Introduction and expectations. 
The Grade 12 University-bound course. 

Independent Study Project 
-I. S. P. outline  
-getting started 

  Click here to read a worksheet on how to write a great comparison contrast essay 
Click here to see a rubric for writing a great comparison 

Think about the place where you live. Place, in this sense could mean the house you live in, the neighbourhood, the town, the province, or even the country. Divide a piece of paper into two columns. At the top of the first column write the heading: The Place Where I Live. At the top of the second column, write the heading: The Place Where I Dream of Living. In each column, list the positive and negative attributes of the two places. The more attributes you can think of, the better! 
Now look over both lists, and answer these questions on the back of the paper. 
How has your current "place" shaped you, and how you interact with others? (ie isolated, connected, urban, cosmopolitan, rural, homogenous). 
What factors have formulated the ideal place you dream of living in? (ie travel, newspaper accounts etc.) 
Why are there differences between the two lists? 
Name a place that you would absolutely hate to live in. Why? 

Duedate: End of the period. 
Deadline: Tomorrow, before the beginning of the period.

Article: Touch your arm, touch your heart. The Globe and Mail. Mon. May 5, 2003. 

Expectations: explain how culture (e.g., religion, gender roles, social values, food preferences) and function (e.g., finance, trade, government, education, manufacturing) affect the characteristics of a place

Case Study: Climate and economic development in southern California (EaP pg. 93) 

Expectations: describe how landforms, climate, soils, and vegetation influence settlement patterns

Indonesian Malaria Outbreak 2005 

Expectations: demonstrate an understanding of the locational advantages and disadvantages of different sites for human activities (e.g., Nile or Brahmaputra flood plains, coastal wetland zones, river crossings). 

Groups of people in similar environments may have different ways of life  
          -Bisenahalli - same place, different stoory (EaP pg. 449) 
          -Brazil's history. 

Expectations: explain why groups of people in similar environments (e.g., deserts) may have different ways of life; analyse the characteristics of selected ecumenes (settled environments) and explain why they differ from place to place and from one period of time to another; 

Expectations: analyse selected settlement patterns around the world to show how they have been influenced by cultural factors (e.g., inheritance systems, land settlement systems);

2. Kumasi : Housing types and their distribution. 
Answer Question 14 on the Kumasi handout. 20 marks in the ISP category. 
Research period needed to locate subsidized, CO-OP and low-income housing patterns in York Region. 
ARCVIEW mapping tool to construct a map to show these patterns. 
Write a report to discuss the implications of these patterns in the fight against disparity. 
Map: 10 marks 
Report: 10 marks. 

Expectations: assess the influence of different cultures on their local area 

Video: Escaping from History. The National Film Board of Canada, 1994. 51 min. (Mexico) 
 
 
 
 
 

Expectations: evaluate the impacts of urbanization on selected environments (e.g., air pollution in Los Angeles or Hong Kong, slums in Mexico City); 

UNCHS -Global Urban Observatory 

 

Expectations: compare the capacity of selected ecumenes in the past and in the present to meet human needs; produce a case study to show how characteristics of their local area have evolved to meet changing human needs

Articles on York Region urban sprawl:   

  The problem with dense cities 
Plan hinges on breaking our car habit   
York Region tries to get a grip on growth  
Sprawling city at a crossroads 
 

Write a one page summary of what you have read to show that characteristics of York Region have evolved to meet changing human needs. 
Use your own words.  
All important points must be addressed in your summary. 
(10 marks in the ISP category)

Board Note: 
Temperature Inversion diagram; 
Urban Heat Island diagram. 

Air pollution and urbanization.  
Case Studies: London, England 1950s; Atmospheric pollution in Tokyo. 
Article: Crowded Tokyo changing its own weather. The Toronto Star, Mon. Aug 26, 2002. 
Article: Pollution blamed for African drought.  The Tornto Star. Monday July 22, 2002

Evaluation: 
/5 marks Thinking  =  # of comparable points 
/5 marks Communication = correct format, clear and understandable language and spelling.

Pattern and Process: A Research and Web Assignment 
due March 24, 2005 
Evaluation: 
/10 marks Thinking (Research evident, Complexity obvious) 
/10 marks Communication (Organizaton and analysis) 
/10 marks Application (Computer generation and Clarity) 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Expectations: analyse a major geographic characteristic of the Great Lakes megalopolis (e.g., spatial organization, urban systems, demography) and determine the factors that have shaped its present pattern; 

Mark Lombardi (1951 - 2000) Global Networks 
Explore the work of American artist Mark Lombardi, whose unique drawing practice charted the labyrinthine relationships between key, often shadowy, players in world political/financial events. 
  Milwaukee Art Museum Jan. 13 - April 10, 2005 
  About the artist 
  NY Arts Magazine

Expectations: analyse examples of the influence of culture on human activities (e.g., pilgrimages, tourism); 

Similarities  
In both Las Vegas and Smalltown,.......... 
Differences  
In Smalltown...... but in Las Vegas..... etc. 

Evaluation:  
/10 marks in the Commuication category. 
 

-The Von Thünen Model 
     -Development "compass rose" 
Spatial diffusion. GRAC pg. 348 - 351. 

 
Expectations: demonstrate an understanding of concepts of spatial interaction (e.g., intervening opportunities, complementarity, distance decay) and use them to explain patterns of movement and interactions between places (e.g., trade patterns, transportation patterns); 

Expectations: identify boundaries according to type  

Map of South America 
 
 

Further study: The Falkland war of 1982 

Expectations: explain how and why national and regional boundaries evolve;

Video: CBC News in Review. Dec. 1999. The Berlin Wall 10 years later. 

