School Improvement in Maryland
Government Lesson Plans
Lesson Plan 15
 		  
Government Lesson Plans
 		 . Overview
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Lesson Objectives
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Materials
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Procedures
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Assessment of Indicator

Overview
Core Learning Goal: 3
The student will demonstrate an understanding of geographic concepts and processes to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities throughout history.
Expectation: 1
The student will demonstrate an understanding of the relationship of cultural and physical geographic factors in the development of government policy.
Indicator: 3.1.3
The student will analyze the roles and relationships of regions on the formation and implementation of government policy.

Assessment Limits:
  • International, national, state, and/or regional interests that may shape government policy.
This is a lesson on Maryland's Smart Growth Initiative and how different state regions (counties) might react to this policy.

 
Lesson Objectives
Students will practice planning for the development of an area using the goals of Smart Growth as a guide.
Students will analyze how regions can affect government policies.

 
Materials
Student Reading: Background Notes on Smart Growth
Student Handout: Cooperative Group Assignment
Recommended resources:
  • Maryland Department of Planning
  • Maryland Department of Natural Resources
  • Maryland Dept. of Housing and Community Development
  • Maryland Department of Transportation
  • Maryland Dept. of Business and Economic Development
  Useful website:

 
Procedures
  1. Discuss a local situation (a new road, a new business, a new development, mass transit) that has affected the local community. Ask students to consider both the positive and negative impacts.
     
  2. Introduce the goals of Smart Growth by distributing the student reading Background Notes on Smart Growth, or by reviewing these principles:
    1. Mixed land uses;
    2. Take advantage of existing community assets;
    3. Create a range of housing opportunities and choices;
    4. Foster "walkable", close knit neighborhoods;
    5. Promote distinctive, attractive communities with a strong sense of place, including the rehabilitation and use of historic buildings;
    6. Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty, and critical environmental areas;
    7. Strengthen and encourage growth in existing communities;
    8. Provide a variety of transportation choices;
    9. Make cost-efficient development decisions predictable, fair, and cost-effective; and,
    10. Encourage stakeholder and citizen participation in development decisions.
       
  3. Divide students into groups and explain that they will be role-playing citizens who will recommend how an area should be developed following principles of Smart Growth. Distribute the handout Cooperative Group Assignment and review the directions for developing a recommendation.
     
  4. Have each group present their plan. They should justify and support their choices. Conclude by discussing the pros/cons of Smart Growth.

 
Assessment of Indicator
Have students answer this Brief Constructed Response item:

Maryland adopted anti-sprawl Smart Growth Initiatives in an attempt to save natural resources, to limit development to areas where infrastructure is already in place, and to save money. Some Maryland counties who do not have a sprawl problem might feel that the Smart Growth regulations are unfair to them.

  • Do you agree or disagree with these counties? Explain.
  • Should some regions be exempt from Maryland's Smart Growth Initiatives? Why or why not?
  • Include details and examples to support your answers.
Use the Social Studies Rubric to score student responses.

 
.  Print Version: Government Lesson Plan (Acrobat 18k)