- Kids find these familiar community institutions endlessly fascinating. What child hasn't toyed with the idea of being a police officer or a firefighter at least once? - Format includes large color photographs, easy-to-read fonts, and simple interior design. - Series features include vocabulary preview and review pages plus special backmatter pages that invite readers to think further on the study topics. Curriculum Standards: Grades K-8 Social Studies Standards People. Places, & Environments: III - Describe how people create places that reflect ideas, wants, needs as they design homes, playgrounds, classrooms, and the like - Examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment, the use of land, building of cities in selected locales. - Consider existing uses and proposed new uses of resources in home, school, and the community Individuals, Groups, & Institutions: V - Identify examples of institutions and describe the interactions of people with institutions - Identify examples of tension between individuals and institutions - Give examples of the role of institutions in furthering both continuity and change - Show how groups and institutions work to meet individual needs and promote the common good