A collective noun is a noun that names a group of people, animals, or things as a single unit. Here are some examples of a collective noun:
class, team, family, crowd, faculty
herd, swarm, pack, flock,
bunch, bundle, group, deck, collection
Very often, we place a prepositional phrase after the collective noun to explain what is inside that group.
I have a deck of cards.
There was a crowd of people at the parade.
A swarm of ants covered the sidewalk.
A collective noun names a collection of something that acts as one unit, but that unit has many individual parts inside of it.
It’s your turn. Find the collective noun in this sentence: On our ship, the crew took care of all the work. Did you figure it out? Good for you!