Community

A community is a group of people living in the same area or having a particular characteristic in common. Communities can be small, like a neighborhood, or large, like a city or even a country. In science, we often study communities of living organisms, such as a forest community or a coral reef community.

Types of Communities

There are different types of communities based on the living organisms that make them up:

• Terrestrial Communities: These are communities found on land, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.
• Aquatic Communities: These are communities found in water, including freshwater habitats like rivers and lakes, as well as marine habitats like oceans and coral reefs.
• Human Communities: These are communities made up of people living in the same area, such as towns, cities, and villages.

Interactions in Communities

Within a community, different living organisms interact with each other and with the environment. These interactions can be categorized as:

• Competition: Organisms within a community may compete for resources like food, water, and space.
• Symbiosis: Some organisms form close relationships with each other, such as mutualism (both organisms benefit), commensalism (one benefits, the other is unaffected), and parasitism (one benefits, the other is harmed).
• Predation: Predators hunt and feed on prey, which affects the population of both the predator and the prey.

Study Guide

To study the topic of community, you can focus on the following key points:

1. Define what a community is and give examples of different types of communities.
2. Explain the interactions that occur within a community, such as competition, symbiosis, and predation.
3. Compare and contrast terrestrial and aquatic communities, highlighting the unique features of each.
4. Discuss the role of humans in shaping human communities and their impact on the environment.

By understanding the concept of community and the interactions within it, we can gain insight into the complex relationships that exist in the natural world and within human societies.

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• Effective Decision MakingSocial Studies • Third Grade