Early on in the unit of migration, discuss Ernst Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration and how these were some of the original theories surrounding the general flows of migration. Some are  more obvious than others, though he is credited for trying to make sense of otherwise “unexplained reasons that people migrate.”  Students and teacher can read the article together and annotate/explain as you go.

Ernest George Ravenstein Article Teacher Annotations

Ernest George Ravenstein Article

Remember that it is useful to tell kids that these are not true laws, but guidelines that future migration theories will reference.

It might be good to have kids brainstorm and critically think if any of the listed laws are true today (in their minds), and see if they can come up with any real world situations.

Time: 30 minutes of time

The original John Corbett article can be found HERE.