Ohio Social Studies Strands Project Grade Six Standards and Activities Tiffany Moore Lori Siconolfi October 21, 2004

Table of Contents ► History  Activities  Websites ► People in Societies  Activities  Websites ► Geography  Activities  Websites ► Economics  Activities  Websites ► Government  Activities  Websites ► Citizenship Rights, and Responsibilities  Activities  Websites ► 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. ► 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 ► The History Channel: This Day in History   When arrive at website click on “This Day in History” heading ► History World  ► World History: Hyper History Online  ► Documents in Military History  ► The History Place 

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  ► The Major World Religions  ► National Geographic: History and Culture  ► First Nations Histories  ► Chinese New Year 

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  ► Reference Desk.com  ► Mapquest  ► Graphic Maps  ► The World Fact book: Capitals 

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 full- time 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!  ► U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Economic Analysis  ► Money Central Station  ► The National Budget Simulation  ► Netscape: Money and Business 

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  ► Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids: Branches of Government (grades 6-8)   National Versus State Government: 8/government/index.html 8/government/index.htmlhttp://bensguide.gpo.gov/6- 8/government/index.html  How Laws Are Made: 8/lawmaking/index.html 8/lawmaking/index.htmlhttp://bensguide.gpo.gov/6- 8/lawmaking/index.html ► State of Ohio Government  ► Life in the Oval Office  ► Kids World: Government and Politics 

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  ► Take Your Kids To Vote: Middle School Age Students  ► Kids Voting  ► Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids: Citizenship   Election Process: 8/election/index.html 8/election/index.htmlhttp://bensguide.gpo.gov/6- 8/election/index.html ► Electoral College Calculator  ator.html ator.html ator.html

Social Studies Skills and Methods Activities ► 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. ► 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  ► Primary Sources on the Web  TheWeb.html TheWeb.html TheWeb.html ► Information Please Almanac  ► Fact Monster Almanac Search  ► Links to Online Gazetteer and Related Sites  links.htm links.htm links.htm

The End! ED 629 Dr. Helms