Essential Questions:

1. How did industry and new inventions further divide the United States?
2. Could the Civil War have been avoided?
3. Are there any advantages to a nation with sectional differences?

Success Criteria:

• Explaining why slavery spread across the South
• Determining differences between the North and South during this era (economy, businesses, demographics, geography, etc.)
• Understanding key people and events in the Abolitionist movement
• Explaining the governments different attempts to keep the country united

Our goal is to be able to understand how regional differences contributed to a divided country.

How can you help at home?

• Go over the notes in their Social Studies binder and the activities on Social Studies Google Classroom. They also have access to the Discovery Education TechBook online by using their Holmdel Google account login.
• Ask your child about what Inquiry Project they have selected and why. This paper can be found in their binder as well as on Google Classroom. Help them to create a time-management plan for working on this at home throughout the unit.
• Encourage your child to read about current events or watch kid-friendly news programs. You can find some links to kid-friendly news websites on the Useful Links page.
• Help them to better conceptualize time/dates of events by drawing timelines and/or associating historical events with personal/family/familiar events.