Welcome to the website for Geographic Literacy - a collaborative project between the Automobile Club of Southern California and the UCLA History-Geography Project. Every summer K-12 teachers are invited to participate in an institute to rediscover the historical landscape of Southern California and utilize the Auto Club's 100 years of archival images, source materials, and maps to create lessons, such as those featured on this website. To view the lesson plans select one from the list below or to find out more about how to participate in the institute email us.
Wartime Conservation and the Gasoline Crisis
An Introduction to Los Angeles
Transportation, Geography, and History
Post World War II Society: Suburban Sprawl and Urban Renewal
Altadena’s Connection to the American Civil War
Image vs. Reality: Olvera Street
Manifest Destiny: The Human Impact
Connecting to the Past:
A Case Study on MacArthur Park and the Westlake Area of Los Angeles
The Tournament of Roses Parade Route in Pasadena - Then and Now
Using Transportation to Teach City
Development Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and What Else???
An Introduction to Media Literacy:
Analyzing Images Through a Historical Lens
Eighty-three percent of the Los Angeles River is a cement-lined channel because the Army Corps of Engineers was trying to prevent the disastrous flooding that had occured repeatedly. There is an uncemented, plant of the bed beside the I-5 near the 134 Freeway because the water table there filled section is too close to the surface to pave over.
Geographic Literacy is a collaborative project between The Automobile Club of Southern California and the UCLA History-Geography Project with initial funding from the Fund for Improvement of Post Secondary Education and support from the California Geographic Alliance.
The Automobile Club of Southern California has authorized the use of images on this site by teachers for classroom use only. Any other use is strictly prohibited.
