Objectives:
Los Angeles, "city of the thousand suburbs", has no city centre like many European cities, but is an agglomeration with numerous ethnic groups. That's why the cities has thousand faces, because the districts are so different, like the people living there.
Didactical comment:
- The pupils receive a view of the variety of the city Los Angeles in this paper. The group puzzle stands thereby symbolically for the many puzzle parts of the city. Each district is prepared for itself in the teams of experts, and joined then in the master's groups with the other districtss to an overall view. Apart from the symbolic function of the group puzzle, every group member is in obligation to work. Because only if all take part actively in the working process, they can be expert of the respective topic for the master's group. This again is important for the master's group, because only then everyone can learn from everyone and the task can be fulfilled.
- In the last phase of the group puzzle, the presentation abilities of the pupils are trained. Together, an attractive presentation should be provided.
Solution of Worksheet 'Los Angeles'
Here you can find some important facts of each district:
Encino lies north of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. The majority of the inhabitants is between 18 and 64 year sold and inhabits typical suburban houses. Encino is thus a typical American Suburb of the middle class.
Hollywood is the center of the American film industry and often seen as a synonym for this industry. Since August 2006, the district has new district borders, among others the area of Beverly Hills now officially belongs to Hollywood. The majority of population in Hollywood is white and wealthy. Beside luxury hotels and numerous purchase possibilities, Hollywood also has some sights to offer. Among the most well-known is the "walk of fame".
Jefferson Park is a district in the south of Los Angeles. There, over 10.000 people live on 1,82 square kilometres. About half of the inhabitants is of hispanic origin, closely followed by African-American population. Jefferson Park has a increased criminality rate and poor schools.
Torrance is a city in Los Angeles County. In former times it was surveyed from sources of oil and drilling rigs. Today, it holds one of the largest shopping centres of the USA, Del Amo Fashion center. About half of the population is European origin, the largest minority with 12% is of hispanic origin. The cost of living in Torrance are above average. Unemployment is low and the educational attainment generally high.
Watts is a residential area in the southern part of Los Angeles. In former times Watts was inhabited by a majority of African-Americans, but since the 1970ies more and more Mexicans and other Latin-Americans lives here. The district became internationally "famous" in 1964 and 1992 by rebellions and unrests. An important building of the district is the Watts-Towers. Watts ranks among the most dangerous districts of Los Angeles.
Venice is a district in the west of Los Angeles. It was rebuild in the idea of the Italian city of Venice and founded in 1905. The beach of Venice Beach became famous because of its many artists. The film industry uses Venice as a location for film shoots. The population in Venice is to a large extent multicolored and mixed related to race and incomes. In some neighbourhoods hispanic, African-American and asiatic subpopulations dominate.
All images are from Google Earth.
