Ohio Social Studies Strands
Project
Grade Six Standards and Activities
Tiffany Moore
Lori Siconolfi
October 21, 2004
Table of Contents
History
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Activities
Websites
People in Societies
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 Activities
 Websites
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Activities
Websites
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Activities
Websites
Economics
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Activities
Websites
Citizenship Rights, and
Responsibilities
 Activities
 Websites
Geography
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Government
►
Social Studies Skills and
Methods
 Activities
 Websites
History Activities
► Students
will create a timeline for Mexico. They
will understand the chronology of the country from
the ancient civilizations to the country today.
► Working in groups, students will be assigned one
of the river civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, or
Huang Ho/Indus River Valley civilization), and they
will research the different geographic, political,
economic and social characteristics and compare
these to one another.
History Activities, cont’d.
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Students will visit COSI and the “Progress” exhibit, in which
they will travel through time and interact with people of a
small Midwestern town and the technology of the time
period. Students will then compare and contrast the
technology from the exhibit (year 1898) to now.
The students will visit SunWatch Village in Dayton. Prior to
the visit, each student will be assigned one area to report
on: hunting and gathering, tool making, use of fire,
domestication of plants and animals, and governance.
Students will then jigsaw and discuss how these people’s
lives are so different from today’s world.
History Activities, cont’d.
►
To explore the civilizations of the Maya, Inca, Aztec, and
Mississippian peoples, divide the class into five groups and
assign each group one of the following characteristics:
location, government, religion, agriculture, and cultural and
scientific contributions. Each group will discover some
aspect of the civilization studied that day (this will take
several days). As a class, record the major information on
a large chart to compare and contrast the different aspects
of each civilization.
History Websites
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The History Channel: This Day in History
 http://www.historychannel.com/
 When arrive at website click on “This Day in History” heading
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History World
 http://www.historyworld.net/
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World History: Hyper History Online
 http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html
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Documents in Military History
 http://www.hillsdale.edu/oldacademics/history/war/
►
The History Place
 http://www.historyplace.com/
People in Societies Activities
► Student
will collect photographic images of places
and people across the United States and/or World
and put them together in a collage.
► Students will create and bury a time capsule filled
with materials that reflect the cultures and
traditions found in their community.
► Students will research the Chinese New Year to
learn about another cultures traditions.
People in Societies Activities, cont’d.
► Upon
reading about the immigrants of the
early 1900’s, students will write a journal
entry describing how they would feel if they
were one of these immigrants.
► Students will imagine they are a citizen of
the Aztec Empire. They will write a journal
entry describing how they would feel when
the Spanish came to conquer the area.
People in Societies Websites
► Houghton
Mifflin Education Place
 http://www.eduplace.com
► The
Major World Religions
 http://www.omsakthi.org/religions.html
► National
Geographic: History and Culture
 http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/
► First
Nations Histories
 http://www.tolatsga.org/Compacts.html
► Chinese
New Year
 http://www.new-year.co.uk/chinese/
Geography Activities
► Use
coordinates of latitude and longitude to
locate points on a world map.
► Students use the geography skills they have
developed to create a map and related
materials for an imaginary country.
► Students will write driving directions for
someplace local and create a street map of
their area.
Geography Activities, cont’d.
► Using
classroom maps, students will identify on a
map the location of major physical features. They
will use the correct vocabulary to identify these
features.
► In groups, students will research agriculture,
mining, fishing, or manufacturing related to the
United States. They will locate the region these
industries most occur and they will find one
change in technological improvement that affected
the industry.
Geography Websites
►
National Geographic
 www.nationalgeographic.com/maps
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Reference Desk.com
 www.refdesk.com/factmaps.html
►
Mapquest
 www.mapquest.com
►
Graphic Maps
 www.graphicmaps.com
►
The World Fact book: Capitals
 www.capitals.com
Economics Activities
► Students
will analyze currency as a primary
source. They will be exposed to different world
currencies from different eras. They will also
realize that they can learn a great deal about a
country by its currency.
► Students will read about the four main types of
industry (primary, secondary, tertiary, and
quaternary). Using this knowledge, students will
follow a product through development and identify
the different types of industry associated with
each stage of development.
Economics Activities, cont’d
►
Find out how much money, in salary and endorsements, a
favorite athlete of yours makes each year. Then create at
least two graphics that put these earnings in perspective.
For example, you might create a bar graph that compares
the athlete's earnings to the annual earnings of some other
person (such as an average American household, a fulltime worker earning the federal minimum wage, or the
President of the United States) or show how many and
what kinds of goods the athlete could purchase with these
earnings.
Economics Activities, cont’d
► Students
will discover properties of supply and
demand through a classroom simulation of the
marketplace using everyday classroom supplies
(pencils, paper, etc.) They will discover concepts
such as prices increase when supplies decrease,
etc.
