SOCIAL STUDIES LESSON PLAN
SIXTH GRADE- WORLD HISTORY
1. Title: Digging Up the Past
2. Lesson Objectives:
Standards- Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies
Sixth Grade NGSSS-SS Content Benchmark/s:
• SS.6.W.1.3 Interpret primary and secondary sources.
• SS.6.W.1.4: Describe the methods of historical inquiry and how history
relates to the other social sciences.
• SS.6.W.1.5: Describe the roles of historians and recognize varying historical
interpretations (historiography).
• SS.6.W.1.6: Describe how history transmits culture and heritage and
provides models of human character.
Sixth Grade NGSSS-SS Skills Benchmark/s:
• SS.6.G.4.3 Locate sites in Africa and Asia where archaeologists have found
evidence of early human societies, and trace their migration
patterns to other parts of the world
• SS.6.G.6.2 Compare maps of the world in ancient times with current
political maps.
3. Key Vocabulary:
archaeology, artifacts, paleontology, fossils, anthropology, species, Homo
sapiens, evidence, primary source, secondary source, point of view, bias,
conclusion, scholarly.
5. Steps to Deliver the Lesson:
A detailed, step by step description of how to deliver the lesson and achieve the
lesson plan objectives.
a.
Have students imagine that they are historians who are living in
the year 3000 writing about young people of the early 2000’s. Ask students
how their generation should be remembered with regard to food, clothing
education and entertainment. Have students imagine that they are social
scientists. Have them create a two-column chart listing: “What do I Own,” and
“What Does it Say about Me?” In addition, what will it say about me 20,000
years from now? Have students write a paragraph and describe what this
object will tell future scientists about American civilization in the 21st century.
Students should reflect upon the following questions: What do these objects
reflect about our culture? What do they reveal about the people of this
culture? Have students share work with their peers.
b. Since there are no written records, historians who study prehistory use
science to learn about this era. Show the following descriptions of social
scientists and have students explain how each historian is similar and
different from the other.
1. Archaeology is the study of the past by looking at artifacts (objects
made by people) that have been left behind. They use these artifacts:
tools, pottery, weapons, and jewelry to learn what life was like in the
past.
2. Paleontology is the study of fossils (the remains of plant and animal
life that have been preserved from an earlier time).
3. Anthropology is the study of human culture and how it develops over
time. They study artifacts, fossils and they look for clues about what
people valued and believed.
As a class, come up with a series of questions that might be asked about any
prior civilization and that students should be able to answer through research
into the work of archaeologists. Questions might include the following:
e. Lesson Closure: Have the students pretend they are archaeologists. During
a trip to Africa, they discover a rock painting created by prehistoric humans.
They must use their detective skills to write an archaeologist discovery report
including date of discovery, location, colors, shapes and materials used in the
artwork. What emotions does the artwork communicate to them and what
hypothesis can they make about prehistoric humans based on the artwork.
Teacher displays Attachment: B and students complete the report
questions. Teachers then create cave drawings for the classromm.
6. Technology Integration:
• Have students use the following website to review important concepts
taught in this lesson. World History For Kids - By KidsPast.com
where, why, and how?
8. Assessment Strategy:
Review with students the lesson vocabulary and the relationship among the social
sciences and how they are used to study ancient history. Ask students to write a
one paragraph summary of each branch of social science and compare and contrast
their important roles in the study of ancient history.