Maps

“The whole concatenation of wild and artificial things, the natural ecosystem as modified by people over the centuries, the built environment layers over layers, the eerie mix of sounds and smells and glimpses neither natural nor crafted--all of it is free for the taking, for the taking in. Take it, take it in, take in more every weekend, every day, and quickly it becomes the theater that intrigues, relaxes, fascinates, seduces, and above all expands any mind focused on it. Outside lies utterly ordinary space open to any casual explorer willing to find the extraordinary. Outside lies unprogrammed awareness that at times becomes directed serendipity. Outside lies magic.” --John R. Stilgoe, Outside Lies Magic: Regaining History and Awareness in Everyday Places (New York: Walker & Co, 1998), p. 2.

For our first unit this year in City Semester, we learned to use maps as a tool for exploration and observation. We started small and got big -- we mapped our school, our neighborhoods, and eventually the south Bronx