Category Archives: modules by activity

Support for designing place-based learning activities

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Anne Leonard

Documents to help you design your place-based learning activity: City Tech’s General Education Proposal, including General Education Learning Outcomes [pdf] Activity Template [.docx] Sample Activity Template: Jonas Reitz’s Infinity activity [pdf] Kuh’s High Impact Practices [pdf] Thanks to Karen Goodlad … Continue reading →

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What the ?#!%* is gentrification?

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Anne Leonard

What is gentrification, anyway? Activity: In the classroom, or via the course blog, real-time collaboration software such as google docs or piratepad, or Blackboard, students will crowdsource a definition of the term gentrification. In the field, the class will visit … Continue reading →

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The Sixth Borough

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Anne Leonard

Q: What is the sixth borough of New York City? A: Its waterways. New York City’s Comprehensive Waterfront plan, Vision2020, describes the City’s plans to reclaim New York’s waterfront by expanding public access, supporting the working waterfront, develop climate resistance, … Continue reading →

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The Smelling Committee

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Anne Leonard

The Fifteenth Ward Citizens’ organization formed in Brooklyn in 1891 to convince the mayor of Brooklyn to put a stop to the “nuisances and deathly stenches” emanating from the refineries and factories of Newtown Creek. The so-called Smelling Committee was … Continue reading →

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Maps of imaginary places

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Anne Leonard

An image can engage an audience and supplement textual information, but a map can enhance a text by illustrating movement, showing where and how simultaneous storylines take place, and by suggesting the passage of time. Many children’s books and sci-fi/fantasy … Continue reading →

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Trip Calculator

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Anne Leonard

“Before GIS, before GPS, before Google Earth, there was the milestone.” So begins a recent New York Times article about an early wayfinding marker known as the milestone. At least 40 milestones pointed 18th-century New Yorkers in the direction of … Continue reading →

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You may already be a Flaneur

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Anne Leonard

As New Yorkers, many of us get around on foot more than we make use of any other mode of transportation. Traditionally, a Flâneur was a well-dressed gentleman intent on experiencing and observing the city as he walked leisurely walks … Continue reading →

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Citizen cartographer

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Anne Leonard

Working in groups or individually, students will layer a historic map of a geographic area onto a contemporary map, satellite image, or street grid. Learning objectives: Students will develop their ability to interpret multiple forms of evidence, including that from … Continue reading →

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