5th Grade Social Studies Supplemental Resources

Course Description:

In grade five, students begin their inquiry with Westward expansion and end with modern day America. Students will focus on the concepts of world geography. The students begin with the continuation of Westward expansion and how that led to the industrialization of the United States. Students will then analyze how, as a global powerhouse, the United States is pulled into World War I when tensions arise in Europe. World War I gave the United States an economic boost pushing the country into the Roaring Twenties. Students will analyze factors leading to the Great Depression and economic recession of the time period. Tensions arise in Europe again and the United States is pulled into World War II. Wartime efforts lead the country out of the Great Depression. Students will then compare and contrast the ideologies of communism and capitalism while identifying how these governmental beliefs led to the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States. Throughout all of these wartime events, students explore the Civil Rights Movement and influential figures of the time. The end of the Cold War brings about globalization that leads into the digital, modern era.