Students investigate what makes a community livable and explore the influence of agriculture on the history of their state. Grades 3-5

agriculture: the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products

domesticate: to breed a population of animals or plants to serve the purposes of human beings and to need and accept human care

natural resources: materials or substances such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occur in nature and can be used for economic gain

selective breeding: process by which humans control the breeding of plants or animals in order to exhibit or eliminate a particular characteristic

Compelling Question: What makes a community livable?

Teacher Preparation: Prior to teaching this activity, use an Internet search or the List of Ghost Towns in the United States to identify a ghost town in your state. If possible, choose a ghost town that was abandoned due to depleted natural resources or unsuccessful farming. Create a slideshow with pictures and information about the ghost town including a map showing where in the state the ghost town is located, the reason the town was settled, the main industry in the town, interesting facts and/or events from the town's history, and reasons the town was abandoned. 

1. Ask the students, "What is a ghost town?" After listening to their answers, clarify that a ghost town is a deserted town with few or no remaining residents.
2. Lead a class discussion about why a town may become deserted. Include the following reasons in the discussion:
   • Depleted nonrenewable natural resources (many ghost towns are old mining towns)
   • Disaster (repeated flooding, fires, avalanches, drought, contamination, dust storms)
   • Unsuccessful farming
   • Changes in access to the town (highways or railroads built that bypass the site)
   • Creation of dams or reservoirs that flood previously occupied towns
3. Present your ghost town slideshow to the class. 
4. On a whiteboard or chart paper display the question, "What makes a community livable?" Explain to the students that they will be exploring the history of their state and what makes the communities there livable.

Supporting Question 1: Where do our everyday necessities come from?

1. Explain to the students that to understand what makes a community livable, they need to investigate the question, "Where do our everyday necessities come from?"
2. Complete the relay activity from the A Search for the Source (Grades 3-5) lesson. Emphasize that our everyday necessities come from farms or natural resources. In addition, farms rely on natural resources. Students should recognize that Earth's natural resources are critical to our survival.
3. Show the Resources: Welcome to the Neighborhood video.
4. Lead a discussion about the importance of living near resources that are necessary for survival. Use the following questions to guide the discussion:
   • What do humans need to survive? (food, water, air, and shelter)
   • Are all resources humans need for survival available everywhere on Earth? (No, communities are purposely located near resources that are necessary for survival.)
   • Are all resources ready to use right out of the Earth? (No, some resources are transformed before we use them. For example, water is cleaned before we drink it and food needs to be cultivated.)
5. Revisit the question, "Where do our everyday necessities come from?" (Our everyday necessities come from farms or natural resources.)

Supporting Question 2: What makes a location good for settlement?

1. Explain to the students that they are going to investigate the question, "What makes a location good for settlement?"
2. Organize students into small groups. Provide each group with a physical map of your state. 
3. Tell the groups that they are the leaders of a community in the 1800s and they are looking for a place in the state to settle. Ask the group to identify their settlement location and list at least three reasons for choosing the location.
4. Have the students share their location and reasoning with the class. While the students are sharing, make note of the factors they thought would make the location good for settlement on the board.
5. Lead a discussion about the factors that can make a location good for settlement. Include the notes you took while students were presenting their ideas and the following factors in the discussion:
   • harbors
   • resources for housing and fuel
   • reliable fresh water supply
   • non-hostile neighbors
   • natural defenses
   • reliable food sources
   • suitable land for agriculture
6. Explain to the students that new technologies changed the way places were settled. For example, with the invention of cars, highways were built, and people wanted to live in towns with easy access to highways. Some towns that were bypassed by highways and railroads didn't last and became ghost towns.
7. Provide each group with a cities map of your state. Instruct them to mark their settlement location on their cities map. Is their site near a populated area?
8. Ask the groups to consider why they avoided certain areas of the state. Reasons may include that the land cannot be used to grow crops; the land is too mountainous, dry, or swampy; the location is too remote and far away from major highways; the climate is too harsh; the site is located inside public lands; the site is located inside an Indian reservation.
9. Provide each student with a Settlement Site Activity Sheet and have them research the populated town closest to their site with their groups.
   • What is the name of the closest town to your settlement site?
   • What is the population?
   • Is the town close to water (rivers, lakes, ocean)?
   • Is the town close to any major highways?
   • What is the climate like?
   • What agricultural crops are grown or raised in this area?
   • What natural resources can be found in this area?
   • Why do you think this town or city is located where it is?
10. Have the students consider the town or city in which they live. Ask them, "Why do you think our town/city is located where it is?" Discuss the resources near your community that make the area livable.
11. Revisit the question, "What makes a location good for settlement?" (The factors that make a location good for settlement include harbors, resources for housing and fuel, reliable fresh water supply, non-hostile neighbors, natural defenses, reliable food sources, and suitable land for agriculture.)

Supporting Question 3: How important is agriculture to my community?

1. Explain to the students that they are going to investigate the question, "How important is agriculture to my community?"
2. Using the Farm & Food Sky Tour Google Earth map, your state agricultural commodity promotion site, and/or the State Agricultural Facts, ask students to identify the top 5-10 commodities grown in the state, then using a map outline of the state, ask students to identify and color/mark the locations where the crops/livestock are raised in the state. Ask this question for discussion, “Would these products be considered local based on where we live?”
3. Review the factors that can make a location good for settlement by listing them on the board:
   • harbors
   • resources for housing and fuel
   • reliable fresh water supply
   • non-hostile neighbors
   • natural defenses
   • reliable food sources
   • suitable land for agriculture
4. Circle "reliable food sources" and "suitable land for agriculture." Explain that the history of your state has been influenced by agriculture. Emphasize that agriculture makes it possible to have communities.
5. Ask the students to think about the types of farms they have seen throughout their state. Ask, "What types of food can be grown in our state?" List their answers on the board.
6. Provide each student with an Agricultural Facts Sheet for your state and a MyPlate Activity Sheet. Review with the students that MyPlate is a visual guide that is used to remind us to balance our diets and eat from all five food groups proportionally. Ask the students to review the Agricultural Fact Sheet and list the foods that are grown in your state in the appropriate food groups on the MyPlate Activity Sheet.
7. Have students think about what foods cannot be grown in your state. The foods they are accustomed to eating originate from a variety of places throughout the country and even the globe. Would they be able to consume a healthy diet without foods grown in other parts of the country or world? 
8. Revisit the question, "How important is agriculture in my community?" (Agriculture makes it possible to have communities.)

This lesson explores foundational concepts about how agriculture and the history of a state are connected. If you teach in the following states, refer to your local agricultural literacy history resources: Alaska California Iowa Kentucky Massachusetts Minnesota New Hampshire Oklahoma Oregon Utah Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Summative Performance Task

Using evidence from historical sources, construct an argument (e.g., essay, project, video production, portfolio, detailed outline, poster) that addresses the compelling question, "What makes a community livable?"

1. https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/savvy/documents/students/docs/FINAL%20C3%20Fact%20Sheet%209-13-13-1.pdf

Ghost Town Photo Credit: Mike McBey

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