Painting of the first train to San Francisco

CONNECTIONS TO THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS:
The geographically informed person knows and understands…
Std. 1 - How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
Std. 8 - The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on the Earth’s surface.
Std. 11 - The patterns and networks of economic interdependence on Earth’s surface.
Std. 16 - The changes that occur in the meaning, use, distribution, and importance of resources.

CONNECTIONS TO THE NEW YORK STATE STANDARDS FOR SOCIAL STUDIES:
Std. 1.1 - The study of New York State and the United States history requires an analysis of the development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context, and the ways people are unified by many values, pracitices, and traditions.
Std. 3.1 - Geography can be divided into six essential elements which can be used to analyze important historic, geographic, economic, and environmental questions and issues.
Std. 3.2 - Geography requires the development and application of the skills of asking and answering geographic questions; analyzing theories of geography; and acquiring, organizing, and analyzing geographic information.

OBJECTIVES: (to know, to do, and to be like)
1. Students will place these cities on an outline map: Seattle, Portland, Vancouver, San Francisco.
2. After reading short selections, students will state facts about the growth patterns of these Northwest cities.
3. Using atlases and satellite images, students will justify why these cities are located where they are.
4. Students will explain why alternative locations for these cities would be less successful.

MATERIALS: Activity Worksheet (in pdf format), outline map of the West Coast, atlases, satellite images and historic photos (to download these photographs, see links below), night satellite photo of North America.

LINKS:
Satellite Images from Visible Earth:   Winter Coast    Vancouver Island    Pacific Coast    Another Pacific View

Historic Photographs:   Seattle Waterfront 1890    Lumbering near Portland        Vancouver Canneries    

First Train to San Francisco    San Francisco Panorama    California Orchard    Railroad on Columbia River

PROCEDURES:
1. Assign students to four groups. Have them use their atlases to help them locate the cities of Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Vancouver, BC; and San Francisco, CA. Have them label these cities on the outline map, as well as important physical features (Cascade, Olympic, and Klamath Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, the Puget Sound, the Columbia River, Straits of Georgia, Willamette River, San Francisco Bay, etc.).
2. Each group is assigned a different city to research. First, they read a short article about the city. They record relevant information on the chart on the worksheet.
3. Next they look over satellite images and various maps in their atlases. These should include relief maps, climate maps, precipitation maps, economic maps, and any other maps of relevance. They record information obtained from the maps on the chart.
4. The groups then write a short statement explaining why this was a good location for their city. Each group should present their findings to the class as a whole. The class should decide on any common factors that all cities share.
5. Finally, the teacher informs the class that we are turning the clock back to the early 1800’s. A different location has been chosen for each city. The groups explain these locations probably would not succeed. (Example: relocate San Francisco to Big Sur or Vancouver to interior BC).

SUGGESTED STUDENT ASSESSMENT:
1. The information chart prepared by each group should be assessed carefully by the teacher.
2. The group presentations can also be assessed in terms of clarity and the relevance of information collected.
3. See if students can apply this skill to another region of the country. Why are most Upstate New York cities located in a line stretching from Albany to Buffalo?

ADAPTATIONS AND EXTENSIONS:
1. This activity can probably be adapted for other regions of the country and the world.
2. Students can be asked to predict where future urban development will occur.
3. Students can be given a map of an imaginary country. They decide where their major city will be located and be prepared to defend that decision.