Using St. Louis Virtual City Website to Examine Urban Ecology

Using St. Louis Virtual City Website to Examine Urban Ecology
Changes in the Urban Landscape in St. Louis during the 1950’s

Overview
Students will focus on the 1950’s and will use sites pertaining to Mill Creek and Chinatown, population graphs and the St. Louis Bond Issue of 1955 in order to analyze how urban populations and neighborhoods are transformed through migration and political and economic forces. Students will then assess their own neighborhood and create a “bond issue” outlining important areas for improvement.

Objectives
After completing this lesson, students will:

Beginning with their Sociology text and moving on the Virtual City Website, students will define “urban ecology” and name specific issues that affect the relationship between people and the urban environment as addressed in the website (housing, retail development, transportation, neighborhood rehabilitation).
Students will be able to highlight the changes in demographics from the 1950’s-1960’s in the city and the county with regard to race, age and ethnicity.
Students will be able to identify the major concerns of the city based on the 1955 Bond Issue.
Students will be able to identify two neighborhoods destroyed for purposes of urban renewal (Mill Creek Valley and Chinatown) as well as who lived there and what currently exist in those areas.

Show Me Standards CA: 1,3,4,6 SS: 2,4,5,6,7 Goals: 1.1,2,3,8 2.1,2,3

Process

Individually students will visit the 1950’s decade and examine sites relating to demolition of Mill Creek Valley, Chinatown, the growth of the suburbs, population chart from 1950-1960, and the 1955 St. Louis City Bond Issue document.
Students will address the following issues: who were the residents of the communities slated for demolition; reasons those communities should have been saved (if there are any): who was staying the city and who was moving to the county; which issues were given highest priority on the 1955 Bond Issue.
Students will be placed in groups in order to discuss their findings as well as their feelings about the communities that were destroyed.
Students will consider whether the county offered a more productive and healthier life style; and if the Bond issue addressed issue they feel are important to the residents of St. Louis.
Students will complete this project by creating a “Bond Issue” for their own city and determine areas of concern and the need for changes that will (1) make their city a better place to life and might (2) encourage people to stay in the neighborhood rather than moving to the county.

Click Here for student directions.