Make generalizations about the locations of community services
Opening the Lesson: Day One
Take students on a walking tour of the school grounds or around the block. Discuss why the school is located where it is. What is located around or near the school that can help explain the school’s location? How much land is needed for a school? What other requirements are there for a school site? Allow students to express their ideas and have one student record them for later use. For younger students, use a tape recorder to collect ideas.
Developing the Lesson: Day Two
Distribute a community map to each student. Have students plot their home and school locations on the map. (You may suggest that parents help students with this activity.) Ask students to plot the route they take from home to school. Review the students’ ideas about why the school is located where it is. Ask students if they can back up any of their ideas with information on their maps.
If possible, indicate the locations of the students’ homes and the location of the school on a large map of the community or overhead transparency. Discuss patterns. Who lives the closest? Who lives the farthest away? Are all the homes closely clustered around the school? Are there clusters of students living in one area? Do some students travel long distances to school? Ask students why they attend this school and not another one in the community. Again refer to the ideas collected on day one. Talk about north and south, and left and right turns that they take on their way to school each day.
You may wish to have younger students build three-dimensional maps of the school and surrounding areas using small, painted boxes and other available materials.
Invite the principal or other official to explain why the site was selected for the school.
As students realize that a variety of factors must be taken into account when deciding where to build a school, record them on a chart titled “Why Is Our School Located Here?”
Choose one or two other community service buildings, such as a library, bank, police station, or fire station, to study in the same manner. Take a field trip to the sites to investigate the reasons for the locations. Interview a person who works there (or perhaps someone from the local historical society) about the reasons for the location of each service. Ask students to suggest reasons for the location of each service.
As each site is studied, prepare a large chart that lists the information that the students have gathered. Plot the location of each service on the map. For example, if the library is studied, create a chart titled “Library Location Notes.” Information might include the exact address, other buildings near it, and distance from your school. Ask students to suggest reasons for the location.
Concluding the Lesson
Display the large charts and the community map or overhead map transparency. Write the students’ ideas about the similarities among the sites on the chalkboard or on a large sheet of paper. Count how many times the same idea was expressed to demonstrate similarities. Have students identify differences among the site locations and suggest reasons for the differences.
Extending the Lesson
What services would students like to have in the community that are not now available? Use the community map to design additions for the town. Ask students where they would build these new services and why.
Invite a guest speaker to your class, such as a store owner, a restaurant owner, or a school principal who is planning a new building or facility. Discuss the process the speaker used to select a suitable site.
Assessing Student Learning
Have students draw pictures of each of the sites studied. Then have them write one or two sentences under each picture giving reasons for the location of each service.
This lesson from TC Tool Kit: A Resource for Teacher-Consultants, National Geographic Society, 1993.
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