The below links are organized by the lesson they are relevant to.

INTRODUCTION

• Land Use Planning and Urban Sprawl, Mid-Atlantic RESAC: http://www.geog.umd.edu/resac/planning.htm

  "Land conversion from one use to another is accelerating in the Mid-Atlantic region leading to increases in traffic congestion, land consumption, forest fragmentation, and impervious surfaces. These changes have important implications for hydrological dynamics, associated stream quality and, ultimately, the health of the Chesapeake Bay."

• Smart Growth in Maryland, Maryland State Government site: http://www.op.state.md.us/smartgrowth/

  Overview of Maryland's Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation program

• Applications of Landsat Data NASA's Landsat Project Office: http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/Landsat_Applications.html

  This table lists examples of various applications of Landsat data that have been demonstrated in the 30 year history of the Landsat program. Each application is accompanied by one or more representative Landsat images and a brief description of what the images show.

• The GLOBE Program homepage: http://www.globe.gov/

  GLOBE is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program.

• Land Use History of North America, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): http://biology.usgs.gov/luhna/

• Urban Dynamics Research Program Analysis of Land Use Change in Urban Environments, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): http://landcover.usgs.gov/urban/change_pair/main.html

  "The Urban Dynamics project analyzes land use change in urban environments in order to provide a historical perspective of land use change and an assessment of the spatial patterns, rates, correlation, trends, and impacts of that change."

Land Cover Change Detection: STUDYING VEGETATION FROM SPACE

• Earthshots, U.S. Geological Survey: http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/earthshots/slow/tableofcontents

  Earthshots is an ebook of before-and-after Landsat images (1972-present), showing recent environmental events and introducing remote sensing.

• Soil and Vegetation Optical Properties , Remote Sensing Core Curriculum- Volume 4 Applications in Remote Sensing: http://research.umbc.edu/~tbenja1/leblon/frame9.html

  Optical Properties of Vegetation and Soils by Dr. Brigitte Leblon

• NDVI, GLOBE at the University of New Hampshire: http://www.globe.unh.edu/MultiSpec/MultiSpec.html

  Examines in a simple way the vegetation "health" or an area

• The GreenReport, Kansas Applied Remote Sensing: http://www.kars.ukans.edu/products/greenreport.shtml

  Kansas Applied Remote Sensing program produces a bi-weekly map series called the GreenReport® that measures vegetation conditions across the Unites States. The GreenReport® is produced using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI ) images.

• Measuring Vegetation (NDVI & EVI), NASA's Earth Observatory: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Library/MeasuringVegetation/measuring_vegetation_3.html

  "NASA's Earth Observatory is to provide a freely-accessible publication on the Internet where the public can obtain new satellite imagery and scientific information about our home planet."

• Weekly Vegetation Maps, Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium: http://www.umac.org/farming/ndvi.php

  "This project acquires weekly composite NDVI datasets throughout the growing season, produces NDVI maps for the UMAC region, and makes the datasets and maps available over the Internet to UMAC members and to the general public.

  MODIS NDVI 2001 and 2002 Composites

  AVHRR NDVI 2000, 2001 and 2002 Composites

• Animation Series, The Scientific Visualization StudioNASA Goddard Space Flight: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/search/Animationseries/NDVI.html

  Index for NDVI visualizations produced by SVS.

LAND COVER CHANGE PROBLEM: Aerial Photography Interpretation

• Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing, University of Colorado at Boulder: http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/remote/remote_f.html

  This unit introduces basic concepts of remote sensing of the environment.

• 2.3 Elements of Image Interpretation,Volume 1: Air Photo Interpretation and Photogrammetry: http://umbc7.umbc.edu/~tbenja1/santabar/vol1/lec2/2lecture.html

  Introduces the eight elements of image interpretation of remote sensed data with examples

• Elements Of Aerial Photography, Section 10: Aerial Photography as Primary & Ancillary Data Sources: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect10/Sect10_1.html

  This page covers the elements of aerial photography in detail.

• A Guide to the Practical Use of Aerial Color-Infrared Photographs in Agriculture , Virtual Nebraska: http://www.casde.unl.edu/vn/aps/cir/cirfr.htm

  "This brief report represents an attempt to provide both potential and current users of infrared film with a concise, relatively non-technical reference on the physical properties and practical applications of CIR aerial photography as it relates to agricultural management."

• Aerial Photographs - A Useful Monitoring Tool, Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
  http://www.epa.gov/volunteer/fall94/wtrshd16.htm

  "This is an old project, but it details another way to use aerial photographs in the classroom. The Cornell Laboratory for Environmental Applications of Remote Sensing (CLEARS) used the photographs to conduct a land use survey. "CLEARS carries out a variety of educational programs aimed at teaching community officials, environmental professionals, teachers, and informal educators how to use aerial photographs and maps to analyze land uses and their potential effects on water quality."

