1. Rural Settlements Lesson 2
What are the differences between rural and urban life in the UK?

2. Share your stories of village life.
Perhaps some of you in the class have lived in a village, or perhaps you have visited family who live in villages.
Spend two minutes sharing stories on your table.

3. Villages in the UK are different in many ways to villages in other places.
Nobody in the class has lived in a rural village in the UK.
Let’s watch this video full of interesting sights.
Keep note of things that you see.

4. What did you observe about village life?
Not very busy
People seemed to know each other
Close link to nature and farming

5. Key features of rural settlements
Rural settlements are much smaller than urban settlements
Rural settlements don’t have many people in – people tend to know each other
Rural settlements are often built around farming, especially in villages
Rural people have a closer relationship with nature – they depend upon it directly
Most people are ‘homogenous’ – they seem like each other, and share a culture
Rural communities tend to be divided socially – some families will be wealthier, some always poor. Caste.
Rural people have smaller social groups to interact with – friends and family are strong, and stable.
In rural communities, people do similar work as their parents. Poor stay poor. Wealthy stay wealthy.
Rural communities stick together – people know each other and work together
WHICH OF THESE FEATURES IS THE MOST DIFFERENT FROM URBAN SETTLEMENTS?

6. So…how would it feel to be part of a rural community?

7. Role Play – Split the class into two
Role Play – Split the class into two. One half are rural, the other are urban.
RURAL (two groups of 7 or 8)
URBAN (two groups of 7 or 8)
You are on a bus.
You all know each other and are chatting away, asking questions about each others lives and greeting each other, chatting about the weather and so on.
You all know about each others families, and ask about them.
You are surrounded by strangers and everybody is minding their own business. Some might be reading papers. Some might be listening to music or playing on phones. People are not chatting to each other.
You are a bit suspicious if people on the bus start speaking to you.

8. ‘How do people act differently to us in English rural communities?’
Sentence Starters
I live in an urban community. Where I live, there are …
Rural communities are different. In rural communities, there are…
There, people often…
Ideas of things you could talk about after Lower population and smaller space People tend to know each other Closer relationship with nature Farming communities Close communities where people often work together and socialise together People are more ‘homogenous’, meaning they have lots of similarities.

9. ‘How do people act differently to us in English rural communities?’
Mr Walker’s example I live in an urban community. Where I live, there is a really high population and the city itself is huge: London is a global city. People have a wide range of cultural backgrounds and when I walk down the street, I tend not to know anybody. The streets are full of strangers. Rural communities are different. In rural communities, there are far fewer people, and everybody tends to know each other. There, people often spend most of their time with the same people, when working and when socialising. People tend to trust each other more, because they are connected. Rural communities rely on nature, for farming and also for their hobbies and past times.

10. ‘How do people act differently to us in English rural communities?’
Sentence Starters
I live in an urban community. Where I live, there are …
Rural communities are different. In rural communities, there are…
There, people often…
Ideas of things you could talk about after Lower population and smaller space People tend to know each other Closer relationship with nature Farming communities Close communities where people often work together and socialise together People are more ‘homogenous’, meaning they have lots of similarities.