Unit Plan 17 (Grade K Social Studies): Different Kinds of Homes and Places
Explore how different homes reflect their environments, materials, and cultures while helping kindergarteners compare where people live around the world.
Focus: Help children notice and compare homes and places where people live—apartments, houses, farm homes, and homes in different parts of the world. Students learn that homes and places are built using different materials and shapes that fit the environment and weather, and that people use natural and human resources to make them.
Grade Level: Kindergarten
Subject Area: Social Studies (Geography • Community Awareness • Economics)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 20–30 minutes per session
I. Introduction
In this unit, students become “Home Explorers” looking at pictures and simple stories about where people live—in cities, suburbs, rural areas, and in other countries. They compare homes (tall apartments, small houses, farmhouses, huts, houseboats) and notice how homes fit the places they are in (cold, hot, rainy, near water). Children learn that homes use materials from nature (wood, brick, straw) and workers’ skills (builders, carpenters) and that people adapt to their environment to stay safe and comfortable.
Essential Questions
- What is a home, and where do people live?
- How can homes look different in different places but still be special and safe?
- How do homes fit the environment (weather, land, nearby resources)?
- What materials and workers help make homes?
- How can we care for the places where our homes are?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Describe their own home and neighborhood using simple words (house, apartment, farm, city, country).
- Compare two different homes (e.g., tall building vs. small house; warm place vs. snowy place) and say one way they are the same and different.
- Identify at least one way people adapt their homes or behavior to the environment (e.g., roofs for rain, coats for snow, shade for sun).
- Recognize that homes are made from natural resources (wood, bricks, stone) and built by people with skills (workers/builders).
- Help create a Class “Homes and Places” Poster showing different kinds of homes and where they might be found.
Standards Alignment — Kindergarten (C3-based custom)
- K.C3.Geo.1 — Identify and describe familiar places (home, school, neighborhood).
- K.C3.Geo.5 — Explain how people adapt to and care for places.
- K.C3.Econ.5 — Identify natural and human resources used to make things.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can tell about my home and where it is (house, apartment, farm, city, etc.).
- I can say one way homes are different in different places (shape, size, material).
- I can tell one way people adapt to where they live (clothes, roofs, windows, shade).
- I can name a material used to make homes (wood, brick, stone) and a worker who helps build homes.
- I can help make a picture or chart that shows different kinds of homes and places.