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Haldane Land Use Challenge
Haldane sixth grade students participated in a Land Use Planning Activity Challenge. Science teacher Cheryl Saposnick adopted the roles of Mother Earth and the Voice of Reason and English teacher Jeff Sniffen was the Town Planner.
The concept for this game came from the Scenic Hudson grant that the 6th grade teachers received last year. The Town Planner facilitated the event and all of his decisions were final. Each stakeholder had the opportunity to state their concerns for the layout of the town. Stakeholders included contractors, Audubon members, farmers, home owners, recreation and parks specialists, business owners and many others. The stakeholders used magnetic pieces labeled with their land use proposal on a large magnetic map board. Stakeholders explained why their needs should be met and why they felt that their needs were more important than others. All decisions were made by democratic means unless, of course, they were over-ruled by the Town Manager, Mr. Sniffen.
This exciting learning game showed the students the challenges in finding compromises between human needs and wants and land preservation. As part of the task, the students wrote letters to the Town Planner persuading him to consider their land use proposal. The children had wonderful time learning about town planning.
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