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3rd grade · Social Studies · Unit 2 of 6

Communities Around the World

How land, climate, resources and culture shape daily life in communities far and near.

What your child practices

Practices daily life in communities around the world: homes, food, work and technology that suit the land and weather, cultural expression, respectful language about differences and how media can show only part of a place.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Global Connections; Civics & Government 5 · comparing the daily life and economies of communities around the world

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Homes, food and work in a community suit its land and weather.
  2. Culture is the songs, stories, food and celebrations people share.
  3. Use respectful words about differences: “different,” not “weird.”

Example: Which sentence is respectful: “Their food is weird” or “Their food is different from mine”? Respectful words don’t make others feel bad. “Different” describes without judging. Answer: Their food is different from mine.

Communities Around the World in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 2 of 6 in 3rd grade Social Studies, after Needs Around the World and before Working Together Fairly.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Houses on stilts above water are common in places that have…

    • no rain at all
    • floods
    • deep snow

  2. Question 2

    If your community and another both celebrate with food, you share…

    • something in common
    • the same house
    • nothing at all

  3. Question 3

    Which is a natural resource?

    • A phone
    • A plastic toy
    • Water

  4. Question 4

    Which is a technology that helps farmers?

    • A tractor
    • A paper plate
    • A birthday card

  5. Question 5

    Before you decide what a faraway place is like, you should…

    • never learn about it
    • believe the first picture
    • look at more than one source

  6. Question 6

    People in one community use a tool to carry water because…

    • it is a need in their way of life
    • water is never needed
    • tools are never needed

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