1. No category

Map Your
Neighborhood
Program Type: Classroom program
Audience Type: Grades 6–12
Description: Students use maps of their neighborhood to identify sustainabilityrelated resources such as schools, bus stops, bicycle shops, and gardens.
Topics: Maps, sustainability, neighborhood layout, transportation
Process Skills Focus: Observing, communicating, classifying
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES


Students explore their neighborhoods via maps and identify sustainabilityrelated resources in their communities (parks, bus stops, public gardens,
etc.).
Students will feel they are making a difference in their communities and
see the benefits of community building.
TIME REQUIRED
Advance
Preparation
Set Up
10 minutes
10 minutes
Activity
60+ minutes
Clean Up
10 minutes
SITE
REQUIREMENTS


A classroom with a whiteboard or blackboard and desks to work on
Internet access and computer projector (optional)
Map Your Neighborhood - Sustainability
1-hour class
1
OMSI
2014
PROGRAM
FORMAT
Segment
Introduction
Map Your Neighborhood
Wrap-up
Format
Instructor-led Activity
Group Activity
Instructor-led Activity
Time
10 min
40 min
10 min
SUPPLIES
Major Consumables
Neighborhood map that
shows the location of the
school
OMSI transportation
stickers
Amount
One map
per 4–5
students
Location
Portland: Request free copies from
http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transport
ation/39402
Other metropolitan Oregon cities:
http://www.oregonmetro.gov/toolsliving/getting-around
General locations:
Google maps, AAA
One
Request from OMSI (503.797.4633) or
sheet per print from this document
4–5
students
Blackboard and chalk or
whiteboard and markers
ADVANCE
PREPARATION

Obtain maps and stickers from the sources listed above. If stickers cannot
be located, they can be printed from this document on regular printer
paper. Similarly, maps can be printed from the internet.
SET UP
SET UP
Map Your Neighborhood - Sustainability
1-hour class
2
OMSI
2014

Arrange desks in groups of 4 or 5 so that a single large work surface is
created for each group of students.
INTRODUCTION
10 minutes
Suggested script is shaded. Important points or questions are in bold. Possible
answers are shown in italics.
Let students speculate before offering answers to any questions. The answers
given are provided primarily for the instructor’s benefit.
Listen to one of the following “sustainability stories” on the “Voices” section of the
Local Voices, Clever Choices website:
Dorothy, Frugal Fashionista
Dorothy moved to Portland from Jamaica when she was 22. When life in the US got
difficult, she drew on her faith and ingenuity to start a new business making fabulous
children’s clothing using whatever resources she could find.
Deysi and Ivonne, Two-Wheel Duo
By learning about bicycle maintenance and safety education through the Community
Cycling Center's programs, Deysi and her daughter Ivonne discovered their personal
potential. Deysi received hands-on bike maintenance training while a member of
Andando en Bicicletas en Cully, a bike committee in the Cully neighborhood. Ivonne
gained confidence through Community Cycling Center's Bike Club program.
Mark, Roadside Revolutionary
This is Mark. He and his neighbors transformed a typical intersection into Share-It
Square—a collective space that now brings their whole community together.
What “sustainable choice” did the storyteller make?
[Answers for Dorothy, Frugal Fashionista] She decided to sew children’s clothing
to save money. Dorothy also used recycled materials to reduce waste.
What are some of the sustainable choices you’ve made?
Riding your bicycle instead of asking your parents to drive a car, cooking food at
home instead of eating at a restaurant, borrowing books from a library, donating
clothes to a thrift store.
What is sustainability?
We can divide this concept into three parts, or pillars.
Draw this Venn diagram on the board for the students to see:
Map Your Neighborhood - Sustainability
1-hour class
3
OMSI
2014
Sustainability is composed of the environment (air, water, animals), society
(education, health, safety), and the economy (money, jobs, businesses).
What are some examples of each pillar?
Environment: Parks, gardens, reducing pollution
Social: Community groups, schools, after-school sports
Economic: Jobs, houses, going to restaurants
What environmental impacts did the storyteller’s choice have? How about
social and economic impacts?
Dorothy saved cloth from going to waste by re-using it (environmental). She
contributed to a stronger community by providing handmade, quality clothing for
people (social). Dorothy sold her clothes to make money (economic).
Repeat this same analysis using another video from the Local Voices, Clever
Choices website.
Show one of the maps and point out the cardinal directions (west, east, north,
south).
Where on the map is our school located? We’ll be using these maps to locate
places that help make our community more sustainable. What places could we
include?
Parks, bus stops, community gardens, thrift stores, libraries, etc.
Some maps have several places already labeled.
Show that the top of the Portland maps contains a key showing symbols for
parks, stores, etc., which looks like:
Map Your Neighborhood - Sustainability
1-hour class
4
OMSI
2014
Other maps may also contain a similar key. If so, point it out to the students.
Map Your Neighborhood
GROUP ACTIVITY
40 minutes
Divide students into groups of 4–5 individuals; give each group a map.
We’ll be talking about four groups of community resources – food, transportation,
waste/stuff, and health.
How often do you use these resources and why are they important?
Ways to meet new people, enjoy tasty food, commute to work and school, do fun
activities, save money.
How do these resources tie into the three pillars of sustainability?
Environmental: growing a garden makes for a beautiful neighborhood
Social: riding the bus is a good way to meet friends
Economic: buying less new stuff saves money
Copy the following table onto the blackboard or whiteboard and challenge
students to fill in examples in each column:
Food
Transportation
Map Your Neighborhood - Sustainability
1-hour class
Waste/stuff
5
Health
OMSI
2014
For example:
Food
 Grocery store
 Fruit tree
 Garden store
 Community
garden
 Restaurant
with healthy
options
Transportation
 Bus
stops
 Bus
routes
 Bike
lanes
 Bike
shop
Waste/stuff
 Thrift store
 Library
 Tool library
 Recycling
center




