The study of earthquakes can help students build connections between theoretical analysis and real-world applications. However, units on earthquakes typically struggle to bridge that gap between theory and application. Traditional class activities focus on measuring earthquakes, such as triangulating epicenters by analyzing P and S wave arrival…

How fiction is used in a college-level political science seminar to teach about democratic decision making and U.S. politics is described. The fiction used is clustered around the following topics: community-level decisions, limits to consensus, group values and politics, acquiring elected offices and trying to keep them, and public bureaucracies.…

Explains how studying a floodplain can help students analyze the interactions between humans and the physical environment. Analyzes data from two cities in California to demonstrate that housing prices did not rebound after a flood. (GG)

Traces the history of Arthurdale, West Virginia, a homestead community established by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Division of Subsistence Homesteads in 1933. Includes Arthurdale's community projects, activities, and schools. (RW)

Reviews how census data are used every day to make decisions in businesses, government agencies, and community organizations. Identifies key tools used in demographic analysis, suggesting applications of demographic data at a local level. Concludes with ideas for student activities, including guidelines for creating a community profile. (LS)

Offers suggestions for a sociology course in extraordinary groups, utopian studies, or alternative communities to help broaden awareness and understanding of human behavior, past and present groups, and cultural pluralism. Includes ideas for field trips, projects, readings, and films and videos. Discusses basing lectures on commitment, conversion,…

Presents six position statements for developing a multicultural arts curriculum. Suggests strategies for implementing curricula and resources for gathering community information. Provides examples of implementation, including a sample interview to use with artists and sample questions to ask students when analyzing works of art. (KM)

Recommends the use of cemeteries as the focus of student research in secondary social studies. Presents methods for initiating such a project and guidance for appropriate student behavior. Includes a list of suggested activities for cemetery studies. (CFR)

Four map skill lessons for use with intermediate grade students are presented. They deal with map evaluation, orientation, making a photomap, and making a community resource map. (RM)

An approach for classifying the cognitive levels of social studies teachers' verbalized and written questions is presented. The system can be used by teachers to plan discussions intended to involve students in higher level thinking. (RM)

Describes community assessment component of four-part training model designed to prepare doctoral students to carry out mental health promotion projects in rural settings. Incorporates windshield survey, ratings of community impressions, archival data, community leadership analysis, key informant interviews, person along-the-street interviews,…

Contends that environmental issues are shaping contemporary scholarship across academic areas. Asserts that art educators are familiar with the relationships among art, art education, and the environment. Explores ideas of contemporary ecotheorists and proposes an expanded concept of the community in relation to place. (CFR)

Undergraduate students increase their understanding of human geography and become aware of their community's health ecology by examining the degree and geographical pattern of dog-associated health hazards in Athens, Georgia, and by studying the behavioral patterns and attitudes of Athens's residents that might be causally related to these health…

Advocates teaching history through children's fictional and nonfictional literature in elementary social studies. Offers seven criteria for selecting books for elementary history units. Provides activities for teaching about American Indians, communities, and U.S. history based on award-winning children's books. (CH)

Describes a college-level course in psychology in which students study community issues and problems. Outlines how students work in community program internships and participate in individual and group research projects. Includes course objectives, recommended instructional resources, and evaluation strategies. (CFR)