1. Lesson #2 – Wealthiest Place
LEQ - How does location influence economic activity?
Background: Real estate values vary from place to place and reflect the income of the residents and businesses that operate in a given location. Mapping data gathered through reports of sale of land, census reports and tax evaluations can reveal patterns that help us understand places better. One big determiner of the value of land or the wealth of residents is indirect, but very important. Industries operate most profitably when they are positioned for good accessibility to needed resources and markets. This lesson will look at recent changes in the automobile industry in the United States to help students understand “industrial location theory”. The “ripple effects” of changes to communities affected by the relocation of major industrial centers will be explored in the form of home sale prices.
Copy the lesson objective question in your binder
Read the background
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Opener
List as many car manufacturers as they can in two minutes.
The companies may be foreign or domestic.
Be prepared to share with class
Try to identify the country where each manufacturer has its corporate headquarters
Complete the opener in your binder
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Wealthiest Place
PUT IN YOUR HEADPHONES BEFORE WATCHING VIDEO
GO BACK TO WEBSITE TO FIND VIDEO
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Ford Model T – 100 Years Later
Go back to the website and watch the video on Henry Ford’s Model T
Take notes while watching

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Wealthiest Place
Model T Questions –
Why were people attracted to the area?
Why do you think worker housing was built close to the factory?
How would the area begin to change?
COPY AND ANSWER QUESTIONS IN BINDER AFTER WATCHING VIDEO
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Why do you think Henry Ford selected Dearborn, MI for his auto assembly plant?
COPY AND ANSWER QUESTION IN BINDER
USE MAP TO HELP ANSWER QUESTION
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When asked about why he made the decision to build his Rouge plant close to Dearborn, Henry Ford said
READ HENRY FORD’S ANSWER TO THE PREVIOUS QUESTION
IN YOUR BINDER, WRITE WHETHER YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH HENRY FORD. EXPLAIN YOUR RESPONSE
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“I wanted to provide job opportunities for his rural hometown area. But since both the site characteristics and the situation of Dearborn, MI were favorable, the location worked out well for my business.”

7. Extending and Refining
A common student misconception is that farming regions occupy the most productive farmland. While it is true that crops require certain soil and climate conditions, land owners tend to look for the most profitable use of their land.
“The Levels”, a highly productive agricultural district near Middletown, DE. The past two decades have seen rapid residential and commercial development push agriculture out of this region
In Sussex County, broiler chickens are no longer grown in the Ocean View area where the industry started. Here resort development has displaced agricultural activity.
READ THE ENTIRE SLIDE BEFORE MOVING ON
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8. Extending and Refining
Go BACK TO WEBSITE AND OPEN THE POWERPOINT “Why Make it Here?”
This slideshow extends the idea of industrial location theory to show how individual business decisions can result in clusters of like industries. Major manufacturers depend on smaller enterprises that supply component parts or services, and these businesses tend to locate near-by.
Land values in the area are impacted by the economic use; businesses like agriculture, forestry and ranching that tend to use a lot of land to produce a smaller profit get pushed out of the area.
READ THE ENTIRE SLIDE BEFORE COMPLETING ACTIVITY
MAKE SURE YOU OPEN “WHY MAKE IT HERE” POWERPOINT FROM WEBSITE
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Class work
Complete CLASSWORK ASSIGNMENT ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER
LABEL EVERYTHING
YOU WILL FIND A COPY OF THE CLASS WORK ON THE WEBSITE
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Seaford, DE The Nylon Capital of the World

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C4U
Planners of local communities often set aside a tract of land called an “Industrial Park” as a way to attract new businesses to their area. Based on what you have learned, what are two benefits you think these planners would hope to gain for their communities by starting an Industrial Park?
If you were planning an “Industrial Park” for a small town, how might you identify the features businesses and industries would require or see as a drawing card?
COMPLETE IN BINDER
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11. Extending and Refining
When a community is tied too closely to the fortunes of one industry, the downside of the business cycle can bring economic collapse to a company town.
How has this hit home in Delaware?
The decline of property values for industry and for individual residential properties has a direct geographic explanation
“The Last Pontiac” – go to website to watch video
READ THROUGH ENTIRE SLIDE.
COPY AND ANSWER QUESTION IN BINDER
PUT IN HEADPHONES AND WATCH VIDEO ON WEBSITE
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12. Economic Change Transforms Places
Background: Economic changes can be the result of any of a number of economic factors: market shifts, depletion of resources, technologic innovation that renders a product or process obsolete are all good examples. When a place has “specialized” or depended mostly on one activity or industry, economic change can be devastating. The ghost towns of the American West are examples of places that could not survive a change in their base industry. Places that respond to change by diversifying- seeking several new economic activities rather than one large employer- can survive, and often emerge stronger, but the place is inevitably changed by such a transition.
READ BACKGROUND
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Class work
“Places Adapt to Economic Change”
ANSWER THINKING LIKE A GEOGRAPHER QUESTIONS ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER
GO TO WEBSITE AND OPEN “PLACES ADAPT TO ECONOMIC CHANGE”
ANSWER THINKING LIKE A GEOGRAPHER QUESTIONS ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER
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C4U
When military bases close, the small towns near-by are usually impacted. Often the base has been the principal employer for thousands of military personnel and for thousands of civilian support workers as well. Based on what you have learned, what advice can you provide to planners who want to help the town survive the base closing? You may choose to design a “checklist for planners” or write your suggestions in paragraph form.
COMPLETE IN BINDER
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Class work
Seaford: Boomtown by the riverside
Read and Answer questions
OPEN “SEAFORD: BOOMTOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE”
PICK UP COPY OF THE QUESTIONS
READ AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS
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