Lesson One (ELEMENTARY)

GEOGRAPHY OF THE WASATCH FRONT

Concept:

Urban, suburban, and rural communities are the three main types of developed environments. All three of these environments have both common and unique land cover types. Each land cover may affect local air temperatures differently because of unique thermal properties.

Lesson One Goal:

Students will learn about urban geography and land-cover types along the Wasatch Front. Analysis of thermal images will be presented. Students will be introduced to the fact that different land-cover surfaces affect air temperature differently.

Utah State Science Core Objectives:

5th grade: 3060-02

6^th grade: 3060-0101

Intended Learning Outcomes:

1. Students will distinguish the three main types of "urban" environments–urban, suburban, and rural–by learning characteristic land-cover types.
2. Students will learn the effects of different land covers on local air temperatures.
3. Students will examine and analyze a thermal image of Salt Lake City.
4. Students will learn to predict surface and air temperatures from aerial photos showing various land-cover types found in the Salt Lake City Valley.

Materials/Preparation:

1. Small thermal maps of downtown Salt Lake City
2. Overhead copies of a thermal map and downtown pictures
3. List of land-cover types
4. Magazines and newspapers to use for collages
5. Large paper or poster board for collages

Vocabulary Words:

Environment, urban, suburban, rural, land-cover surfaces, geography, thermal images (images taken with special cameras that let you "see" heat emitted from surfaces)

Background Information:

1. Eighty percent of the Utah population lives along the Wasatch Front corridor.
2. Salt Lake is the 6th most urban area in the country.
3. Ground level ozone affects our health more than any other type of air pollutant.
4. The Salt Lake Valley violated the air quality standard 60 times during the month of July in 1998.
5. On August 13, 2000 Salt Lake, Davis, and Weber counties reached ozone levels between 85-130 ppm, which are considered "unhealthy" by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) standards.
6. Asphalt parking lots are second hottest to roofs in surface temperature during summer months. Asphalt reflects only about five percent of the total solar radiation received; the rest is absorbed.
7. Primary factors that contribute to the urban heat island effect are the following:
1. Use of black and other non-reflective roofing surfaces e.g., roofs of East High School, Salt Palace, and Matheson Courthouse
2. Shopping centers and other businesses with large non-reflective asphalt parking lots
3. Removal of vegetation in "undisturbed" areas to make room for buildings
4. Removal of vegetation in parks and cities to reduce maintenance by park and city managers.

Instructional Procedures:

1. Discuss and list on the board the following geographic characteristics and land-cover surfaces found in the three community environments. Talk about how these characteristics may affect local air temperatures differently.
1. Urban = concentrated areas such as the downtown with high rise buildings, commercial and industrial sites, and urban residential spaces including apartments, townhouses, single-family dwellings; wide asphalt roads especially in Utah, parking lots and terraces, urban parks, and nonnative vegetation.
2. Suburban = scattered distribution of commercial businesses and residential areas; narrow asphalt and concrete roads, parking lots, parks and recreational facilities, native vegetation in outlying areas, and nonnative vegetation in urban forests; and water bodies such as ponds, streams, and lakes.
3. Rural = dry and irrigated farming and widely spaced residential homes; paved, dirt, and gravel roads; native vegetation in mountain forests; and water bodies such as rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and flood plains.
4. Coordinate this procedure with Assignment #1.
2. Bring the students back together and share the collages. Ask the students what effect, if any, these different environments might have on the surrounding air temperature.
3. Explain the overhead showing the infrared map of downtown Salt Lake City. Ask students what geographical features they recognize on the map.
4. Hand out copies of the "Salt Lake City Thermal Image — July 1998." Discuss thermal properties of the urban elements labeled on the map.
5. Discuss thermal properties of major land-cover types that are shown in each overhead of the Salt Lake Valley. Ask students to predict the effect of these land-cover types on the local air temperature.
6. Optional: If you believe that the students will benefit by reviewing the concepts above in a different manner, provide assignment #2. Coordinate this procedure with Assignment #2.

Assignments:

1. Divide the students into six groups. Have each group create a collage of one of the three types of community environments using pictures from magazines and newspapers. Have two groups do urban, two groups do suburban, and two groups do rural. Give students about 20-30 minutes to complete the collages. Coordinate this assignment with Instructional Procedure #1.
2. Have the students work on the categorizing sheet - Characteristics of Different Environments (see below). Coordinate this assignment with Instructional Procedure #6.

Additional Activity:

CHARACTERISTICS OF DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS

Match each of the following words or phrases with the category of environment by placing the number in the box they would be most likely to appear.

1. Roads of thinner width made of asphalt or concrete
2. Parking areas (lots and terraces)
3. Water bodies (dams, flood plains)
4. Mountains
5. Residential/apartment areas (highly concentrated)
6. Gravel roads
7. Compact downtown
8. Farmland (dry farming/ irrigated farming)
9. High rises
10. Residential/apartment areas somewhat spread apart
11. Nonnative vegetation/plants
12. Water bodies
13. Generally medium surface temperatures
14. Urban parks
15. Commercial/industrial areas
16. Parks/recreational facilities (including golf courses)
17. Commercial areas spread somewhat apart
18. Parking lots
19. Generally lowest surface temperatures
20. Roads of thicker width made of asphalt or concrete
21. Limited nonnative vegetation/plants
22. Forests
23. Native vegetation/plants that might appear in foothills
24. Nonnative vegetation or plants
25. Generally highest surface temperatures