Article: German unification a mixed blessing. The Globe ad Mail. Sat. Oct. 4, 1997

Expectations: propose solutions to selected boundary conflicts and internal disputes.

The U.S. Border Patrol's battle to stem the tide of illegal migrants from Mexico is legendry. Much less well known is just how many people wind up dead. This year's body count is a record, and critics say Canada shares the blame. 
 
 

Expectations: explain the reasons causing people to leave rural areas and move to cities in large numbers and the consequences of these movements for rural and urban landscapes; propose solutions to selected boundary conflicts and internal disputes; evaluate the positive and negative aspects of migration policies on human movements;

Expectations: explain the reasons causing people to leave rural areas and move to cities in large numbers and the consequences of these movements for rural and urban landscapes; explain selected movements of goods and people, using concepts of spatial interaction. 

Additional research links: 
Global Migration 
Center for Migration Studies 

Assignment: Thematic mapping of migration patterns  
1. Using Chart #23 on pg. 190 of the Oxford Canadian School Atlas, 7th edition, create a map to show the changes in the Canadian immigrant population by place of birth, 1970 to 1995 
Thinking evaluation = 10 marks     Application evalutation = 10 marks 
2. On the back of your map, write a paragraph to summarize the trends you have mapped. 
Communication evaluation = 5 marks

Expectations: explain why push factors are more significant contributors to international migration today than pull factors; evaluate the positive and negative aspects of migration policies on human movements;

Expectations: identify different types of migration (e.g., immigration, forced migration, economic migration, seasonal migration); explain how international migrations are affected by political conditions, economic incentives, and religious and family ties; explain how government policies can either encourage or discourage mass migrations;

Expectations: analyse the effects of mass migrations on various terrestrial ecosystems; produce a case study of the effects of human migration on selected ecosystems (e.g., refugee movements into fragile environments in Africa or Asia); 

Difficulties in preserving natural environments. 
An Isolated island ecosystem: Galapagos  
 
 
 

Expectations: identify examples from each continent of positive and negative effects of human activities on the natural environment; 

Expectations: describe selected examples of distinctive alterations of the physical environment by humans and explain the reasons for these adaptations 

Article: Uncaging the zoo. The Globe and Mail. Wed. May 7, 2002. 
Article: Wild Africa's comeback. The Globe and Mail. Sat. Sept. 20, 2003.
Article: The simple pleasures of fake nature. The Globe and Mail. Sat. Aug 16, 2003.

Expectations: identify examples from each continent of positive and negative effects of human activities on the natural environment; 

At the end of the discussion, list 15 points discussed in class.

Expectations: describe selected examples of distinctive alterations of the physical environment by humans (e.g., terraced hillsides of Thailand, polders in the Netherlands) and explain the reasons for these adaptations 

Article: West Nile Solution: Kill them all. The Globe and Mail. Sat. May 17, 2003. 

Video: Niagara Falls: A Cautionary Tale 

Expectations: describe selected examples of distinctive alterations of the physical environment by humans and explain the reasons for these adaptations 

The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Nigeria. (EaP pg. 236) 
     -traditional semi-nomadic farming practices are being threatened by population increases, urban influences, and more intensive agricultural practices. Major irrigation schemes have been proposed. 

Desertification: 
The Indira Gandhi Canal 

Coping with the problems of permafrost (EaP pg. 210) 

Expectations: analyse the advantages and disadvantages of intensive human use of selected physical features

Coping with the problems of permafrost 
1. Describe the physical conditions of the world's tundra regions. 
2. List five ways humans have adapted development to tundra conditions?

Expectations: explain how natural hazards (e.g., drought, flooding, typhoons, landslides, earthquakes) and environmental problems caused by human activities (e.g., oil spills, acid rain) affect development in selected regions.

Tsunami 2004 

Map of Asian areas affected by Dec.26, 2004 Tsunami 
 
Map of Asia Population density, 2000 

Indonesian Malaria Outbreak 2005 

Expectations: evaluate the political, economic, and social impacts of a selected development project on the ability of people to control their land and lifestyles;  

Expectations: explain how technology contributes to cultural/economic convergence (e.g., facilitation of cross-cultural contact) and divergence (e.g., reinforcement of nationalism, religious fundamentalism, cultural separation, economic protectionism). 

Expectations: explain how cultural characteristics (e.g., religion, language, ethnicity) act as linking factors within and between regions; 

Expectations: explain the role of international organizations (e.g., United Nations, World Bank, World Health Organization, Red Cross, Amnesty International) in fostering contact between world peoples; 

Expectations: identify cultural and economic factors that trigger conflict or ecological disintegration (e.g., national, ethnic, and religious differences, unequal resource distribution, trade blocs);

Expectations: analyse examples of social phenomena that contribute to cultural and economic convergence (e.g., widespread use of English in business, ethnic quarters in large cities, cultural associations and centres), peace, and good international relations; 

Video: Turbulence, The National Film Board of Canada. 1998. 52 min. (globalization-financial) 

      -towards global interdependence  
Article: While living the good life, frugal people find Nordic paradise. The Globe and Mail. Sat. Aug. 3, 2002 
Expectations: compare economic opportunities for men, women, and children in selected regions or countries (e.g., Canada, North Africa, Scandinavia, Japan);