SOCIAL STUDIES
for
Fifth Grade
RATIONALE
• The primary purpose of the pre-kindergarten
through high school social studies program is
to help young people understand,through the
study of the past and present, what it means
to be a human being in society and develop
the ability to make informed and reasoned
decisions for the public good as citizens of a
culturally diverse, democratic society in an
interdependent world of finite resources.
GOALS
• To enable learners to gather and interpret information using
perspectives from appropriate fields of social studies, to use
methods and skills drawn from the social studies, and to
actively engage in learning.
• To enable learners to explain how the world's people cope
with the challenges of existence, examine issues from
multiple perspectives, and exhibit respect for individual and
cultural diversity.
• To enable learners to make informed judgements and
decisions, act in accordance with democratic processes and
principles, and courteously consider differing views.
OBJECTIVES
• 1. The learner will identify significant individuals from the past in North America
and explain their contributions to the cultural heritage of the United States
• 2. Given maps of North America, the learner will use the maps to supplement
information about the immigration of a cultural group to the region and indicate a
major reason for the movement of the group to the region
• 3. Given a choice among changes in landforms, climate, natural vegetation, or
resources, the learner will discuss the positive or negative consequences of a change
occurring in one of the choices
• 4. The learner will select an example of producers and consumers exchanging goods
or services and indicate the benefits of the exchange for each group
• 5. After identifying two democratic governments in North America, the learner will
illustrate, with specific examples, a characteristic of democracy that they hold in
common6. The learner will analyze information by organizing key ideas with their
supporting facts
WRIGHT BROTHERS
BIOGRAPHICAL AND
MISCELLANEOUS
INFORMATION WEB SITES
Welcome to the Dayton Ohio Heritage Web Index! The purpose of this
web site is to give the visitor desiring more information concerning
Dayton, Ohio's heritage, a launching point in exploring the wealth of
information available on the Internet. I am continually striving to
thoroughly search out web sites that directly relate to Dayton's heritage.
http://www.wright.edu/~james.c.johnson/index.html
This Month in
US History
This site has a month’s worth of one sentence
blurbs for each day of the month from various
years. Would be good for timeline objective.
http://www.dareware.com/history.htm
The First Ladies of the United States of America
First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's Greeting
The White House Historical Association has published
The First Ladies to give us an opportunity to know
these fascinating women better. The biographies were
written by Margaret B. Klaphthor, Curator Emeritus of
the Smithsonian Institution. Mrs. Klapthor has spent 50
years studying our First Ladies, and her findings put
each woman into perspective. She highlights their
individual achievements as well as their qualities that
make them similar.
http://www2.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/firstladies/html/firstladies.html
First Ladies of the
United States
Bibliography
The web site contains descriptions of over 40,000
books,articles, letters, manuscripts, and other literary
works by and about our nation’s First Ladies.
http://www.firstladies.org/Flbib2.htm
Miami Valley RailTrails
Miami Valley Ohio USA
Ohio House Of Representatives
Welcome: This is the Greene and Montgomery
Counties of Ohio's Rails-To-Trails Pages. On these
pages we will give you information about each of the
RailTrails and other trails centered on Dayton and
Xenia Ohio.
http://www.intellweb.com/trails/
A CANAL CHRONOLOGY
This site contains a chronology of canals from
4,000 B.C. when King Menes built a canal in
Upper Egypt to 1996 when an historic plaque was
placed at Buffalo’s harbor on the Niagara river.
http://home.eznet.net/~dminor/Canals.html
ACTIVITIES
•
•
•
•
Read the journal of Mrs.. Grant
Research the history of NCR
Plot the development of canals on a timeline
Make a travel log across Ohio using various
modes of travel
The Learning
Page
Lesson Ideas offer strategies and lesson plans
developed by education professionals to help
integrate primary sources, especially those in
American Memory, into the classroom.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/index.html
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Guise to Museums and Cultural Resources
Geographic Index:
Cyberspace : purely virtual destinations
Africa and the Middle East
Antarctica
Asia
Australia
Europe
New Zealand and Oceania
North America
http://www.lam.mus.ca.us/webmuseums/
Territorial expansion of
The United States
This site has territorial maps from 1775 to
1920. The maps are mostly by decade so that
the expansion is very visibly displayed.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MAP/terr_hp.html
FAMILY HISTORY
Pete Harames, Mills High School, Millbrae, NM
Appropriate for grades 5, 8 & 11.
