Eupheus

Learning

15. Living Together

Study Material for Grade 5

Social Studies
LIVING TOGETHER

Overview
Overview

Where do you live? How many people live in your house? Do you know
someone who lives alone? When you look at the animals around you,
Why People
Started Living what do you observe? Do they live alone or in groups?
Together

The human civilization underwent many changes and evolved with

Forms of Living time. Early humans lived in caves and forests. They lived on meat and
Together
wild fruits available in the forests.

Living in forests meant, there

Challenges of
Living Together was always a danger of wild
animals. Therefore, humans
found safety in living as a group.
As time passed, man learnt how
to cultivate food.
Fig1: Early Man living together

Living in groups helped in the cultivation too. As humans continued to

evolve, the benefits of staying together also increased with time.

In this chapter, we are going to learn more about the need for living
together. Specifically, we will see:

 Why people started living together.

 What are the different forms in which people live together.
 Whether there are challenges in living together.
 How and why animals live together just like humans.

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Why people started living together?

Living in groups has always been the way of all societies in this world.
Ever since mankind came into existence on this planet, the basic way to Overview
survive was through living in groups.

Living in groups is taken for granted today, because we evolved that Why People
Started Living
way. But have you ever wondered how people started living together? Together

It is believed that early

Forms of Living
humans gathered around Together

campfires. Perhaps they

socialized, found comfort and
warmth, shared food and Challenges of
Living Together
information, and found safety
from predators, around these
campfires they made.

An individual human being

was considered as just Fig 2:A lone Human was no match to a Wild Beast
another prey animal, having neither fighting teeth nor claws. Even
armed with a club, spear, or stone knife, a lone human was no match for
a wild beast.

Our ancestors overcame the daily challenges of their environments by

Sharing food, caring for infants, and building social networks.

Some groups of early humans collected food and wood from various
places and brought them to their common eating spots. Sharing vital
resources with other members of the group led to stronger social bonds
and enhanced their chances of survival.

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As society progressed, no individual could be completely self-sufficient
and had to depend on others to fulfil some of the needs. This inter
dependency was possible when people
Overview stayed close together. Expanding social
networks eventually led to the complex
social lives of modern humans.
Why People
Started Living
Together
We live in our house with our families.
The families that live near our houses are
Forms of Living called our neighbours. All the
Together
neighbours and buildings around our
home form our neighbourhood.

Challenges of
Living Together Fig 3: Neighbours help each other

Advantages of living together

There are many advantages of living together in a community or

neighbourhood:

• Living together provides us security and moral support. For

example, living in societies with other families reduces the risk of a
burglar attacks.
• We learn to share the resources available and live as members of a
team.
• People and children in our neighbourhood live and play together.
We also celebrate festivals together. This helps in a social
engagement.
• We communicate with each other and share our experiences. This
improves our knowledge.

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Forms of living together

People live together in settlements. A settlement

can be a small house in a remote area or as large Refugee camp is a Overview

as a mega city (a city with over 10 million shelter for people

residents). who have been
displaced from Why People
Started Living
their homes due to
Settlements may be permanent or temporary. A Together
war or political or
refugee camp is an example of a temporary religious causes.
settlement. However, a temporary settlement Forms of Living
Together
may become permanent over time. This has
happened to many refugee camps that have been built.

Challenges of
Types of settlement Living Together

Let us explore the different types of settlements.

A hamlet is a settlement that is smaller than a village. Usually, all

settlers in a hamlet are based on a single economic activity. For example,
consider a farm, a mill, a mine or a harbour in a remote area. There will
be a small group of houses nearby. It is most likely that the people
living there work on that farm, mill, mine or harbour. We can call this
group of houses as a hamlet.

A village is larger than a

hamlet but smaller than a
town. A village is a settlement
with a number of houses close
together which may be
kutcha(temporary like huts) or
pucca (more permanent like
flat/bungalow).
Fig 4: Houses in a village

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A town is an area with many
houses, shops and stores where
Overview people live and work. A town is
bigger than a village and
smaller than a city.
Why People
Started Living
Together

Fig 5: A town

Forms of Living
Together
A metropolis is a large city,
which is a significant economic,
political, and cultural centre for
Challenges of
Living Together a country. It is an important hub
for regional or international
connections, commerce, and
communications.

Fig 6: A metropolitan

A megalopolis (sometimes called

a megacity or super city) is
typically defined as a chain of
roughly adjacent metropolitan
areas. It is an extensive region of
metropolises and urban areas that
are connected to a continuous
area of development. A
Fig 7: A street in megalopolis
population of 10 million or more
qualifies as a megalopolis.

