Microproject

Geography 120

Regional Peoples and Environments

This project is designed to assist students in developing skills necessary to succeed in completing the final project. In both projects, students will be working in groups of approximately three. Upon completion of the Microproject, students will have more fully developed their ability to independently draw conclusions regarding the interrelationships between the physical environment and the way humans live. Unlike the final project, however, students will not be researching an actual place and people, but will create both. The emphasis will be on developing the interconnections.

Once groups have been created, members should work intimately with each other to complete tasks. Some tasks can be divided, and others must be done as a group. Members may wish to share e-mail addressees and/or phone numbers, since much of the work will take place outside of class. It is important that the workload be evenly divided, and that all members participate.

In this project, you will first invent a place. The place should be fictitious, but may vaguely resemble an existing place on Earth. Students may also invent an alien world, although this will likely add to the difficulty. Once the physical environment has been thoroughly detailed, students will then invent a human population and associated culture that has strong ties to the environment. The people can be at any level of technological achievement. Specific expectations are detailed below.

1. Invent a place. In this first phase, you should detail the natural environment and location. The following should be included (although you are not limited to these alone):
1. Latitude and altitude
2. Prevailing wind patterns
3. Nearby water bodies, with specifies sizes and salt/brackish/fresh
4. Dominant pressure systems
5. Seasonal temperature and precipitation patterns
6. Local tectonic setting
7. Associated landforms
8. Soil characteristics
9. Dominant vegetation types, seasonally
10. Animal populations, with possible migrations
11. General ecological interactions

2. Map it. Create a map that shows the location of this place and the relevant features from above.
3. Brainstorm. After determining what level of technology the people will have, begin imagining what people might be like that inhabit this place you have created. Consider the following:
1. Food supply
2. Shelter
3. Clothing
4. Physical appearance
5. Day to day existence, perhaps varying seasonally
6. Art and Music
7. Social and political structure

4. Plan a 15 minute presentation describing the above. The presentation should include your map, a description of the natural setting, and details about the people. When describing the people, be very deliberate in showing the connections to the environment. Develop a simple handout for distribution to the class.

5. Present your place to the class on the assigned day.

Your grade will be based on adherence to the criteria above. Your peers and the instructor will assess your work. Each group member will also assess their fellow teammates.