Who Pays for City Hall? In this EconEdLink lesson, students will learn that city governments provide goods and services by collecting taxes from citizens. Students will discuss the different goods and services such as public transportation, fire departments, police departments, and parks. They will also learn about different ways cities raise funds such as income tax, sales tax, and license fees.

I Can Dream Anything This EconEdLink lesson plan is based on the song "I Can Do Anything." Students listen to the song and identify the service occupations mentioned in the lyrics. They will discover that people can do many different things, but we can't do them all. Choices have to be made. The students discuss what our community would be like if we didn't have people providing services for us.

Where in the US would you want to live? We may take for granted that an object has always been in one location, but when it is moved, we are affected by the change. This activity challenges students to think about why objects, in the classroom and in their community, are placed where they are, and how this affects our daily lives.

Why live near water? The activities found on the Crayola website provide teachers with step-by-step instructions for creating works of art with their students. In this particular activity, students research and analyze the importance of water to ancient civilizations and colonial settlements when choosing their locations. They then create three-dimensional scenes to demonstrate their understanding of the numerous needs water serves. Adaptations are provided at the end of the activity to help meet the individual needs of students.

Community Helpers The "Early Childhood Creative Experiences" activities, found on the Crayola website, provide step-by-step instructions for creating works of art with young children. In this particular activity, students study the local community and create a three-dimensional street plan of the neighborhood. Users can also find other information related to the topic on this page, including suggested variations on this activity and lists of useful resources.

City and Country at Night The activities found on the Crayola website provide teachers with step-by-step instructions for creating works of art with their students. This particular activity focuses on thinking skills. Children are encouraged to use their imagination as they design buildings with lift-up flaps made from construction paper. Users can also find other interesting information related to the topic on this page. Following a one-time, cost-free registration, users gain access to this and all other Crayola activities.

Future Living The activities found on the Crayola website provide teachers with step-by-step instructions for creating works of art with their students. In this particular activity, students identify the technological, social, and functional components of a community and then design a community of the future. Adaptations are provided at the end of the activity to help meet the individual needs of students.

HUD Kids The Community Scrambler
This website, from HUD Kids, contains the Community Scrambler game. Students unscramble signs seen around town that identify goods and services. This website is referenced in the EconEdLink Lesson titled "Who Pays for City Hall?"

HUD Kids Field Trip This website, from HUD Kids, contains virtual fieldtrips to different places in a community. Students can select to visit a public park, a public library, or city hall. Students can opt for a picture tour or an animated tour as they travel on their virtual field trip. This website is referenced in the EconEdLink lesson titled "Who Pays for City Hall?"

Family and Community Traditions shared by readers In response to an online activity in which students can submit a their own family and community traditions, this page contains readers' own contributions. '¡del Corazón!' is a webzine devoted to work by Latino artists. This site is part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which is dedicated to the preservation, exhibition, and study of visual arts in America

NASA Explores Urban to Rural NASA uses satellite pictures to make their precise topographical maps. These maps help pilots fly in conditions where vision is obscured. These maps show pilots the hills and valleys that lie ahead of them as if they were real images. Pilots fly great distances and cover different terrain and settings, such as rural, suburban, and urban. The students will create a map that shows the landscaping changing from rural to suburban to urban.

Kids and Community This site for kids is developed by America's city planners.Explore how you create communities, how you live in them and how you change them.