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Inquiry Activity • In Your Neighborhood

Local Land Cover

Problem What is the land cover in my neighborhood and my region?
Your Prediction
1. What is the most common type of land cover in your neighborhood?

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Background
Natural and Artificial Land Covers The Earth is blanketed by hundreds of
different types of land cover. There are the natural covers, such as forests, open
waters, and woody wetlands. Artificial land covers include the roads, homes,
parking lots, and offices of cities and towns. There are also natural land covers
that have been created or shaped by humans, such as pasture and cultivated
croplands. Land cover is any growth or structure that covers the non-ocean
portions of Earth’s surface. In the United States, there are 16 different categories
of land covers tracked by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) using the Land
Coverage Analysis Tool (LCAT).
Land Cover and Land Use We track land cover because land cover affects
us. Each type of land cover is best suited for a few purposes. To build homes, we
usually seek cleared land near paved roads. To grow food, we often need to plow.
To generate power, we mine or drill into some lands and build power plants on
others. Transportation requires a highway, a waterway, or a railroad. Land cover
is inextricably linked to land use. The LCAT helps people form environmentally
and economically sound plans for land use and development.

Figure 1. Land Covers are appropriate for different uses, including conservation.
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Research Your Local Environment

Procedure
Materials Computer with Internet access
Step 1 To find a map of land cover in your area, go to the USGS Land Cover
Analysis Tool (LCAT) and activate the LCAT.
Step 2 Select the “Analysis Layer” from the tab at the upper right of the screen.
Make sure you select the most recent USGS Land Cover Data Set. Notice
that different types of land cover are denoted by different colors.
Step 3 In the upper right corner of the map, enter your street address and
click Go.
Step 4 Adjust “Analysis Layer Transparency,” so that you are able to see
map features, such as towns and street names, underneath the colors of
the map.
Step 5 Zoom in so you can find the location of your home—or as close as you
can go. If you have trouble finding your home’s location on the map,
zoom in to whichever location near your address—a street, school,
cemetery—is identifiable on the map, and navigate from there. Note
that the land coverage data change as you zoom in or out on the map.
Step 6 Complete the Data Tables for types and percentages of land cover.

Find the following information about land cover in your neighborhood.

2. Fill in the table below. Use a separate sheet if necessary.

Data Table 1

Types of Land Cover Around _______________________________

Type of Land Cover Area Covered Percentage of

(include units) Coverage

Total:

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3. Briefly describe the land cover of your neighborhood, using your own
observations as a resident of the area. Include specific descriptions of natural
and fabricated features.

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Data Table 2

Types of Land Cover Around _______________________________

Type of Land Cover Area Covered Percentage of

(include units) Coverage

Total:

4. Zoom out to view your whole city or town and the surrounding area—your
region. In the data table below, list the three most common land-cover types.
Then, download and print a PDF report that lists all the land-cover types,
amount of area covered, and their percent of coverage for that land cover in
your region. Copy this information into the table. Use a separate sheet of
paper if necessary.

Analyze and Conclude

5. Interpret Tables What types of land cover are the most common in your
neighborhood?

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6. Evaluate Look at the different land cover types and the percentage they
each cover in your region. Are these data what you expected? Are there any
surprising results? Explain your response.

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7. Compare and Contrast Compare the land cover of your neighborhood to

that of your region. How are they similar? How are they different?

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8. Draw Conclusions What covers the land often indicates how the land is or
can be used by humans. How does the land cover of your neighborhood
relate to the way that this land is used?

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9. Extension Predict how the land cover of your region might change if it is
used differently over the next 10 years.

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Local to Global
10. Evaluate Your Prediction How has your view of the land cover in your
neighborhood and region expanded since completing the activity?

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11. Think Globally Why might land cover information be crucial to city
planners developing sustainable cities? How might they use this information
to help them plan? Support your answer with specific examples.

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Environmental Science • Lab Manual