Health
Park
Playground
School
Community
center
Each one of your groups will investigate one of these community resources –
you’ll place stickers on your map corresponding to that community resource.
If your class contains more than four groups, you can break up the community
resources into more groups. For example, you can divide the “Food” group into
two groups:
Food stores: grocery store, garden store, restaurant with healthy options
Gardens: fruit tree, community garden
Use the OMSI website Local Voices, Clever Choices – www.omsi.edu/choices –
and the internet to locate these different resources on your maps.
If internet access is not available, students can use the map’s key to locate some
of these resources and their knowledge of the area.
After the groups have finished, bring all of the students together and compare the
maps.
WRAP-UP
10 minutes
Post the maps on your classroom wall.
How can you use the information provided in the maps?
Navigate to school using public transportation, take a trip to the library to learn
about a new subject, visit a community garden to see what’s growing.
Which theme – food, transportation, waste/stuff, health – has the most
resources on the map?
Bus stops are plentiful, so students might find that the transportation theme has
the most entries on the map.
Map Your Neighborhood - Sustainability
1-hour class
6
OMSI
2014
Which resources are closest to the school?
Which resources are missing around the school?
What resources would make the area around the school more sustainable?
CLEAN UP

Pick up any extra maps or stickers left and put them in a designated bag
or basket.
OPTIONAL
EXTENSIONS




Each student can complete his or her own map, with all of the resources
around his or her home indicated with stickers.
Lead a walking tour of the neighborhood around the school, visiting
several places indicated on the maps.
Prompt students what resources are missing from their community (a
park? a grocery store?). Have students write a letter to their local
representative asking for these resources (find contact information for
representatives on the Local Voices, Clever Choices website:
http://choices.omsi.edu/challenges/64#.U4ZP_PldWSo).
Students can explore the Equity Atlas map (http://clfuture.org/equity-atlas)
to see how resources are distributed throughout the Portland metropolitan
area. Downloadable maps show how food stores, access to healthcare,
education levels, and transportation options are distributed throughout the
greater Portland metropolitan area.
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Clever Together (Juntos somos ingeniosos) is a permanent bilingual exhibit at
OMSI in the Earth Science hall that focuses on the small but important choices
we make every day that impact our environment, community, and economy.
Local Voices, Clever Choices website: the online companion to Clever Together
features stories of people who are already making inspiring choices in their
everyday lives to contribute to a more sustainable Portland:
http://choices.omsi.edu/
Map Your Neighborhood - Sustainability
1-hour class
7
OMSI
2014
NEXT GENERATION
SCIENCE STANDARDS
Practices
1. Asking questions and defining problems
2. Planning and carrying out investigations
3. Analyzing and interpreting data
4. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating
information
Map Your Neighborhood - Sustainability
1-hour class
8
Crosscutting Concepts
1. Structure and function
OMSI
2014
Map Your Neighborhood - Sustainability
1-hour class
9
OMSI
2014