Third Grade: Regional Communities

Building upon the study of their local community the previous year, third grade students expand their conception of community. They study Oakland County as a regional community and then metropolitan Detroit as an even broader regional community. For comparison, and to begin to understand the universality of regional communities, students then study a regional community in another part of the United States as well as a regional community in another part of the world (the equivalent of a county or metropolitan area). When studying a regional community, students use various media to compile, analyze, and present data about its geography, history, govern­ment, and economy. They also discuss and write about issues of major concern to the people living in the communities under study.

Units of Study