Summary
Students must use their geographical skills to create maps for a world following a zombie apocalypse. Students also identify "ideal" locations for human settlement using world maps. While this lesson aligns with world human geography, it was also adapted for AP world human geography.
Essential Question(s)
What makes a particular location an ideal place in which to live?
Snapshot
Engage
Students participate in activities that help define the terms, "location" and "place"
Explore
Students participate in a scenario about a zombie apocalypse and brainstorm an ideal place where humans could resettle after the apocalypse is over.
Explain
Students receive a map checklist and create an imaginary map of their ideal place.
Extend
Through the lens of regions, students use atlases or online atlases to determine an ideal location and place in which to live and defend their choice of the location and place they choose.
Evaluate
The group map project and the GRAPES chart from the region assignment will serve as the evaluations.
Materials
Colored pencils per group of students
Rulers per group of students
Map checklist and rubric
Atlases or the availability of an online atlas or set of world maps
Student devices with internet access
Student GRAPES charts (attached)
"Ideal Place Checklist" (attached)
Engage
Begin by asking students to get out a sheet of notebook paper and fold it in half lengthwise. This will make two long columns. In the left column, ask students to describe their school as if someone had never been inside. What is it like? Classrooms? Buildings? Outdoor areas? Ask them to put as much detail in the description as possible. Give them 5 minutes.
In the right hand column, ask students to describe how to get to their school from their home. What would be the directions? What landmarks are nearby that would help someone new drive to the school?
Pair students with a partner. Ask students to share their information. Once pairs have shared, ask partners to share out what they wrote. Discuss each column separately.
Place on the board the two words of "location" and "place" . Ask the partners to think like geographers do. These are geographic terms. Tell them they just wrote about both "location" and "place". Ask them to a) discuss which of the description is about "place" and b) which description is about "location". They are to title the two columns of their notebook paper with the appropriate word. Once students have committed, ask partners how they determined which description was the place and which was the location. As students discuss their reasoning, summarize key ideas underneath each key word of “location” and “place” that would help create a definition for each.
Explore
Show the movie trailer for "World War Z": a film about a world thrown into chaos because of a zombie apocalypse.
Begin a discussion after the video clip:.
Ask students what they see and hear on the video.
What might the people in the video be thinking?
What do you see happening to all the urban areas in the video?
Tell students that, for this lesson, THEY are the survivors of this zombie apocalypse. All the zombies have been eventually destroyed by a virus, but they did severe damage and destruction all over the world. During the war with the zombies, urban areas and particularly cities, telecommunications, and technology have all been destroyed. Only small pockets of humans remain scattered around the world. The humans who are left in groups must find a place for humans to resettle and survive.
Divide students into groups of three. Ask them to fold a piece of notebook paper in half length-wise. At the top of the left column of the notebook paper, have student groups write the title, "Description of Most Desirable Place." Ask student groups to brainstorm together 5-10 ideas of what type of a place that humans would need to thrive and resettle. What would be the ideal place? Remind students of the definition of place again. Allow 10 minutes for this activity.
Groups will write "Have you considered?" at the top of their second column on the notebook paper. Tell groups that the survival of the ENTIRE human race is at stake, so we will help our fellow humans by reading their lists and offering some advice about an ideal place they may have not thought about. Have students pass their notebook paper to another group. The second group is to write at least one positive idea that might be helpful to the first group when thinking about an ideal place.
Explain
Pass out blank paper, rulers, colored pencils, and the map checklist to student groups. Using their brainstormed ideas, groups of three are going to create a map of their ideal place for humans to resettle. Go over the map checklist. If students need a visual example, they can skim through atlases and look at various types of maps. Ask student groups to write a paragraph description of this "place" underneath the map. The paragraph should describe in detail what this place is like and why it would be optimum for human settlement.
Allow 35 to 40 minutes for the completion of the map project, and then have student groups post their maps around the room. Students will then conduct a Gallery Walk.
The student groups should choose a representative to answer questions about the map and their "ideal place." If time allows, the group could also develop talking points for the representative about the "ideal place." The designated group member should stand by the map as the representative to answer questions or present their map through talking points. The rest of the class will walk around the room, examining the other groups' maps and giving feedback.
Give several Post-it notes to the remaining group members. As they walk around looking at other maps and their descriptions, have the two remaining group members rate the chance of "survival" (0-100%) for each group of humans after the apocalypse in their new places. They should confer together and write a reason on their Post-it note for the rating they choose.
Extend
The Location of An Ideal Place: Have student groups "fast forward" to the real world today. Tell students that there are many places in the world that might be ideal for someone to live.
Begin a large-group discussion of what an ideal place would look like for a person in today's world.
What would that place be like?
Would it be more urban or rural?
What type of climate would it have?
What type of culture and people?
What would this place need for a person to thrive?
Allow for students to share their ideas in a class discussion.
Tell students that to cover the world thoroughly, students will look at the world through the lens of a region. Display the PowerPoint slide of the AP regional world map. Ask students to talk with an elbow partner about why geographers would divide the world into these particular regions or lump certain countries together as a region. Allow time for elbow partners to discuss. Groups should then share their answers in a large-class discussion.
You may have students to return to their map group or assign students to a new group. Assign or count off each group with a number one through seven. You may need to repeat one or two numbers again, depending on the number of groups you have. Display the regions on the board (Antarctica has been omitted in this lesson because it is largely uninhabitable). It is fine if a region is assigned to more than one group. There are so many places and locations available that this should not be a problem.
The regions are:
North America
Central America
South America
Africa
Asia
Oceania
Russian Federation
Students should find an ideal place within the boundaries of that region that they can describe to the class. They will investigate the location of that ideal place as well. What would the ideal place be like for someone today? Where will it be? Pass out the graphic organizer ("GRAPES Chart") to each student. Even though they are still working in groups, they will be responsible for their own GRAPES graphic organizer. Using the atlases provided (or an online atlas), they are to choose an ideal place together within their region. Once the place is chosen, they will use the atlas resource and the Internet to describe their place, its location within the region, and why they chose it.
Students will give brief oral presentations using their graphic organizer to describe the place they chose and its location. Have each group member discuss one part of the "GRAPES Chart." The teacher may wish to put up the world region map again so that students can point to the approximate location of their place as they present their information.
Evaluate
Once maps created in the Explain activity have been rated for survival, they can also be graded using the map checklist for accuracy. The "GRAPES Chart" can also be an assessment.
The teacher may also choose to grade the optional paragraph about the place of the school and the location of the school, which is found in the Engage section of this lesson.
Resources
World War Z Trailer: JoBlo Movie Trailers. (2012, November 8). World War Z - official trailer (HD) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcwTxRuq-uk
K20 Center. (n.d.). Pass the Problem. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f506c28b
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery Walk. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f505a54d
NatGeo Location and Place Page: National Geographic Society. (2016). Location and place: A geographic perspective. Retrieved from http://nationalgeographic.org/activity/location-place-geographic-perspective/