Geography 1000   INDIVIDUAL FIELD RESEARCH PROJECTS

Computer print  one of these reports double spaced, hand written is not
acceptable. Each report should be a minimum of five typed pages. Slick
brochures, poster board and graphics will not enhance your grade. I am
looking for substance.   The thoughts expressed should be your independent
work. You should credit  all sources. This is not a team project. Your
report should be individual and original.

Topic # 1: The "Columbian Exchange": Latin American foodstuffs uses and
origins at  La Michoacana Market  on highway 98 in St. Andrews, PC.

25%- Describe, as vividly as you can, the atmosphere in the Latin American
Market. Make note of the music, decor, staff, stock, and any posters that
they display, etc. What clues to the culture of Latin America and its
various nations did you find? Refer to specific nations. Are new
world (American) or old world (Eurasian) foods more prominent?

25%- A substantial fraction of the World's most important crop plants:(
maize, potatoes, manioc, beans, peanuts, sunflower, tomato, upland cotton
and tobacco) come from the Americas.

At the Latin American Market, find these food items and give a brand name if
available: tomatoes, peppers, wheat crackers, chocolate, yuca (manioc), yame
(yam - not sweet potato), coffee, corn masa (for tortillas), beans, and
rice. Using a separate paragraph for each item list where it was
domesticated(first grown), how it is used (eaten) and where it was packaged
or produced. The map showing source regions for domesticated foods is on
reserve in the library.

25% -Consider the new foods brought back to Europe by Columbus. Study the
list of agricultural source regions, particularly those of the New World.
(The New World refers to North and South America.) See textbook, pages 430
to 433. Visit these websites or other like them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbian_Exchange ,
http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/odlin1/courses/571/columbex.htm http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/SCHWART1.ART,
http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/tserve/nattrans/ntecoindian/ecolinksce.htm
There are many others. Look at the bottom of the page for the discussion on
the Americas. Discuss how European food in 1400, before Columbus's voyage,
would differ from that of today. The 16th and 17th centuries must have been
an exciting time for the gardeners and cooks of Europe. (English, Italian,
Irish, Spanish, French, Hungarian, etc.) Why so? Review the list of
domesticates. How could the introduction of a significant new crop such as
the potato to Europe shape history?

25% Discuss the exchange of plants among different world regions. Example:
The Spanish and the Portuguese brought citrus, rice, almonds, onions, sesame
seeds, tamarinds, cotton, garlic, lentils and much more to the America. How
did these things get to Spain? Wild guesses are not acceptable. Hint: look
up the origin of the word cotton, etc. African slaves also brought
foodstuffs to the New World. Find some very familiar domesticates from the
African source regions, not already listed. Hint: These are very familiar to
Southerners. What other foods were introduced by Europeans to the New World?

Topic #2:  Reducing the Scale of a Residential Community:
            Seaside, South Walton County

Seaside is a new town, built from scratch since 1981 by owner/developer
Robert Davis. Its architects intended it to be a town where people would
live a small town family life, walk to the store, sit on their porches, and
get to know their neighbors. The architects expected people of all kinds to
live in Seaside, thus creating a community with many of the best attributes
of a small town.  Two  developments nearby have joined the
movement: Watercolor and Rosemary Beach.  For this project, read at least
two articles on Seaside (some are on reserve at the Library) and quote from
them. For example: 

wikipedia.org  "New Urbanism"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_urbanism
"Seaside Turns 20" by Katharine Logan
http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/0919/culture_1-1.html
"The American City in A.D. 2025" by Vincent Scully
http://www.brookings.edu/press/review/summer2000/scully.htm
"The New Urbanism: Alternative to automobile-oriented planning" Robert Steuteville
http://www.newurbannews.com/AboutNewUrbanism.html

(30%) Visit Seaside and walk from the Seaside Post Office back to the
croquet court & pool area and back to the Modica Market by way of  Ruskin.

 Draw the route you took on the map and mention five structures
specifically. Example: "Precious must be the smallest house at Seaside."
Record your impressions about the following: Lot size, architectural house
style & variety, landscaping (be specific: palm trees, cedar, drought
tolerant, natives exotic plants), residents, owners, cost, etc. You may
choose to visit the rental office on 30-A.

Where are the owners? (Houses in Seaside are listed  for $800,000 for a one bedroom condo over the shops and  $5,500,000 and up for detached houses not on the water..)

Where is the beach?

Find out how Hurricanes have affected Seaside.

(25%) Draw your own conclusions about whether Seaside has succeeded in what
they designed it to do. Are there things about Seaside other builders should
copy? Have they? (You might glance at Watercolor and Rosemary Beach while
you are in South Walton) Remember they started Seaside in 1981.

(45%) Define and incorporate these terms into your discussion:
neotraditionalism, pedestrian-oriented (walkable neighborhoods), mixed use,
public areas, human interaction, neotraditional architecture. In what way could people be isolated in
the suburbs? "The congestion of the city and the culture of a farm." What
does this describe? Are these radically new ideas? Explain your answer.