“The Freeway City” is the lead article for Winter 2002-03. Create an inquiry lesson based on the article and following questions:

Prior to reading the article, what do you think “the freeway city” refers to? Do you think that you live in or near a freeway city?

• After reading the article, visit http://www.vtsprawl.org to learn more about urban sprawl and smart growth. Explore a virtual new urbanist neighborhood, as well as a photo gallery of sprawl and new urbanism neighborhood at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/sprawl/index_flash.html.
  
  
• Keep a daily log of your family’s activities each day for a week. Do your parents drive you to school? Do you carpool? Do you ride the bus? Do you walk? Calculate the distance from your home to school. Ask your parents to keep a record of the distance they drive in one day and in one week. How many cars does your family own? Do your parents carpool to work? Do they ride public transportation to work? What is the distance from your home to your parents’ workplaces? How many minutes do they commute each day? At the end of the week, write a summary of your family’s daily habits. Do your family members’ daily routines follow smart growth or new urbanism principles? Explain your answer. Are there parts of your family’s routine that could be modified? For example, could you carpool to school? Could your parents carpool to work?
  
  
• Observe your neighborhood. How close do you live to your neighbors? Do you have a large yard? Are you within walking or biking distance of restaurants, stores, salons, and other necessary businesses? If not, how many minutes does it take you to drive to these places? Do you know your neighbors? Do you spend time walking/running/biking around your neighborhood? If you live in a neighborhood, research the development history of your neighborhood. Does it follow smart growth principles? Are there neighborhoods in your city that were built with smart growth principles in mind? (For example, in the Charleston area, the I’on community was built with these principles in mind. Photos of the neighborhood may be viewed at http://www.ionvillage.com) In your city, are there barriers to following smart growth principles? (For example, is there a well-developed public transportation system so that many people do not need to drive to work?)
  
  
• Using the article, write a short essay on the evolution of the southern city. In your essay, address the following questions. Why has it been possible for urban sprawl to occur in the South? Think about where you live. Are there any natural barriers to the spread of sprawl? Why is it necessary for new suburbs to be built? (For example, why was downtown Charleston large enough 200 years ago, but now new suburbs appear outside of the city limits yearly?) Why do environmentalists care about urban sprawl? Are there dangers to human health associated with expanding urban areas? How does the expansion of road systems affect the issue of run-off and how does runoff affect water quality?

  Science: 7th gradeIIIA3a-c Social Studies: 7.3.10

Vocabulary
Smart growth, urban sprawl, urbanization, suburb, new urbanism

Acknowledgements.
Special thanks to Elaine Freeman, Park Interpreter at Edisto Beach State Park, for her assistance in compiling this curriculum guide. For more information about field trips at Edisto Beach State Park, contact Elaine at (843) 869-9073. For information about Edisto Beach State Park, visit www.discoversouthcarolina.com/stateparks.

  

For further information contact Elizabeth Joyner,
elizabeth.joyner@scseagrant.org or (843) 953-2078

Urban Sprawl for Middle School
Lesson Plans
http://www2.una.edu/geography/statedepted/lessons/cities/cities_anywhere.htm#Activity%20One
“Cities, Cities Anywhere?” In this activity, students analyze maps, history, and current information to determine how humans change natural ecosystems by development.

http://fga.freac.fsu.edu/drfernald/whereisaway.html
“Where Is Away?” In this activity, students explore the problems associated with waste materials.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/12/g68/sprawlwhat.html
“What To Do About Sprawl” teaches students about sprawl and related issues.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/12/g68/newtown.html
“Planning a New Town” has students make decisions about buildings, businesses, services, and housing areas to include in the development of a new town.

References
http://thevillageproject.com/pdfs/Sec6-Water.pdf
This is an article about development the effects of impervious surfaces on the environment. The article is rather long and contains some difficult language. The teacher may choose to have the class read only a section of the article.

http://www.sprawlwatch.org
This is a collection of articles related to urban sprawl.

http://www.strom.clemson.edu
Search the site for these two articles: “Modeling and Predicting Future Urban Growth in the Charleston Area” and “Land Conversion in South Carolina: State Makes the Top 10 List”

http://www.vtsprawl.org/
This is a good website for general background information about urban sprawl and smart growth.

http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/07/01/html/ft_20010701.3.html
This is an excerpt from a National Geographic article about achieving smart growth. The page also has links to other websites related to smart growth and urban sprawl.

http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl
A good introduction to the sprawl and the environmental issues associated with urban sprawl.

http://www.plannersweb.com/sprawl/home.html
This is an online sprawl guide designed to familiarize the public with key issues associated with sprawl and direct the reader to information available on the Web.Resources

http://www.scseagrant.org/library/library_pubs.htm
Visit the Sea Grant website for printable versions of two past issues of Coastal Heritage related to urban sprawl and coastal development. The title of the articles are: “Coastal Growth Hits Home” vol. 16, no. 2, Fall 2001 and “The Beauty of Sprawl” vol. 15, no.2, Fall 2000.