► Students will compare Ohio and Florida resources
and how the resources effect production of goods
and services in that area. Students will then
compare the economic impact due to the recent
hurricane activity in Florida and the demand for
lumber, food, and other supplies.
Economics Websites
Savings Bonds for Kids!
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http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/sav/savkids.htm
U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of
Economic Analysis
http://www.bea.gov/
Money Central Station
http://www.moneyfactory.com/kids/start.html
The National Budget Simulation
http://www.budgetsim.org/nbs/
Netscape: Money and Business
http://money.netscape.cnn.com/default.jsp
Government Activities
►
►
Students experience democracy in action by participating in
a mock town meeting discussing relevant classroom issues.
(Students can gain background information by attending
an actual town meeting or viewing a video of one.)
Make A Difference Day is the nation's largest day of
citizens volunteering to make their communities stronger a day to lend a helping hand! In 2003, 3 million people
cared enough to volunteer in their communities. Getting
involved is simple. Identify a need in your community, put
together a team of friends, students or co-workers and
plan your project.
Government Activities, cont’d
► The
students will be assigned to represent their
country they designed during the imaginary
country unit in a mock United Nations meeting.
Students will be given issues to discuss if they
cannot first create their own issues. They will
record what resolutions were made and if any
military actions will be taken, depending on the
issues.
Government Activities, cont’d
► Describe
the pros and cons of being a
leader in a democracy, monarchy, or
dictatorship in an creative format
(pamphlet, interview, etc.)
► Students will complete a given activity sheet
similar to the game Risk. Student will record
both the positive and negative outcomes of
their ‘military’ actions.
Government Websites
The Presidents of the United States
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http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/index.html
Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids: Branches of
Government (grades 6-8)
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/6-8/government/branches.html
National Versus State Government: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/68/government/index.html
How Laws Are Made: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/68/lawmaking/index.html
State of Ohio Government
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http://ohio.gov/government.stm
Life in the Oval Office
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/life/ovaloffice.html
Kids World: Government and Politics
http://www.northvalley.net/kids/government.shtml
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Activities
►
►
Students will make an annotated timeline of the
Constitutional Amendments that extended civil rights.
Students will create bar graphs representing national polls
of the presidential race at different points in the campaign.
With each graph students will write a brief description of
why they feel a certain candidate is ahead or behind (what
event may have given one candidate a lead over the
other).
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Activities, cont’d.
► Using
the “Electoral College Calculator” students
will experiment to see what combinations of states
it takes to win a presidential election.
► Students will make a pro’s and con’s chart
comparing being a citizen in a democracy,
monarchy, dictatorship.
► Students will participate in a mock election in
which they will have to nominate candidates,
register to vote, campaign for a party, and vote on
Election Day.
Citizenship Rights and
Responsibilities Websites
Kids Voting USA
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http://www.kidsvotingusa.org/
Take Your Kids To Vote: Middle School Age Students
http://www.takeyourkidstovote.org/youth/middle.htm
Kids Voting
http://www.kidsvoting.org/
Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids: Citizenship
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/6-8/citizenship/index.html
Election Process: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/68/election/index.html
Electoral College Calculator
►
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http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/calcul
ator.html
Social Studies Skills and Methods
Activities
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Students will complete a research project that includes a
bibliography. The topics can vary, as several of these
projects can be done throughout the year. Topics might
include: State History, Biography (for example: Harriet
Tubman, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln)
Within the context of a research project, students will learn
about different resources and research methods. They will
learn about periodicals, almanacs, and electronic sources
among others.
Social Studies Skills and Methods
Activities, cont’d.
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Students will participate in a debate. This will aid in their
research skills since they will have to gather information.
Plus, this activity will aid in their communication skills since
they will have to support their view with evidence.
Students will collect graphs (of any sort) from a variety of
sources such as newspapers, magazines, or the internet.
They will interpret these graphs and discuss whether or not
the publisher may be bias toward the information in the
graph.
Utilizing websites (listed on the next slide), students will
examine primary sources. They will learn about these
sources and what constitutes a primary source.
Social Studies Skills and Methods
Websites
►
Using Primary Sources on the Web
 http://www.lib.washington.edu/subject/History/RUSA/
►
Primary Sources on the Web
 http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/PrimarySourcesOn
TheWeb.html
►
Information Please Almanac
 http://www.infoplease.com/almanacs.html
►
Fact Monster Almanac Search
 http://www.factmonster.com/almanacs.html
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Links to Online Gazetteer and Related Sites
 http://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/gazetteer/dgie/DGIE_website/gaz_
links.htm
The End!
ED 629
Dr. Helms