The goal of this activity is to have students examine the local history of a selected area and construct ageographical timeline of the location. Students will follow a local area from Natives to the present highlightingthe patterns of development that have caused the area to evolve.
1. Choose an area of California with which you are very familiar. I recommend the city you live in or grewup in because you will already have knowledge and can easily get to their library.2. Research this city enough to have a good understanding of its history.3. Create a Geographic Timeline for this area/city.a. This will include a minimum of 10-12 events, situations, important moments, etc. that weresignificant in the development of the area/city.b. For each “moment”, include a date(s) and a description of why this situation/person issignificant to the area/city (see examples below).c. Include geographic causes/effects that influenced the development of the land. Explain howthe land changed over time.d. Start with the Native Californians and end with today.4. As you create this “land” timeline, focus on the overall development of the area/city and who wasresponsible for this development. Consider the perspectives of each group of inhabitants and howthey viewed the land they were influencing.5. You will need to cite your sources. I am not picky on the citation format, use whatever your ownmajor/discipline requires. At least one book resource is required and Wikipedia is not considered anacademic source, so please do not use it.6. Include at least one map of your area/city and two pictures (one historic and one current) as visualsamples of how the land has changed.7. Activity is to be typed, 12 font and in a PDF format when uploaded.8. Research advice: local libraries are wonderful resources as they usually include a special room just onthe history of the particular city. Often times this is a resource room and you cannot check outmaterials, so plan accordingly. Also, choose an area/city you are really interested in as you will need towork with an area/city again for the final assignment and using the same one for this activity will saveyou time and effort.9. A sample assignment has been uploaded to Blackboard for you to view. This sample is not complete oras detailed as the requirements, it is only meant to show a basic geographic timeline.10. Really take time to look at the historic pictures you find in your research. These old photos, whencompared to the current landscape, tell a very clear story.11. Good example of entry: In 1845 Mr. Caldwell bought part of this land from the rancho and used it forgrazing cattle as well as growing wheat.Bad example of entry: In 1845 Mr. Caldwell bought the land.Again, show a cause/effect relationship between EACH entry and how it affected/changed the land.