Why Junior Citizen Planner?

In order to make a long-term impact on land use, today's youth and tomorrow's leaders must be equipped with effective land use decision-making tools. The Junior Citizen Planner (JCP) program is a joint effort between MSU Extension's Citizen Planner Program and to 4-H Youth Development to promote youth land use education. The program is offered as an optional certificate program. Here is a sample advertisement of our Junior Citizen Planner program.

Target Audience, Skills and Curriculum

Junior Citizen Planner targets youth in the classroom and 4-H Club setting but may also be used with: day and summer camp programs, Scouts, Campfire, and other youth programs.

The program develops participant's skills in becoming good citizens, responsible decision-makers and will develop community pride. The primary subject areas covered in the program are:

• Social Studies, Civics and Community
• Geography
• Environmental Science and Land Use Planning
• Land Use Technology (GIS, GPS)

The curriculum is divided into the following categories:

1. Community and Civics Indoor Activities
   • One Hour
   • Two - Three Hours
   • Four or More Hours
2. Geography Indoor Activities
   • One Hour
   • Two - Three Hours
   • Four or More Hours
3. Environment and Land Use Indoor Activities
   • One Hour
   • Two - Three Hours
   • Four or More Hours
4. Outdoor Activities
• Community and Activities
• Geography
• Enviornment and Land Use
5. Technology Activities

Each activity is posted on this site under the "Curriculum" menu bar at the top of the page in PDF format and comes with: an overview, objectives, subject, skills, duration, materials, background information, step-by-step procedure, assessment options, adaptations/extensions, additional resources, as well as the pertinent Michigan Curriculum Framework Content Standards and Benchmarks and Kent County Core Curriculum.

The activities have been certified to meet both, the Michigan Curriculum Framework Content Standards and Benchmarks, as well as the Kent County Core Curriculum for 3rd - 5th grades, however, the activities are appropriate for participants up to age 13 (8th grade). The activities are not specific to Kent County, they are relevant on a statewide basis.

Copyright Statement

Michigan State University has signed permissions to reprint material for educational purposes with several authors and organizations that produced materials used within the Junior Citizen Planner activities.

Junior Citizen Planner activities are made available to the public through the This Land Is Your Land learning series, which received grant funding to provide these land use educational materials to the public. The This Land Is Your Land youth land use learning series developed by MSU Extension's United Growth for Kent County project.

If Junior Citizen Planner materials are reproduced, we request proper citation.

Instructors

This web site and activities were designed so that practically anyone would feel comfortable leading the activities. All activities come with detailed instructions and background information. Activities are available in PDF format from this web site under the "Curriculum" menu bar at the top of the page.

If you are interested in becoming an instructor (to earn service hours toward a Citizen Planner certificate) and do not have a group of youth to work with, work with your Citizen Planner Program Coordinator and/or Junior Citizen Planner Regional Liaison to identify a classroom, 4-H club, or other group of youth.

If you are seeking a guest instructor to conduct Junior Citizen Planner activities, please contact your Junior Citizen Planner Regional Liaison or local MSU Extension office.

Benefits to Educators and Youth

• Fun and creative teaching strategies and learning methods, including experiential and hands-on components.
• Easy to follow materials and flexible lesson plans.
• Activities / lesson plans meet the Michigan standards and benchmarks and are listed by their numerical code and written out completely.
• An unbiased introduction to controversial land use issues, presenting all sides of an issue in a fair and honest manner.
• Activities that build knowledge and skills for inquiry, investigation, analysis, decision-making and action.
• Projects that can be displayed at fairs, in a class celebration or for guest speakers.
• Evaluation strategies directed toward a variety of learning styles that assess student learning.
• Adaptation ideas and technology extensions on activities to further student understanding and investigation.

• Background information, additional data, facts resources and reference material for each lesson plan.