OVERVIEW: This assignment is designed to get
students involved inan activity in which they can work
closely with their family,identify their ancestors,
appreciate their ethnic backgrounds,understand the
concept of immigration, connect events in historywith
the movement of their ancestors, become more
cognizant oftheir own unique individual makeup and its
cultural origins, and develop a better understanding of
the United States as a meltingpot.
http://www.col-ed.org/cur/sst/sst32.txt
ELLIS ISLAND
Immigration Museum, NY
1995
In Migration to America, students meet immigrants from the turn
of the century and get a firsthand feel for what these new
Americans experienced at Ellis Island. They get an inside look at
museum artifacts and re-enactors provide an emotional account of
the immigrant experience. Immigration law enforcement officers
address the issues surrounding immigration today. Also,
adolescents who have recently immigrated to America share their
perspectives on what it is like to be an immigrant in America
today.
http://turnerlearning.com/efts/ellis.html
The Founding of Germantown in 1683
Other Religious Immigrant Groups from Germany
Reasons for the Mass German Immigration in the 19th Century
http://artsci.wustl.edu/~langproj/gslides/amerwander/english/ga-01.html
ACTIVITIES
• Research architectural influences of
German immigration
• Field trip to Germantown
• Map migration of different ethnic groups as
a group project
• Write book reports on relevant biographies
Color Landform Atlas of
the United States
This site contains shaded relief maps,
county maps, black and white maps,
and satellite image maps for each state
of the United States. External links are
also provided to other city and state
resources.
http://www.bastrop.isd.tenet.edu/maps.html
Exploring Maps
Exploring maps is an interdisciplinary set of
materials on mapping for grades 7-12. Students
will learn basic mapmaking and map-reading
skills and will see how maps can answer
fundamental geographic questions: “Where am
I?” “What else is here?” “Where am I going?”
http://www.usgs.gov/education/learnweb/Maps.html
What Do Maps Show (grades 5-8)
Introduction and Activities
Location: position on the Earth's surface
Place: physical and human characteristics
Relationships with places: humans and environment
Movement: people interacting on Earth
Regions: how they form and change
http://info.er.usgs.gov/education/teacher/what-do-mapsshow/WDMSTGuide.html
MapBlast
MapBlast has a local selection that gives
points of interest, news, weather, and events.
Students can input an address and the map is
displayed along with latitude and longitude.
http://www.mapblast.com/mblast/index.mb
ACTIVITIES
• Have students place push pins on map of
North America at sites family visits
throughout the year
• Locate latitude and longitude of cities they
visited on vacation
• Play Oregon Trail
• Write a paper explaining physical features
that impacted the Oregon Trail route
Trash: Out of Site - Out of Mind
Overview: Our city, Wichita, has a population of the
combined metro area pushing half a million. Daily, the
trash generated per capita is 7.1 pounds, compared to
the national average of 4.4 pounds, and our landfill is
full, stuffed with 1,500 tons of garbage each day. What
can be done about the garbage we produce, and how
can this wasteful public attitude be changed?
http://www.teachnet.com/lesson/socstudies/socsoc.html#Trash
Evidence of Student Learning:
Social Studies Learning Goals in Economics
Here are social studies learning goals in economics for K-6
expressed in terms that are appropriate for presentation at
the designated grade level. This document was prepared by
Mary Lynn Reiser (UNO Center) working with elementary
teachers in the Omaha Public Schools. The material was
compiled and arranged from the National Council on
Economic Education curriculum guides, more specifically
from the National Council A Framework for Teaching
Basic Economics K-12, 1995.
http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/K6goals.htm
Project: Make a Tradesperson’s Sign
Explore the depth of resources that
Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, has to
offer by sampling part of its online
exhibit. At Colonial Williamsburg
Historical Almanack, online visitors
can meet people, see places, experience
colonial life, study a colonial time line,
and check out many additional
resources.
http://www.mmhschool.com/teach/socialstud/grade3-6/wl549-2.html
Using the Internet to Teach Economics:
An Idea Page
Students at all levels get excited about
using the web and can benefit from
using the web for up-to-date
information. Recommended grade
levels are shown, but you should tailor
the project to your students. At the end,
we even have a couple of web projects
for K-4!
