the “Resources” tab, Click on SIRS RESEARCHER.
 Search for “urban sprawl.
Read one or more of the following articles:
1. What You Don't Know About Sprawl
2. Sprawl: The New Manifest Destiny?
3. Subdivide And Conquer
Navigate to the REACH Home Page at http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/341
For Further Planning:
http://wwwtc.pbs.org/teachers/ecoinvestigators/E
coInv_LandLessonEight.pdf