What Stays, What Changes: Communities Over Time
Atlas the friendly globe-headed guide stands beside two big side-by-side photos of one town square, one old and faded with horse carts, one bright and busy with bikes and buses, pointing back and forth between them.
- Define what a community is in your own words.
- Identify two things in a community that changed over time.
- Identify two things in a community that stayed the same over time.
- Compare a picture of the past with a picture of today and explain one difference.
- Explain why both change and continuity can happen at the same time.
Key terms
- community
- people who live together in one place
- change
- becoming different over time
- continuity
- staying the same over time
- compare
- to look at what is different
What A Community Is
A community is a group of people who live, work, and help each other in one place. It can be a village, a neighborhood, or a town. A community is a little like you. You grow taller and learn new things, but your name and your family stay the same. Communities also change in some ways while staying the same in other ways at the very same time.
Change And Staying The Same
Long ago, many people walked or rode horses to get around. Today they ride bikes, buses, and cars. That is a change. But people still travel to see friends and buy food. That part stayed the same. We call staying the same continuity. When we look at an old photo and a new photo, we hunt for what changed and what stayed.
Worked examples
Old photo has horse carts, new one has buses
- Ask: is the way of traveling different now?
- Yes, carts changed into buses, so travel changed.
- But people still travel, so that part stayed the same.
Answer: Travel changed, but the need to travel stayed the same.
Is sharing meals change or continuity?
- Ask: did families share meals long ago?
- Yes, families shared meals long ago and still do today.
- Something that stays the same is continuity.
Answer: Sharing meals is continuity; it stayed the same.
Activity
Sort each item into Changed Over Time or Stayed the Same in this town.
Practice
Name one thing in your town that changed over time.
Name one thing that stayed the same over many years.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Everything changes completelySome things change while other things stay the same at once.
- Nothing in a town changesTowns do change, like streets and tools, while some things stay.
Check your understanding
What does it mean when a part of a community shows 'continuity'?
You see an old photo with horse carts and a new photo with buses on the same street. What is the BEST thing to say?
Why is it WRONG to say a community either changes completely or stays exactly the same?
Recap
A community is people living together in one place. Over time some things change, like how people travel. Other things stay the same, like families sharing meals. Both change and continuity can happen at once.
Reflect
What in your community do you hope stays the same forever?