Sociology & You

Chapter 17: Social Change and Collective Behavior

Web Activity Lesson Plans

"Urbanism"

Introduction
In this chapter, students learned about the processes for social change and the causes and types of collective behavior. Each of the theoretical perspectives interprets the causes of social change differently. Symbolic interaction identifies decreasingly shared values as a source of social instability, and considers urbanization—the shift from agricultural to urban societies—as one cause of society's increasing impersonality and fragmentation. In recent years, however, a trend has emerged to develop functional, human-scale communities in the United States. The trend is called the New Urbanism, and in this activity students will learn more about it.

Lesson Description
Students will visit Web sites to learn more about the movement to make communities more walkable, functional, and sustainable places for people to live. Students will use what they have learned about the principles of New Urbanism to design a city.

Instructional Objectives
1. Students will be able to define the goals of the New Urbanism.
2. Students will be able to apply the principles of New Urbanism to design a city.