This inquiry leads students through an investigation of their communities as a way to deepen their understandings of the importance of place in general and the similarities and differences between different kinds of communities in particular. By investigating the compelling question “How would our lives be different if we lived in a different kind of community?” students learn that locations offer a range of experiences for the people who live there and that there are advantages and disadvantages of living in each kind of community. The distinctions among urban, suburban, and rural communities