People live in many kinds of places. Some live where buildings are tall and close together. Others live where farms stretch as far as you can see.
Key idea
A city is a big, busy place with many people. A suburb is a town of homes near a city. A rural place has farms, fields and few houses.
- City: tall buildings, apartments, buses and subways, crowded sidewalks.
- Suburb: streets of houses with yards, schools and shopping centers, close to a city.
- Rural: farms, barns, open land and woods, with houses far apart.
Why it works
Many people work in cities, so people live close together there. Suburbs grew up next to cities so families could have more room and still get to the city. Rural places have the land we need for farms, forests and ranches.
Worked example: What kind of place?
Grandpa lives on a farm. His nearest neighbor is a mile away. What kind of place is that?
- There is a farm and lots of open land.
- Houses are far apart.
Answer: A rural place.
Common mistake
Some children call every town a city, or think rural means "very far from everything." Rural just means few people and lots of open land; a small town can be rural too.
For the grown-up. Talk about where you live and where relatives live. Is it a city, a suburb or a rural place? What clues tell you?