Where Should I Live?

Advantages and Disadvantages

of Geographic Features

Last week, you and your classmates brainstormed a list of possible advantages and disadvantages of living near specific geographic features and climate zones. Your teachers were so impressed at the inferential thinking you did! Now, based on the thinking you did, you will select a feature, develop your understanding of it, and take a position: Do the advantages of living near this feature outweigh the disadvantages?

Use the following websites to help you with your research:

**Ecology and Society (an online journal): you can use this to search a variety of journal articles (http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/search.php)

VOLCANO:

http://library.thinkquest.org/C003603/english/volcanoes/theadvantages.shtml

http://www.fema.gov/hazard/volcano/index.shtm

http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/education/index.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01186/dangers.htm

SEA LEVEL:

http://geology.com/sea-level-rise/venice.shtml

http://carbon-based-ghg.blogspot.com/2008/02/sea-level-low-in-venice.html

http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends.shtml

http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs2-00/

http://geology.com/articles/rebuilding-new-orleans.shtml

RIVER:

http://classgeo.blogspot.com/2008/08/advantages-of-living-near-river.html

http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol10/iss2/art15/

PLATE BOUNDARY:

http://scign.jpl.nasa.gov/learn/plate4.htm

http://geology.com/plate-tectonics.shtml

http://www.geodyn.psu.edu/research/americas/sanandreas.html

http://oceansjsu.com/105d/exped_shakin/11.html

MOUNTAIN:

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/13438-american-geography-

the-mountain-states-volume-ii-video.htm

TROPICAL ZONE:

http://www.irrigationfutures.org.au/zones.asp?ID=6

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/srh/jetstream/tropics/tropics_intro.htm

http://www.pbs.org/journeyintoamazonia/teacher_levels.html

HARBOR/BAY:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay

http://www.savesfbay.org/site/pp.asp?c=dgKLLSOwEnH&b=479739

ISLAND:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island

http://tinyurl.com/3vs8le

FOREST:

http://tinyurl.com/4dm5hc

http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol12/iss1/art18/

http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art2/

MOUNTAIN:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Stories/PeoplePlaces/Sherpa

http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol10/iss2/art14/

PLAIN:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_Plain

http://www.nps.gov/archive/jeff/LewisClark2/TheJourney/Geography.htm

Wikis in Plain English

If you need a review, here’s the short video we watched in class today. You may even want to show it to your parents. You can teach them about wikis…

Take a moment to think about the following questions. Please write a comment (or two or three on this post) with your thoughts…the more you write, the more I will be able to plan for this new, exciting, groundbreaking, earth-shattering experience.

 1. As we work on our wiki, what necessary sections (or pages) must we include? Should we include an area with character studies, plot summaries, vocabulary? Why or why not?

2. When you read a novel, how do you interact with the text on a deeper level? Do you like to daydream about characters? Setting? Do you like to draw what you read? What are your TALENTS – and HOW can you use your talents to SHOW how you interact with a text?

3. What are some of your classmates gifts (for one, Emma K is a great writer – could she make a play that goes alongside the narrative?) that we could use to make this wiki a phenomenal learning experience AND a phenomenal example of learning through technology in 2008?

YOU ARE THE CREATORS…this wiki is YOURS! It’s up to you to make it great!

Ms. Howard