In this lesson, students learn why the study of the social sciences is important to understanding human behavior.  Each student brings four personal artifacts to class, such as an old family toy they would like to purchase.  In  a Response Group activity, students discuss the artifacts from the perspective of each of these social science traditions: economics, geography, political science, and history.  In the process, students discover that the social sciences offer powerful ways to understand individuals and society.

 

Lesson 2 Exploring Regions of the United States

In this lesson, a Social Studies Skill Builder, students are challenged to apply basic map skills as they interpret a series of specialty maps depicting five regions of the United States and attempt to identify where five images of the United States were taken.

 

Lesson 3 The Peopling of the United States

In this lesson, students learn how five racial and ethnic groups- Native Americans, Latinos, European Americans, African Americans, and Asian Americans came to America and contributed to its growth and development.  In a Social Studies Skill Builder, students work in pairs to read about one of the groups and draw images and symbols to represent that group’s experience.  Students add their images to a class collage that depicts American diversity.

 

Lesson 4 A Train Tour of the Northeast

In this lesson, students take a train tour of the Northeast region of the United States.  In a Writing for Understanding activity, students sit on the train in groups of three, listen to a tour guide, and view nine images of places in the Northeast.  The tour stops at three sites, where students learn more through interactive experiences that teach the key concepts of the lesson.

 

Lesson 5 Population Density and Life in the Northeast

In this lesson, students learn how population density in the Northeast affects the lives of its residents.  In an Experimental Exercise, students use their bodies and desks to simulate the population density of the Northeast and several comparative locales.  As they physically create the population density for each local, they respond to a series of questions about how population density might affect people’s lives.  Afterward, students read and record notes about how life in the Northeast megalopolis differs from life in a small town.

 

Lesson 6 A Boat and Bus Tour of the Southeast

In this lesson, students tour the Southeast region of the United States on a trawler, bus, and riverboat.  In a Writing for Understanding activity, students sit in groups of three, listen to a tour guide, and view nine images depicting life in the Southeast.  The tour stops at three sites, where students learn more through interactive experiences that teach the key concepts of the lesson.

 

Lesson 7 The Effects of Geography on Life in the Southeast

In this lesson, students learn how geography affects life in the Southeast region.  In a Social Studies Skill Builder, they look at maps and answer questions about climate, elevation, natural resources, and bodies of water.  Students then hypothesize and read about the effects of geography on life in the Southeast.

 

Lesson 8 A Crop Duster Tour of the Midwest

In this lesson, students take a “crop duster tour” of the Midwest region of the United States.  In a Writing for Understanding activity, students sit in groups of three, listen to a tour guide, and view nine images depicting life in the Midwest. The tour stops at three sites, where students learn more through interactive experiences that teach the key concepts of the lesson.

 

Lesson 9 Agriculture Changes in the Nation’s Breadbasket

In this lesson, students learn how agriculture in the Midwest changed from 1800 to today.  In a Visual Discovery activity, they analyze images of farm life in 1800, 1900, and today.  They then create act-it-outs in order to understand farm life during these periods.

 

Lesson 10 A Big Tour of the Southwest

In this lesson, students take a “big rig” tour of the Southwest region of the United States.  In a Writing for Understanding activity, they sit in “big rigs” in groups of three, listen to a tour guide, and view nine images depicting life in the Southwest.  The trucks stop at three sites, where students learn more through interactive experiences that teach the key concepts of the lesson.

 

Lesson 11 A Case in Water Use: The Colorado River

In this lesson, students explore the history of how people have shared and tamed the water of the Colorado River.  In an Experiential Exercise, students assume the roles of people living near the Colorado River in four time periods to understand how its water has been used and shared.

 

Lesson 12 A Van and Airplane Tour of the West

In this lesson, students take a “van and airplane tour” of the West region of the United States.  In a Writing for Understanding activity, students sit in groups of three, listen to a tour guide, and view nine images of places in the West.  The tour stops at three sites, where students learn more through interactive experiences that teach the key concepts of the lesson.

 

Lesson 13 Cities of the West

In this lesson, students learn about seven cities in the West.  In a Problem Solving Group work activity, each group of students reads about one of the cities and creates a television commercial that promotes that city’s positive aspects.  Students then share their work with the class and select the city in which they would most like to live,

 

Lesson 14 Researching Your State’s Geography

In this lesson, students research the geography of their state using maps, atlases, library books, and the Internet.  In a Social Studies Skill Builder, pairs of students design a board game that includes the geographic features they identify.  Afterward, they take turns playing each other’s board games to test their geographic knowledge of the state.

 

 

 

Lesson 15 Researching Your State’s History

In this lesson, students learn more about their own state by creating “talking buildings” that tell the story of their state’s history.  In a Writing for Understanding activity, they bring to life familiar ad famous buildings that have played an important role in sharing their state’s history.

 

Lesson 16 Researching Your State’s Economy

In this lesson, students learn about their state’s economy by participating in a Problem Solving Group work activity.  Students work in groups to research one of eight economic activities and then create a museum exhibit about that activity.  Each figure in the exhibit “comes to life” to talk about the essential aspects of the state’s economy.

 

Lesson 17 Researching Your State’s Government

In this lesson, students learn about their state’s government by proposing a piece of legislation and writing about how their proposal becomes a new state law.  In a Writing for Understanding Activity, they write and illustrate a storybook that tells how their idea worked its way through the state’s legislative system and became a new state law.  Finally, they share their storybooks and vote on the laws they most want to see enacted.