Introduction
Community: a word you've probably all heard of before..but what does it mean? Have a brainstorm now with your class about what you think community means.
Many living creatures live in groups because it makes their lives easier and helps them to survive. Here is an old but interesting video about different types of living creatures that choose to live in groups.
What are some of the reasons you can think of that explain why these animals live in a group?
When people live in a group.it is often called a community. Like animals; people live in communities to help them survive. As communities change and grow, the needs of the people who live in them also change and grow. Think about some of the needs you have and share your list with someone else. Is it the same or different? Do you think there are different types of communities or are they all the same?
Task
What is a community? You might already have some ideas about what a community is. Firstly, take some time now to share your ideas with a buddy and jot your ideas down on some paper.
On this webquest, your task is to watch the videos and complete the follow up tasks. You might need to rewatch some of the video clips so that you can get the information you need and that's okay if it helps you to understand.
At the end of the webquest you will be challenged to make a model of your own community...so look out for ideas on the way!
If you're ready to begin, watch this first clip on Types of Communities.
List the three different communities that were mentioned in the video and describe what they are like. What type of community do you live in?
Process
So what is a community? It is "an interacting population of various kinds of individuals in a common location" In other words, it's a group of people, living in a similar place. You could say that our classroom is a community, our town is a community, and even our country is a kind of community.
So far in this webquest you will have learned about 3 different kinds of communities.
- Rural
- Urban
- Suburban
Watch the following clip and list all the good things and all of the not so good things about living in each community. Jot these down on some paper.
Communities are full of places that are important and special.
People need doctors and hospitals when they are sick, grocery stores to buy food and airports to travel to new places. .
Think about your everyday life...what are the places that you visit. Make a list of them.
What Are the Features of Our Community?
Use Google Earth to find your local area.
What can you notice about your local community?
What are the natural features?
What are the built features?
What are the special places in our community?
What makes them special?
Kaitiakitanga in our communities.
Communities aren't just about people and buildings, they're also about the environment. When lots of people live in one place it becomes an important challenge to keep the environment healthy and beautiful for everyone to enjoy.
Journey to a Place – Independent Activity
Think about a place in the community that is special to you and your family.
Draw a map of the journey from your house to this special place.
People in Our Community
Some of you might have heard this song before..it asks you to think about the people in your neighborhood.
Places in the community also need people to care for them. What are some of the jobs and roles of people in your neighborhood? Challenge: see how many you can list.
Groups
A group is a number of people that do something together. There are many groups in our community. A group could be your family, friends, class or school. Some other groups might include sporting groups, religious groups, friendship groups or musical groups. Every year people in Nelson gather to celebrate the many different groups that make up our community at Race Unity Day. This festival brings together the different food, music, dancing and singing of groups in our neighborhood.
Think about your neighborhood: what groups can you identify? What makes them unique?
Challenge: find out about a group that exists in Nelson.
- What is the name of this group?
- How can you contact them?
- What services do they offer?
- Who can join this group?
- How do they support the community?
Evaluation
Now you know all about communities...here is your final challenge. You are going to be part of designing and building an ideal community; that is: the best community you can think of. Things you need to consider are
- the people: who are they and what do they need?
- the buildings: what is needed?
- the environment: what is required to support a healthy community?
Teacher Page
After students are underway in creating their ideal community, propose challenges to the students to encourage problem solving and adaptive thinking. For example: a group of new settlers is coming to live in the community; where will they live, what will they need? Or a natural disaster strikes the community: what changes do they need to make to the community? Or maybe an ecological issue; their water supply has become low: what can they do to conserve and protect the water?
Here are some building templates to get the students started.
Materials:
Free downloads from Parents’ Choice website:
- Flat patterns for House, School, Library, Church, Store, Tall Building, Restaurant (1 page each)