Navigation
Discovering rural areas where there is lots of open land, farms, and fewer people living far apart.
Imagine waking up to the sound of a rooster instead of a car horn, and looking out your window to see a field of corn stretching as far as your eyes can see. What makes a place feel 'wide open'?
A rural area is a place where there is a lot of land but not many people. Unlike a busy city with tall buildings and crowded sidewalks, rural areas are filled with nature. When you visit a rural community, you will see large open fields, thick forests, and winding dirt roads. Because there is so much space, you can see the horizon clearly. These areas are very important because they provide the space we need to grow food and protect wild animals.
Quick Check
What are three things you are likely to see in a rural area that you might not see in a big city?
Answer
You are likely to see farms, forests, and large open fields.
In a city, people live in apartments or houses very close together to save space. In rural areas, houses are spread far apart. This is because people often own many acres of land. One acre is about the size of a football field! A family might own or even acres. They need this space for privacy, to keep large animals like horses, or to plant rows of crops. Your nearest neighbor might be a long walk or a short drive away!
Let's look at how much space a rural family might have: 1. In a city, a house might be only feet away from the next house. 2. In a rural area, a house might be feet away from the next house. 3. This extra space allows the rural family to have a giant garden or a barn for cows.
Quick Check
Why do people in rural areas have so much space between their houses?
Answer
They need the land for farming, keeping animals, or privacy.
Most jobs in rural areas involve using the land's natural resources. The most famous rural job is farming. Farmers practice agriculture, which is the science of growing crops like corn and wheat. They also raise livestock, which are animals like cows, pigs, and sheep. Other people work in forestry, which means they take care of trees to produce wood for building houses. These jobs require a lot of outdoor space, which is why they are perfect for rural areas.
A farmer uses their land to produce things we use every day: 1. They plant seeds in a field that is acres large. 2. They use a tractor to help manage the huge amount of land. 3. They harvest the crop to send to grocery stores in the city.
Imagine you are designing a rural town. You have acres of land. 1. You decide to give each house acres so they have room for horses. 2. You set aside acres for a protected forest. 3. You use the rest for a large corn farm. Notice how few houses you can fit compared to a city block!
Which of these is a common feature of a rural area?
If a farmer owns acres of land, why is their neighbor's house likely far away?
Forestry is a job that involves taking care of trees to produce wood.
Review Tomorrow
Tomorrow morning, try to remember the three main things you find in a rural area and one reason why houses are so far apart.
Practice Activity
Draw a map of a 'Rural Town.' Make sure to include a farm, a forest, and show that the houses have a lot of space between them!