Land Use Explorers
Land Use Explorers is a series of lessons and activities that help students, teachers, and citizens
of all ages to better understand and think critically about what we use our lands
for and what we value most about them.
The social, economic, and environmental benefits provided by our lands are innumerable--from food and energy production, to watersheds and wildlife habitats. But there are also trade-offs associated with any land use.
"Land Use Explorers" focuses on topics that are key to understanding these benefits and trade-offs:
- Land Use
- Energy
- Climate Change
- Food Systems
- Water
- Agriculture and Soil
- Biodiversity
Kits and activity guides for students and educators
The program consists of two tracks
- Spring 2024: activity kits and lesson guide for educators of youth in grades 3-5.
(Activity kits were disseminated through the Montana Afterschool Alliance as part
of their Winter Wonderland series; the guide can also be downloaded for free). Authors:
Heather Jameson and Mecca e' (Ponca name) / Stacy Laravie (English name), based on
Rose Vallor's original work.
- Download the Land Use Explorers instructor guide here (Spring 2024)
- View a recording on how to use the kit- recorded January 2024 as part of the Montana Afterschool Alliance's Winter Wonderland series.
- Summer 2020: an individual kit (pouch) with youth activity guide was disseminated
to students aged 9-13 during COVID-19 (the activity guide from this kit is posted
online for free download - see below). Author: Rose Vallor.
- Download the original Land Use Explorers youth activity guidebook (Spring 2020)
- What I Value About the Land Card Deck (this activity is in both the 2020 and the 2024 versions).
- GLOBE Observer citizen science app (an ongoing NASA-supported project included in the 2020 kit)
Inquiry questions for students to consider
These are good questions before beginning the Land Use Explorers activities OR to be used independently. They also work with adults.
- What is something you love about your community? (This could be anything -- family, home, pets, mountains, etc.)
- What is something special about the place where you live on Earth? (Something related to the physical PLACE, such as mountains, a park, river, etc. This answer may be the same as #1)
- What is a challenge faced by your community?
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- The follow-up discussion to this final question could then prompt students to think about how they as young people might be able to solve this challenge with scientific information such as maps, aerial photographs or other data. For example, how could we as kids help solve the challenge of homelessness or wildfires? What information would we need?
The research
To learn more about the research behind this outreach and education program, visit http://waferx.montana.edu
For questions about this project, contact the MSU Science Math Resource Center at smrc@montana.edu
This project was supported by the National Science Foundation under the EPSCoR Track II Cooperative Agreement No. OIA-1632810. This project is also supported in part by NSF EPSCoR Cooperative Agreement OIA-1757351 and the South Dakota Discovery Center. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies