Rural, Suburban & Urban
Background Information & Activities

According to the latest U.S. Census, there are over 300 million people that live in the United States today. Our population lives in a variety of places, which can be divided into three main categories: urban, suburban, and rural areas.

People often define urban areas, or cities, as land occupied by buildings and other structures used for residences and institutional and industrial sites. Urban areas often have some form of public transportation, such as buses, subways, or trains and have high population densities. Buildings are often closer together and built higher than those in suburban or rural areas.

Suburban areas are those on the outskirts of cities. Residents of suburban areas often commute to the cities for work. Some suburban areas have commuter trains and buses that shuttle people to and from the cities. Structures in suburban communities are often lower and farther apart than in cities. Though they have smaller populations than cities, suburbs offer the same services including schools, health care facilities, and public works.

The 2000 Census showed that 59 million people live in rural areas. These are areas with large amounts of land with significantly lower populations than urban or suburban areas. Structures are often far apart and some rural communities share hospitals or schools. Rural areas tend to be far from urban areas. When many students think of rural areas, they think of farmland. However, people live in woodland forests, plains, deserts, and prairies, which are examples of rural areas.

Helping your child understand where people live will help your child understand the world around him or her. Your child will be able to expand his or her knowledge of surrounding communities and learn how to be an active member of his or her community.

Rural, Suburban & Urban Teacher Activities – Click Here!

Rural, Suburban & Urban Family Activities – Click Here!

Rural, Suburban & Urban Teacher Activities

Rural Past
Together with your child, research the library or the internet to learn about your community's past. Most communities were once rural and slowly changed into suburban or urban environments. You can also visit www.census.gov to learn about your community's population and its growth. If possible, research historical pictures of your community and analyze them together to learn how your community changed over time. This will also help your child see the differences between urban, suburban, and rural communities.

Field Trip
If possible, take field trips to urban, suburban, and rural areas. Walk around each of the areas and discuss the differences and similarities. Walk around one block in each area and count the number of buildings and compare the numbers. Your child will understand that the density of buildings varies in each type of area. Also, find out about the populations and size of the places you visited by researching at the library or visiting www.census.gov.

Anywhere, USA
Have your child design a city, suburb, or farm. What do people need in order to live in each of those places? Brainstorm the kinds of services and buildings that cities, towns, or rural areas need in order to function. Encourage your child to design places where people can live, gather, and play. Think of places that people might need, such as grocery stores, community service centers, hospitals, and schools. Have your child draw pictures of his or her city, suburb, or farm and ask your child to describe them.

Rural, Suburban & Urban Family Activities

Our Town
As a class, brainstorm ideas of what cities, towns, or farms need to function. Write their ideas on the board and encourage them to think of what services they need and where they would buy their goods. Then as a class project, design a city, town, or farm together and draw a mural. You can divide your mural into sections and have groups of students draw in their specific sections, or you can have students draw specific buildings which they can paste onto the mural. Other students can draw roads and bridges connecting the pictures together.

Cities, towns, and farms are more than just buildings. To extend the activity, have students think of different roles people play in cities, towns, and farms. Who runs the place? Who takes care of sanitation and power? Who works in the hospitals and schools? Have students add drawings of people to your class mural.

Modes of Transportation
Lead a discussion about how people in your community get around. Do they drive? Do they take the bus or subway? Are there trains that run through your community? Where do they go? How is your community connected to other communities? Write students' ideas on the board and have them think of better ways to get around their communities.

As an extension, plan a public transportation method for your community. This can be a subway system or bus routes or even bike paths. If your community already has these systems in place, then have your students think of ways to improve the existing modes of transportation. Have students design a transportation map showing where routes would go and where stations could be built.

Ask a City Planner
Planning cities and towns is a difficult job, especially as populations increase and public services become more in demand. If possible, have a city planner come in to talk about his or her job. Have students prepare questions to ask beforehand. How do city planners know where to put buildings? How do they know how big the buildings are allowed to be? Where is the best place to put a park or a school?

The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
As a reading activity, read a version of "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse." A copy of this story can be found in most books of tales and free versions can be found on the internet. Have students compare the city and the "country," or rural areas. Write their ideas in a two-column chart. What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in the city or in a rural area? Students can write their ideas on a pro-and-con chart.