Urban & Regional Planner - Fun Activities - Government and Defence

Government & Defence - URBAN & REGIONAL PLANNER

Where Things Are From Near to Far - A Review!

Primary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Australian Curriculum General Capability: ICT Capability

1. You are to read the following book Where Things Are From Near to Far after reading the following review:

"While playing in the city park, little Hugo wonders, Who put these buildings here? Hugo's mother leads him on a whirlwind trip through the city, the country, and everything in-between to explain the answer.

This engaging book is an easy introduction to the world of urban planning, and illustrates that every building has its place. The book is based on the urban-to-rural transect, which divides cities into six different zones ranging from rural countryside to dense skyscrapers. The transect is a great way to look at the building blocks of a city, and to start thinking about how all the pieces of a city get planned in relation to one another.

The urban transect was originally created by Andres Duany, a Miami architect. Every day, city planners help shape our cities and towns -- making streets safe for pedestrians, improving building designs so they meet the needs of citizens, improving traffic flow, creating bike paths and city parks, and preserving historic buildings.

This book is a tribute to the work that they do in hopes that kids will learn more about this fascinating career at an early age. This fun to read, 22-page, full-color, hardcover book was written by Planetizen Managing Editor Tim Halbur and Editor Chris Steins, and features hand-colored illustrations by artist David Ryan." (Source: Amazon Books)

2. You are to review this book keeping in mind the role of the Urban & Regional Planner.

How different is your review from the one above?

3. Share your review with a partner. How are they different? How are they the same?

4. Create a Venn Diagram showing the similarities and the differences in each of the three reviews.

What makes a city tick? Designing the 'urban DMA'

Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

1. Read the following article from The Conversation 2 November 2016 Reading

2. List 10 facts or points of interest from this article. Share with a partner. Did you have the same facts or POI? Why? Why not?

3. Create a list of 8 facts or points of interest that you both agree on.

4. To clarify the concept of Density, read the following article from The Conversation 20 May 2016 by the same authors Reading

5. Add to your notes by researching the following article from The Conversation 29 January 2015 Reading

6. Discussion

Discuss with a partner:

Look at the city or town you live in or near. How is it's DMA? What is needed to improve it's DMA?

Trigonometric Trajectories & Glider Poles

Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

Cooperative Learning Activity

This lesson is taken from the website ReSolve - developed by the Academy of Science and the Australian Mathematics Teachers Association. It was developed for Year 10 Mathematics.

Students learn about the importance of building “glider poles” by the sides of highways to allow gliding mammals to cross wide roads, then design a pair of glider poles appropriate for the animals and roads in their region. They use their knowledge of trigonometry, particularly angles of elevation and depression.

1. In pairs, you are to read the following article from The Conversation 18 January 2013 Reading

2. Make a dot point list of what this research shows.

3. Discussion

Discuss with another pair.

4. You are now going to use your mathematics to design a pair of glider poles appropriate for the animals and roads in your region. Individually, you are to complete this exercise. Instructions are here. PPT is here. Look at both instructions before commencing with your glider pole.

5. Confer with a partner. Did you both get the same answer?

RMIT: Centre for Urban Research [CUR] - A Research Project

Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Intercultural Understanding

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Numeracy

1. You are to select ONE project to research. You can select one of either current or past projects.

2. Go to the website and select a project. You are to use the Retrieval Chart Strategy to obtain as much relevant and interesting data as you can. Make sure you gather as much information about the cost of your project and its ramifications to government.

3. With another student who has also researched your project, add to each other's retrieval chart strategy.

4. Together, create a presentation about the implications of this project on Urban and Regional Planning.

Airport Planning and Turtles!

Primary Middle Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

1. In pairs, read the following article from The Conversation 4 July 2023 Reading

2. List all the challenges that the Airport Planner has to overcome from this article knowing that the new airport is only years away from opening [2026].

3. What would you suggest as the best way to help the turtles survive?

Websites, Games & Apps

Make a Town

Primary Middle

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Information and Communication Technology Capability

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

1. Go to the Owl & Mouse.

Make a Town

2. Work with a partner to decide which buildings you want in your town. Print them off.

3. Together create your own town and explain your decisions.

ABC Splash - Urbanisation

Primary Middle Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Information and Communication Technology Capability
Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking
Australian Curriculum General Capability: Personal and social capability
Australian Curriculum General Capability: Literacy

A range of games and activities to be found here.

Global Warming (Web Archive Only)

Middle Secondary

Australian Curriculum General Capability: Information and Communication Technology Capability
Australian Curriculum General Capability: Critical and creative thinking

Well worth a look but will need to have newer resources. Most other websites refer to this WebQuest.