Patterns of Agricultural and Rural Land Use


Unit Outline

4.1 Identify the locations of the key agricultural hearths, e.g., Fertile Crescent, Ethiopia, Nile Valley, Meso America, Southeast Asia, China.
 
4.2 Describe the distribution of agriculture on the surface of the Earth.
 
4.3 Explain the relationship between agricultural land use and the physical environment, e.g., climate, topography, availability of water resources, and soil structure.
 
4.4 Identify crops cultivated in each of the following types of agriculture: subsistence, plantation, and commercial.
 
4.5 Identify the different types of subsistence agriculture and the methods each uses, e.g., shifting, pastoral nomadism, intensive subsistence with and without rice.
 
4.6 Identify the different types of commercial agriculture and describe the methods each uses, (e.g., plantation, dairying, truck farming.)
 
4.7 Identify similarities and differences between agricultural patterns in developed and developing countries, e.g., size of farm, who gets the output, type of agriculture, degree of mechanization, percentage of people engaged in agriculture, agricultural methods, and degree of environmental manipulation.
 
4.8 Identify the factors that contribute to crop selection, e.g., experience of farmer, distance from market, fertility of the soil, perishability of product, market price, and cultural considerations such as food taboos.
 
4.9 Justify or refute the use of the term Agricultural "Revolution."
 
4.10 Assess the effects of the Green Revolution, e.g., biotechnology.
 
4.11 Assess the environmental consequences of agricultural practices, e.g., monoculture, extensive use of chemicals, overgrazing, crop rotation.
 
4.12 Evaluate the application of Von Thunen's model to selected case studies.
 
4.13 Describe the alternative uses of rural land, e.g., recreation, residential and commercial development, infrastructure, land fills, dumping, parks and wildlife reserves, designated wilderness areas, and unused areas.
 
4.14 Explain the interconnecting relationships among social, economic, political factors and agricultural land use.
 
4.15 Examine the controversial issues pertaining to the use of rural land.

Unit Projects

  • Miracle Grain - Authors: Kathleen C. Anderson, University of Pittsburgh and Kenith Ijams, Miles Exploratory High School, Tucson, Arizona
  • Mapping the Core-Periphery Model - Authors: Kathleen C. Anderson, University of Pittsburgh and Kenith Ijams, Miles Exploratory High School, Tucson, Arizona
  • Farming Facts - Authors: Janet Hadley, Broadway High School, Broadway, Virginia and Georgeanne Hribar, Ocean Lakes High School, Virginia Beach, Virginia
  • Interpreting Agricultural Regions - Authors: Janet Hadley, Broadway High School, Broadway, Virginia and Georgeanne Hribar, Ocean Lakes High School, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Other Units

Agriculture Geography
Economic Geography
Political Geography
Population Geography
Urban Geography
Cultural Geography

 
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