1. While You Wait – Riverside High School Land Use
Think about (and be ready to share responses) to the following questions:
What are your favorite and least favorite parts about the Riverside High School campus? How might they impact or be impacted by the land use?
What do you know about the land use changes at the site of Riverside High School? (could be from previous knowledge or what I told you last class)

2. Today’s Objectives
We will talk about end of quarter assignments and have over half of the class period to begin brainstorming and collecting information/data for our Riverside Land Use Project
I will participate in the class and with my group and use the time given to me wisely so I can set myself up for success on the Riverside Land Use project.

3. Land use: General and Urban
Unit 5: The Geosphere (solid earth)

4. Land Cover
Something people didn’t really care about! (until California)
Farming, mining, recreation, cities, roads, etc.
What is considered urban? According to the U.S. Census Bureau…
>2500 people
Governing body (e.g. city council)
Not urban? Then rural.
1990s – in a span of 8 years 210,000 acres of farmland, rangeland, and woodland had been converted into suburbs! (does not only exist here)

5. Over Time and Place Industrial revolution
Think about what we talked about with the demographic transition last unit!!

6. Dependence on Rural Lands
Whether we like it or not, we are dependent on ecosystem services from rural areas
Purification of air and water
Prevention of flood and drought
Regulation of climate
Maintenance of biodiversity
Cycling of nutrients
Detoxification of wastes
Aesthetic beauty
Asking the question of what can the ecosystem provide us? Urban-rural connection!!!

7. Urbanization What are reasons people leave rural areas?
Slowed by 1970s
Metropolitan areas – small towns that have grown together
Roads are better; mixed with green space (ecosystem services)—is this always true?
Infrastructure (what society builds for public use) breaks down
Obviously we live in one, also Denver-Boulder, Boston-Worcester-Lawrence

9. Urban Sprawl
Building suburbs/housing communities on the boundary of a large town
But what if these cities were built on “marginal land?”
Cities generate and trap more heat—impermeable surfaces! (Unit 1)
Hot air cools as it rises, leading to more rainfall
Sustainable design – planting trees, rooftops that reflect heat
Land that is poorly suited for building—LA is built in a basin (so homes have expanded up the mountainside).

11. Urban Planning
Better to determine these things in advance, as opposed to on the go
Easier said then done—a LOT of stakeholders (who?).
GIS – computer program for sorting, manipulating, and viewing geographic data (overlays)
Transportation – most American cities were built AFTER cars became a thing
Mass transit – saves energy, reduces highway congestion/air pollution, saves more land for open space
Joke about how I plan this class…
Why European transportation systems are better!

12. Land Use at Riverside High School
Propose changes OR a new location
Groups of 3
“Science Fair” Presentations (dates)
Some preliminary thoughts
Micro-piles (no bedrock)
Habitat fragmentation
Recreational land lost