Journey 2050 Lesson 5: Land Use | Self-Guided Experience
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0:04 - 0:07PRESENTER: This is the Journey 2050
self-guided experience. -
0:07 - 0:11We're on lesson five about land use.
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0:14 - 0:15So far in the program,
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0:15 - 0:19we've learned about soil nutrients,
water, and the economy, -
0:19 - 0:23and how those three factors
can either support sustainability -
0:23 - 0:24or limit it.
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0:24 - 0:28Today, we are going
to be talking about, uh, land use. -
0:28 - 0:30So, question for you,
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0:30 - 0:33how much of the Earth's surface
is used for growing food? -
0:36 - 0:38If you take a look at the Earth,
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0:38 - 0:41not every portion of it is a place
where we can grow food. -
0:41 - 0:43There is a lot of water,
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0:43 - 0:47and it looks like a lot of places
that aren't ideal to grow food on. -
0:49 - 0:51To begin answering this question,
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0:51 - 0:53I'm going to do a demonstration
with an apple. -
0:53 - 0:57I want you to imagine
that the surface of the Earth -
0:57 - 0:59is the surface of this apple.
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1:01 - 1:03I'm going to take this apple
and quarter it -
1:03 - 1:06which will give us four pieces.
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1:08 - 1:12With the apple cut in quarters,
I'm going to take one of them away. -
1:12 - 1:16The remaining three represent
the portion of the Earth -
1:16 - 1:18that's covered in water.
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1:20 - 1:24I'm going to set aside the three pieces
that represent water on the Earth -
1:24 - 1:29and pull back in the one quarter
of the apple -
1:29 - 1:33that represents the Earth's surface
that's land. -
1:35 - 1:37Not all land is created equal.
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1:38 - 1:43So, I have cut this piece
representing the land on the Earth -
1:43 - 1:47into three pieces,
so they represent 1/12 sections. -
1:47 - 1:51So, 1/12 of our Earth
is inhospitable land. -
1:51 - 1:55This is places like polar regions,
deserts, and mountains, -
1:55 - 1:58where it's not suitable to live
or to grow crops. -
1:59 - 2:02I'm going to set that piece aside
and look at the next piece. -
2:02 - 2:04This is habitable land.
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2:04 - 2:08This is places where people live,
but crops aren't grown. -
2:08 - 2:10So think of places where houses are built,
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2:10 - 2:13where there's roads and developments,
or public lands. -
2:15 - 2:19This is another 1/12 section
of our Earth. -
2:21 - 2:25This last 1/12 section
is Earth's agricultural land. -
2:25 - 2:28This is the place
where our food is grown. -
2:29 - 2:33To dig a little bit deeper,
I'm gonna cut this piece into four pieces. -
2:35 - 2:373/4 of our agricultural land
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2:37 - 2:43is land that is used to graze livestock
or to grow feed for livestock. -
2:45 - 2:51The remaining quarter of this piece
which represents 1/48 of our Earth -
2:52 - 2:56is agricultural land
that grows food that humans eat. -
2:56 - 2:59So this is fruits, vegetables,
beans, rice, grains. -
2:59 - 3:02Food that is for direct human consumption.
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3:04 - 3:05Here's a summary.
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3:05 - 3:08So if the entire apple was our Earth,
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3:09 - 3:13and the surface of it--
75% of the Earth's surface is water, -
3:13 - 3:1625% of the Earth's surface is land.
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3:16 - 3:19If we divide the land, uh,
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3:19 - 3:23we have one--
a 1/12 section that's inhospitable land. -
3:23 - 3:26A 1/12 section that is habitable land,
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3:26 - 3:30but covered in houses,
roads, and open areas. -
3:31 - 3:32And then a--
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3:32 - 3:35the final 1/12 section is
the agricultural land -
3:35 - 3:36that produces our food.
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3:37 - 3:40If we divide the agricultural land down,
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3:40 - 3:473/4 of that is used for livestock,
feed, and gra--grazing, uh, -
3:47 - 3:51that then the livestock produce meat,
milk, and eggs. -
3:51 - 3:55And then 1/4 of that
is land used for food crops. -
3:59 - 4:02This finishes up step one on your handout.
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4:02 - 4:03Uh, here's another summary slide,
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4:03 - 4:07if you need help filling out
the percentages on your handout. -
4:09 - 4:12For step two on your handout,
pause this video, -
4:12 - 4:15and watch the land use video
and answer the questions. -
4:17 - 4:19We're moving on to step three now.
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4:20 - 4:23This is a question I have for you
that you should be able to start answering -
4:23 - 4:26with the information
we've already been over, -
4:26 - 4:28but why is land a precious resource?
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4:30 - 4:33Just like water and soil nutrients
that we've already talked about, -
4:33 - 4:39land is also a limited natural resource
that we have to provide for our needs. -
4:40 - 4:41Land also has a lot of uses,
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4:41 - 4:45and we have a lot of needs for land
for different reasons. -
4:45 - 4:48We have lan--we need land
to build businesses and industry. -
4:48 - 4:51We need land for recreation.
