Rationale:
    It is important for students to understand the community in which they live in, and realize the differences between their town or city to others areas around the country.  We have already seen that the census can show numbers that define a particular area or region.  We have also seen that events like the mass of immigration of the early 1900's can make major differences in the development of a region.  Using geography and studying social issues will show the students the current and future aspects of life in America.

Learner Outcomes:

• Students will gain a better understanding of the areas of industrial, commercial, and residential in a town or city.
• Students will create a map using industrial, commercial, and residential areas.
• Students will place three schools, a mall, a community center, and a sports complex on their map and explain their reasoning for their decisions.

    Provide Background:

Create an overhead or handout of the map of the student's town or city.  Take a five-mile section and enlarge it.  In the five-mile section, color or shade areas of industrial, commercial, and residential.  Be sure to chose an area that students can best be familiar with.

In groups of 2 or 3, have the students review the town map and the five-mile section map for a few minutes then ask them to identify an aspect of each of the colored or shaded areas.

Lesson Development:

Guide Class Discussion:

1. Ask the class: What did you find in each area?

Create a list on the board with the color names or shaded identifications on top of each column.  As students dictate their findings write them on the board under the proper columns.

 2. Explain and define these terms:

 Industrial
 Commercial
 Residential

Re-label list on board with these terms.  Return to map and have students label the section map with these terms and create a map key that will identify these areas.

3. Have students, in their groups, create a map of an imaginary town.  The are required to identify each part of their map with the three terms discussed.  This will show the if the students can apply the terms above.

4. Ask students to:

        Place an elementary, middle, and high school on your map.
        Put a shopping mall in your town.
        Put a community center on your map.
        Put a sports complex on your map.
        Use a map key to identify all objects.
        On a separate piece of paper explain why you put things where you did.

Lesson Closure:

    Have groups explain why they put one (or all, depending on time) of the above requirements where they did.

Review:

    Ask class to define: Industrial, Commercial, and Residential.

Follow-up:

This lesson should be followed by a comparison activity on another town or city.  This will allow students to see the regional similarities and/or differences between people across their state or the country.