Center Focus

Building Our Community

  1. This activity is best used as a follow-up activity on a whole group discussion about your community. A previously brainstormed list of buildings and areas in the community should be available at the center.
  2. Have each student choose one location from the list of places.
  3. They will then need to create this building out of boxes, construction paper, scrap paper, and any other miscellaneous materials available. They should name their place and add as many details as they can.
  4. When everyone has visited this center and most of the buildings on the list have been created, get together as a whole class to design the community. You will want to discuss where factories should go versus where houses should go, why certain buildings are best in the center/outskirts of town, and other factors involved in the layout of communities.
  5. You can make the town on a piece of plywood, adding streets, trees, water, and other features as you continue your study.