http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/teachsug.htm
ACTIVITIES
• Set up lawn mowing/babysitting regions
within the students’ neighborhood and
discuss the degree of competition in the
market
• Participate in Junior Achievement
• Run the classroom as a lab for budgeting for
the entire year, include rent, jobs, and prices
The United States Congress
Project Vote Smart
An Introduction to the U.S. Government
Major Differences Between the Two Houses of Congress:
http://www.vote-smart.org/reference/primer/congress.phtml?checking=
INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE
Welcome to the fall 1999 issue of Inside the White
House, a newsletter designed to introduce you to some
of the interesting people, places, and events in our
nation's capital. In this issue, you will meet a few of the
people who work in the Executive Office of the
President at the White House.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/kids/inside/html/fall99/html/
Winning the Vote: How
Americans Elect Their
President
Lesson plans and resources for teaching this
material. Lesson plans include electoral
college, political parties, and campaigns.
http://educate.si.edu/resources/lessons/art-to-zoo/elections/cover.html
LIVING OHIO
GOVERNMENT SERIES
Activities
For Teachers
Try the Big6 Information Access Skills Lesson Plan.
Introduce students to the Legislative or Judicial process
with the Rule-Making Game and You Be the Judge.
Take advantage of the vast amount of library resources
from the Ohio Public Library Information Network
(OPLIN) system or browse through some popular social
studies sites. Don't forget to look at the Ohio Social
Studies Curriculum Model and the Ohio Proficiency
Learner Outcomes.
http://www.logs.org/teaactivities.html
STRUCTURE OF THE OHIO
JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Flowchart of the judicial system that includes the
types of cases handled is each court.
http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/Court_Structure/
ACTIVITIES
• Participate in Kid’s Voting
• Give allegiance, republic, indivisible,
liberty, and justice as vocab/spelling words
• Use the Cub Scout Handbook as a resource
for citizenship.
• Ask an Eagle Scout to come in and speak on
citizenship and how an individual fits into
the system.
Today at the White House
Summaries of today's press releases
from the White House Press Office
Today's Press Briefings
of the White House Press Corps by the Press Secretary
This Week at the White House
The White House at Work Archives
This week's press briefings and releases
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/html/briefroom.html
A VISIT TO CAPITOL
SQUARE
Welcome | Statehouse | Senate | Atrium | Statues
& Monuments
Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board | Tour
Information | Statehouse Museum Shop | Search
http://www.statehouse.state.oh.us/
Cross Curricular Lessons
• The next two sites focus on the international
issues of clean water and clean air.
• Students can utilize these sites from a
science standpoint.
• These sites can also be used for the fifth
grade social studies strand Citizenship
Rights and Responsibilities.
PROJECT WET LESSON PLANS
The Project WET Curriculum and Activity Guide is an
interdisciplinary water education program developed
for teachers of kindergarten through grade 12 and for
non school educators such as environmental education
specialists and youth organizational leaders. The guide
is a new member to the family of national
environmental education programs including Project
Learning Tree and Project Wild.
http://www.dep.state.pa.us/earthdaycentral/96/project_wet/project_wet.htm
Office of Air Quality
Air Quality Planning & Assessment Division
This site provides lesson plans on environmental
issues such as acid rain, deforestation, ozone, and
air pollution. The lessons are listed by grade
level.
http://www.tnrcc.state.tx.us/air/monops/lessons/lesson_plans.html
ACTIVITIES
• Assign groups by ability and have each group list
the rights and responsibilities of a family member,
class member, school member, etc.
• View the website Visit to the Capitol for affective
learning
• Read letters to the editor and list opinion clues
• After taking a position on the steps needed to
protect clean water and air students can write to
their government representatives giving their
position on the issues of clean water and air.
Reasons for using web sites
• Teachers find using
the internet valuable
for a variety of
reasons.
• Current information.
• Students easily
engaged
• Varied modalities
• Material for all grades
available
• No need to locate and
bring in materials
Reasons for using web sites
• Students find using
web sites for class
projects valuable for a
number of reasons.
•
•
•
•
•
More fun
No boring research
Reports easy and neat
Pictures available
Group members can
view the sites at the
same time