• 2.7 Cameras and Aerial Photography, Fundamentals of Remote Sensing, Canada Centre for Remote Sensing

  http://www.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/ccrs/learn/tutorials/fundam/chapter2/chapter2_7_e.html

  This section in the sensors chapter of the Fundamentals of Remote Sensing tutorial on the CCRS Web site is an excellent resource.

LAND COVER CHANGE PROBLEM: CREATE D NDVI

• Reno and Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Southwest U.S. Change Detection Images from the EROS Data Center: http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/changes/natural/reno-tahoe/

  These images of the Reno-Lake Tahoe area of Nevada show some effects of natural processes on the landscape.

• Las Vegas, Nevada, Southwest U.S. Change Detection Images from the EROS Data Center: http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/sw/changes/anthropogenic/vegas/

  These images of the Las Vegas, Nevada area of Nevada show some effects of natural processes on the landscape.

• Change Detection of Vegetation Using Landsat Imagery, Center for Research in Water Resources (CRWR)

  http://www.crwr.utexas.edu/gis/gishydro99/class/gomez/termproj.htm

  A ecological study, approximately 30km by 30km area in west Texas surrounding the city of El Paso, quantitatively assessing the biomass productionusing Landsat data from 1970-1990.

• Change Detection Methods, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: http://www.ra.dnr.state.mn.us/changeview/change_tech.html

  A brief discussion of how "DNR Forestry uses Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images to map Minnesota land cover and to set priorities for forest inventory work."

• Change, GLOBE at the University of New Hampshire: http://www.globe.unh.edu/MultiSpec/MultiSpec.html

  This tutorial uses images from different dates to explore change over time.

OPTIONAL EXTENSION LESSONS

LAND COVER CHANGE PROBLEM: MATH LESSON ON SCALING (% change)

• Map Scales, U.S. Geological Survey

  http://mac.usgs.gov/mac/isb/pubs/factsheets/fs01502.html

• Lesson 2: Some Things You Need to Know to Read a Map, U.S. Geological Survey: http://interactive2.usgs.gov/learningweb/teachers/mapsshow_lesson2.htm

  Key teaching points: The relationship between a distance on the map and the corresponding distance on the ground is known as scale. Using the distance scale, it is possible to determine the actual distance on the ground between two points shown on a map.

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Smart Growth Introduction Materials

• Smart Growth America, http://www.smartgrowthamerica.com/

  Smart Growth America is a nationwide coalition promoting a better way to grow: one that protects farmland and open space, revitalizes neighborhoods, keeps housing affordable, and provides more transportation choices.

• Smart Growth in Maryland, http://www.op.state.md.us/smartgrowth/

  Web site describes the Smart growth program in Maryland

• Smart Growth, EPA : http://www.epa.gov/piedpage/

• National Geographic | New Suburb?: Sprawl vs. "Smart Growth" http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/sprawl/index_flash.html

Appendix B: Prince George's County Demographic and Socio-Economic Data

• The Maryland-National Capital Park And Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) Prince George's County Planning Department: http://www.mncppc.org/pgco/home.htm

• http://www.op.state.md.us/info/localplan/prin/frame.html

Appendix C: Data Collection

Appendix D: Landsat Resources for Educators

Appendix E: Remarks by Governor Parris N. Glendening on Smart Growth

Appendix F: Growth Patterns of Urban Sprawl: How do zoning policies and environmental pressures influence the expansion of urban populations?

Appendix G: List of Characters/Roles for the Town Meeting

Appendix H: Possible Timeline

Appendix I: MUC-A-Thon and D NDVI-A-Thon Planning Guide

SUPPORT DOCUMENTS

Each of the supporting documents in this section was designed for the science, history, and math and English teachers at the Middle and High school levels. The supporting documents are designed to support teachers in the implementation of the unit or to help teachers redesign the project for their local area using other data sets not provided on this Web page. Each of the documents can be downloaded in various formats from the Data page.

• Remote Sensing Glossary for Teachers and Students--Grades 6-12

  This glossary is designed to help students and educational professionals with their growing understanding of the concepts and terms associated with remote sensing.

• Making Landsat Images For MultiSpec

  This document will help you find and open Landsat data using a freeware software program, MultiSpec.

• MultiSpec. http://dynamo.ecn.purdue.edu/~biehl/MultiSpec/

  MultiSpec is being developed at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, by David Landgrebe and Larry Biehl from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and LARS.