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Scan the QR code for a video on evolution of settlements

Examples of megalopolis in India: Overview

• Delhi National Capital Do You Know?

Region and Jaipur Why People
Started Living
Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New
• Hyderabad, Bengaluru Together
Delhi were classified as A-1 cities in
and Chennai 1997. City statuses were later revised
• Ahmedabad based on the results of the 2001 Census
Forms of Living
• Mumbai of India. Hyderabad was accorded the Together
A1 status on 31 August 2007 and
• Kolkata
Bangalore on 21 September 2007.

Types of Communities Challenges of

Living Together

People live together in a neighbourhood or community. A

neighbourhood is a grouping by physical proximity, while a community
is a grouping of common features or attributes.As we have called
villages, towns, etc as settlements, we will use communities in a broader
sense here. Three types of communities that we will study are:

Rural-a community where

houses are far apart, there are
a smaller number of people,
and you may see lots of
natural areas as farms and
forests. Farms have tractors.
Rural areas are also known as
villages in India. For example, Fig 8: A village

a group of villages in
a Taluka.

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Suburb- a medium-sized
community near a large city.
In a suburb, houses are close
Overview
together. Suburbs have houses
with lawns and terraces. There
may also be apartment
Why People
Started Living buildings. You may see parks
Together
and playgrounds in suburbs.
Fig 9: A suburb in Delhi
For example, Sriperambudur near
Forms of Living
Together Chennaiis a suburb.

Watch the following video to know more about the type of

communities people live in.
Challenges of
Living Together

Urban- a large community with

many people and large buildings
like a city.

Urban communities may have

high-rise apartments and town
houses. Urban communities are
often busy and crowded. For
example, cities like Bangalore, Fig 10: Community Apartments
Noida have urban communities.

In sub-urban and urban communities, there are some facilities that have
been created to improve the way these complex communities function.
We will study some of them here.

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Modern Gated communities

The concept of gated communities is based on sharing the available

resources and spaces like water, electricity, roads, parks and other Overview
services. This includes public amenity areas such as swimming pools,
club houses, gym and children’s play areas. It also refers to shared
access areas within the residential complex, such as corridors, lifts, Why People
Started Living
stairwells, and pathways. Together

Forms of Living
Together

Challenges of
Living Together

Fig 11: Swimming Pool Fig 12: Children’s Play Area

People benefit greatly from gated communities. Some of the advantages

of gated communities are:

• The complexes attract a large number of businesses to be set up

nearby and within no time the area develops.
• Service providers like mason, plumber, electrician, carpenters,
laundry etc., are more easily available.
• Civic agencies pay attention to the complaints given and deal
with problems.
• Garbage segregation and collection is done responsibly without
stinking up the neighbourhood.
• All common issues are addressed by the association and an
individual need not go around trying to address them.

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Resident Welfare Association(RWA)

Who looks after the community? A Resident Welfare Association(RWA)

Overview
is a group that represents the interests of the residents of a specific
urban or suburban locality in
Indian cities.
Why People RWAs are societies that are
Started Living
Together formed to attend different issues
and matters pertaining to its
members. They act as the voice of
Forms of Living
Together their members and ensures good
maintenance of the place. Fig 13: RWA represents any neighbourhood

Challenges of
Living Together Challenges of Living Together

As there are substantial benefits to forming social groups, there are also
some challenges of living together.

 Members of a social group have to share or compete for resources.

 Diseases may spread relatively rapidly among the social groups,
because of their close proximity.

There are certain things we also need to remember when we live

together.

 Do not obstruct roads and pavements by wrongly parking vehicles.

 Do not waste shared resources like water and electricity.
 Help the elderly and sick in the neighbourhood.
 Be sensitive to the noise levels during the nights and when we
celebrate.
 Do not throw garbage on roads. Keep the neighbourhood clean
 Develop organization, cooperation, coordination and understanding.

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Keywords

Neighbours: The families that live near our houses are called our
neighbours
Overview
Neighbourhood: A geographic area, with identified boundaries, within
an urban centre, suburb or country residential subdivision.
Community: A community is a social unit of any size that shares Why People
Started Living
common values, or that is situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a Together
village or town)
RWA: A Resident Welfare Association is a group that represents the
Forms of Living
interests of the residents of a specific urban or suburban locality in Together

Indian cities
Refugee camp: A shelter for people who have been displaced from their
homes in case of war or any o ther political or religious cause Challenges of
Living Together

Summary

• Man lives together with other human beings.

• Neighbours are families that live near our homes.
• We live together in the neighbourhood to fulfill our various needs
and requirements.
• Neighbourhood services benefit us in a number of ways.
• RWA takes care of the welfare services in any society.
• There are certain things we also need to remember when we live
together.

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