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4:50 - 4:53We need land for animal habitats.
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4:53 - 4:55For homes and roads, for food.
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4:56 - 4:59So land is a resource
that is not only limited, -
4:59 - 5:02but it's needed
for a large variety of things. -
5:04 - 5:08This is a map that shows
population statistics by country. -
5:08 - 5:10If you look at the legend,
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5:10 - 5:13the darker the color,
the more people that live there. -
5:13 - 5:15So just take a few minutes
and take a look at that. -
5:16 - 5:19Uh, something that you should
be able to gather from that -
5:19 - 5:22is that people typically live
in the places -
5:22 - 5:25where they have the things they need
to grow their food. -
5:25 - 5:29So, things like fertile land,
ideal crops, etcetera. -
5:29 - 5:34So thats one challenge that we face
in our land use and sustainability -
5:34 - 5:39is that the land that we want,
or are able to farm on, -
5:39 - 5:43is also the land where people want
to settle and live and build houses. -
5:51 - 5:54Before we move forward,
I also want to go backwards t-- -
5:54 - 5:58uh, back to this map
of the population statistics by country. -
5:59 - 6:01Are these two maps correlated?
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6:02 - 6:06Do you see any similarities
between the two maps -
6:06 - 6:09that show the population statistics
by country -
6:09 - 6:12as well as the agricultural land
by country? -
6:12 - 6:14I'll show you the other one once more.
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6:15 - 6:19The answer is yes, there is a correlation
between agricultural land -
6:20 - 6:22and the places where people live.
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6:22 - 6:25Homes and businesses are very often built
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6:25 - 6:29in the places that have the best climate
and soil for growing crops. -
6:31 - 6:35In summary, best management practices,
innovation, and technology -
6:35 - 6:38is what helps us only a fraction
of the Earth's surface -
6:38 - 6:40to feed a growing population.
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6:42 - 6:46That wraps up step three of this lesson.
We're gonna move on to step four, -
6:46 - 6:49which is to play
the next level of the game. -
6:49 - 6:53As a heads up in this level,
you're gonna be seeing something different -
6:53 - 6:55than what you have in the previous ones.
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6:55 - 6:57So what you're gonna be doing
is making predictions -
6:57 - 7:02for the percentage of land used
by nature, urban, and agriculture -
7:02 - 7:06in the 1900s compared to the year 2000.
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7:06 - 7:09So go ahead and pause this video,
and then go to your game, -
7:09 - 7:13and play level 5a,
and stop when you're done. -
7:16 - 7:20To summarize what we've been learning
in the video -
7:20 - 7:22and through this level of the game,
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7:23 - 7:25farmers have increased yields
of food production -
7:25 - 7:29by using better practices,
better science, better technology. -
7:30 - 7:32And, uh...
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7:32 - 7:37the use of best management practices
is what's helping us be more sustainable -
7:37 - 7:39in that process.
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7:41 - 7:45So how do we improve our land use choices
so that we can feed a growing world, -
7:45 - 7:49and still have a high quality of life
and environment? -
7:50 - 7:52Alright, we are gonna go through a few...
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7:52 - 7:53examples.
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7:55 - 7:59In natural habitats we're going to replace
what we use and keep the environment -
7:59 - 8:05clean, plant native species, remove
invasive species and don't just talk -
8:05 - 8:08about stewardship, take action.
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8:10 - 8:15In agriculture we're going to improve
soil health, so that we can grow more on -
8:15 - 8:19the same amount of land, we're going to
use technology to make more efficient -
8:19 - 8:23use of out inputs like water and
fertilizer. We're also going to -
8:23 - 8:27sustainable use the land that
is already in production . -
8:28 - 8:33In an urban setting we're going to retain
the urban wetlands and riparian areas. -
8:33 - 8:38We're going to reduce food waste and only
buy what we need to eat. -
8:38 - 8:45We're also going to build businesses up
and not out preserve the land we have. -
8:46 - 8:48We're almost done here on this lesson.
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8:48 - 8:50What you're going to do now is review the
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8:50 - 8:54key points these are also printed on
your handout. -
8:55 - 9:01Listed as an aditional activity to this
lesson is to play the 5B level of the game -
9:01 - 9:07This is a world geography game. Its a Q&A
style game that has clues imbedded in the -
9:07 - 9:12questions. You're going to think of your
favorite foods and sports -
9:12 - 9:18and music and travel places and
relate them to the cultures and different -
9:18 - 9:19countries.
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9:19 - 9:23You're going to explore some of
the favorite things and where they come -
9:23 - 9:28from, and how trading goods from around
the world allows us to enjoy those things. -
9:30 - 9:34This wraps up lesson 5 on land use.
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9:34 - 9:37Up next is lesson 6 on careers.
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