Unit 6 ~ Communities Grow and Change ~ This unit analyzes how and why communities change or stay the same over time and what happens as a result.

Main Ideas:

1.  Some things in a community change and some things stay the same.
2.  Changes in a community can be slow, fast, planned, or unplanned.
3.  Growth in a community can sometimes create problems. 
4.  Every community has a history.

Suggested Independent Reading

The Town that Moved  by Mary Jane Finsand
My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston
The House on Maple Street by Bonnie Pryor
Under the Moon by Dylan Sheldon
Letting Swift River Go by Jane Yolen

Suggestions to Extend and Enrich this Unit:

Interview a grandparent or other person of a similar age. Ask that person to tell you about the most important changes during his or her lifetime and the most important way in which life has stayed the same.


Architects and urban planners often work together to decide the location of parks, schools, homes, office buildings, and shopping centers. Draw the plan for a new community.


Are there modern cities that rely on canals for transportation? How does the city of Venice, Italy use canals.

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