Private+vs.+Government+Land+Ownership


 * Standard 4. ** Students will understand the diverse ways people make a living in Utah.
 * Objective 4.** Investigate the current status of Utah's economy.
 * Indicator c.** Explain the effects of private, state, and federal land ownership on land use; i.e., parks, forests, trust lands, etc.


 * Lesson: Land Ownership **


 * Vocabulary:**
 * Private ownership
 * Federal land


 * Essential Questions:**
 * How much of Utah's land is owned by the federal government?
 * Why is it a problem that the federal government owns so much land in Utah?
 * What is federal land being used for?


 * Instructional Activities:**
 * Have students make a list of everything they own that they can think of. Allow a few minutes for this then use one student's list as an example. Read the student's list to the class then try and find some things on the list that the students may think are owned by them but are really owned by their parents.
 * Ask students how much land in Utah they think is really owned by the federal government or is otherwise unavailable to Utahans.
 * Use this chart to talk about the amount of federal land owned in the United States. Focus on how much federal land is owned in western states compared with eastern states and discuss with students some of the reasons for this (natural resources, date of entry into union, etc).
 * Then show the Utah Land Ownership Map and show students where federal land is located in Utah. Refer back to the opening activity and compare the fact that Utah owns less than 1/3 of its own land. See if students agree or not that they own the minority of the things they use every day.
 * Explore other types of land ownership besides federal (state, private, Native American, etc).
 * Discuss the types of federal land owned in Utah (forests, monuments, protected areas, military, etc).
 * Talk about the benefits of federal land ownership using the National Forests and National Parks as examples.
 * Introduce the problems of so much federal land ownership in Utah (expanding population, who gets money for natural resources, problems building reservoirs, canals, etc).
 * As an example, talk about the fact that we needed to get permission for the Strawberry Reservoir project when there was not enough water in certain Utah communities. Here is a document that might help: []
 * Talk about Utah being used as a nuclear waste dump by the federal government in exchange for payment (and other countries!).
 * Discuss the possibilities for Utah if we owned all of that land.
 * As homework have the students write what they would do with their property if they owned their parent's house, car, etc


 * Assessment:**
 * Test Questions: Have students designate certain types of land as either private, state, or federal on the test.


 * Materials / Resources for Teachers:**
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 * Materials / Resources for Students:**