The Geography Team: Your Local Landscape and its People       

1. How has your landscape changed over time? (over the last 200 years)?
2. How is the land used? What is the impact of the landscape on the people? 
   
3. How has population changed over the last several hundred years? Why did it change?
4. What is the impact of population density? 35% of people live on 1% of ice-free land! 
   
5. How were buildings and occupations adapted to the land? (For example, in our area there used to be many tobacco barns.  Their land is now being sold for houses. In another example, all the houses in one area are being refitted to make them earthquake proof.)
6. What is the impact of people on the landscape?

TO DO:

 
1.Catalog your land cover percentages (CATEGORIES INCLUDE built - urban, built - suburban, grassland, forest, mountain, water, wetland.)  

2. Explore population information:  

a. Population Clocks
http://www.census.gov/population/www/
 
b. Local population data
Is your population (nation and area) going up or down? Is the number of older people changing?
 
The US Census Bureau has more than you want to know! ("The Census Bureau provides census count and current estimates of the number of inhabitants of the Nation, regions, States, cities, counties, and other areas.") 
 
Russia
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/country/rsportal.html
Italy
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/country/itportal.html
US
http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/country/usportal.html
 
c. Population density
 
(World) City Mayors Statistics
Population density around the world. Covers the largest cities
 http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/largest-cities-density-125.html
 
World Resources Institute
http://earthtrends.wri.org/country_profiles/index.php?theme=4
            Select your country, and then look for numbers such as population, and then number of people per square kilometer (km).  Would this be a good number for you to work with?  Why or (more likely) why not?
            Pick a few other countries to compare.  For example, in Moscow the population density in 2007 was 4900/square kilometer.
 

3. Enter current population for the nearest big city on the Time Line.

4. Select three dates and collect data for these times.  Then write an essay of why things changed or did not change.  Put your findings on a time line.
Be sure to include:
 
a. Population and population density of your area

b. Land cover
__%  covered by houses
__%  covered by grass (lawns typical of residential neighborhoods, parks, cemeteries, golf courses, turf farms, and other maintained grassy areas.)
__%  covered by farms, including pasture
 __%  covered by trees
 __%  covered by water
 __%  covered by wetland
 __% barren (nothing much living on it.)
 
c. Locations of possible local experts who might help you answer these questions:
            Departments of Geography
            Agricultural agency
            Conservation/preservation agency
            Census
            Town records
 
d. What serves as evidence?
 
Examples of artifacts
GIS pictures
Land type and use
            Amount of "sprawl" around cities
            Old field boundaries
Earthworks
Historic maps
Old photos and drawings

Overlays
 
Internet search words:  landscape, population, population density, population impact
 

More Internet links

 
Changing Connecticut Landscape
http://clear.uconn.edu/projects/landscape/local/rbasin.asp
 
Museum of Landscape history
http://www.lalh.org/