Lesson Plan: Urban and Rural Areas

Grade: 2
­­­­­­­Time: One class period
NCSS Standards: Standard 3. People, Places, and Environments
NYSS Standards: Standard 3. Geography; Standard 4. Economics
ELA Standards: 1C. Students select and use strategies they have been taught for note taking, organizing, and categorizing information
4C. Students recognize the kind of interaction appropriate for different circumstances, such as story hour, group discussions, and one-on-one conversations.

Objectives: Using the story Town Mouse, Country Mouse by Jan Brett, students will be able to identify the main characteristics of urban and rural areas.

Interest Building: Read the story "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse" by Jan Brett.

Lesson Development

1.Explain to students that this story was read as a way to introduce two different types of places to live: urban and rural.

­­­­­­­­­­­­2.Urban: Explain that urban areas have high population densities. There are many buildings and houses built close together. Ask students to come up with things that might be seen in a city, such as tall buildings, subway stations, and airports. Write the responses students give on the board. Talk about the industries in an urban area and what type of jobs people might have in an urban city. Also talk about the many forms of transportation available in urban areas.

3.Rural: Explain that rural areas have low population densities. There are large amounts of land. Many people in rural areas live on farms. Ask students to come up with things that can be seen in rural areas, for examples, horses, corn or wheat fields, and farms. Write the responses students give on the board. Talk about the industries in a rural area and what type of jobs people might have in a rural town.

4.Pass out a Venn diagram sheet. Ask students to write 'Rural' on one side, 'Urban' on the other. As a class, come up with characteristics of urban areas, rural areas, and characteristics they share.

Summary

Compare and contrast urban and rural areas. Ask children, What are some of the advantages of living in a city? How about disadvantages? What are some advantages of living in a rural area? How about disadvantages?

Assessment

Pass out pieces of construction paper to students. Have them fold their paper in half widthwise. Ask them to draw something they would see in a city on one half. On the other half, have them draw something they might see in a rural area.

Materials: Town Mouse, Country Mouse by Jan Brett, blank sheets of construction paper, crayons, Venn diagram sheet.

Integration

Writing: Have students write a short paragraph on the differences between urban and rural areas.

Science: Teach students a lesson on pollution and how it affects big cities. Explain how it can also affect rural areas if polluted water gets into our rivers and lakes, and that can affect crops on farms.

Art: Make collages of urban and rural areas by cutting pictures out of magazines.