The plants in the forest depend on each other and to grow, eat, drink, and survive. Explain that for the rest of this lesson, students will be focusing on the communities at the city level and the network of communities in a county. Be sure students understand the concepts of city and county . Cities are formed when the people that live in an area agree to incorporate and elect a city government. Cities commonly have a city council, a police force, a fire department, and other city services.
Counties are the largest territorial division for local government within the state.
Counties can have many cities within them. There are 58 counties in California. Ask the students to recall the book Seedfolks and the discussion that followed. The clues they heard that formed the picture of the Gibb Street neighborhood in their head are the things that make up a community. The city and network of communities in a county are made up of many living and non-living things.