User's Guide

Nature, "The Natural Environment," offers an interdisciplinary look at the major natural areas in and around the city.

Culture, "The Human Environment," reviews the city's cultural history and provides a glimpse into the interactions people have had with their natural environment.

City, "The Built Environment," is an overview of the city's built environment - its architecture, infrastructure, and the many sub-areas within the city, each reflecting a distinctive sense of place.

Section IV, "The Home, School, and Neighborhood," views students' own school, home, and neighborhood as little environments - cities in microcosm. It also presents the concept of an environment comprising an abiotic/biotic/cultural interrelated triangle.

Section V, "Albuquerque Today and Tomorrow," presents the environmental concerns confronting Albuquerque and Bernalillo County as they approach the 21st century. It studies planning as a constructive link between the present and the future. Each environmental concern is discussed, then followed by activities and opinion statements for class discussion or for independent research.

For Educators

In addition to the educational material in Nature, Culture, and City, the For Educators section contains:

• Eye-Opener Worksheets that are nongraded and designed to direct students' attention to some aspect of the environment related to the section topic (and can be printed and used as worksheets).
• Eye-Opener Activities follow the worksheets, suggesting opportunities for a more in-depth examination of the subject.
• Activities for the Senses and Sensibilities to stimulate a sense of wonder through the affective domain.
• Take a Trip offers suggestions for related field trips from the school grounds to the outlying community. (A note about using this feature: at the end of each section, look for the "pie wedge." The concentric arcs hold ideas from which teachers can pick and choose, or even add their own. See detailed explanation and sample trip agenda in the Appendix. Remember, the trips can also be suggested to families, encouraging parents also to be involved with this learning.

Career suggestions students may pursue in related fields; and some information on the kind of education needed for those careers.

Bibliographies for further reading/research, useful for students, teachers, parents, historians, et al., can be found at the end of each section. A comprehensive bibliography is in the Appendix.

The turquoise pages contain the Appendix.

Note: When resource people or organizations are mentioned, see the Appendix for a list of addresses and phone numbers as well as ways they might be useful.

Because this book will be used by teachers, we have included "Environmental Understandings" and "Educational Objectives."