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Core Content and Skills
Social Studies 3
2008-2009
BOE Approved 

World Geography  Content   Skills  Maps, globes, atlases and cardinal directions   Explore different maps and globes and use map symbols, keys, and legends to understand the information Learn and use a compass rose, cardinal and intermediate directions to locate places on a map    Latitude, longitude and absolute locations Seven continents and five oceans   Locate and name the seven continents and five oceans on a map   Landforms and Water forms   Understand, identify and name both land and water forms found on the earth

World Geography  Content   Skills  Products and natural resources are determined by local georgraphy.   Explore maps that depict natural resources and/or industries, and predict how the resources affect the communites living near them.   Some maps detail the natural resources of a continent or country.   Develop an understanding of a CRQ (constructed response question) using a map to answer questions. Use 4 map documents to answer document based questions (DBQ) about the information depicted.

United States of America  Content   Skills  Location of the U.S. on the North American Continent Placement of the U.S. in terms of latitude and longitude Regions of the U.S. in terms of land and water forms   Locate and identify the location of the U.S. on the continent of North America, using both maps and globes. Use positions of latitude and longitude to identify placement of the U.S. and infer how that placement influences weather and climate.  Discover, identify and locate regions of the U.S. in terms of land and water forms.   Discuss and understand how these land and water forms, as well as placement on the globe affect people living in the U.S.   Economy, natural resources, needs and wants, scarcity and abundance    Discuss "economy" as the things which a people need and want, how they produce them and how they use them. Discuss "services" as things people do for other people and give examples from what they know.  ie: doctor, firefighter, waiter, clerk Discuss "products" and understand that every community decides what will be produced, how it will be produced and who will get what is produced. Apply these concepts through acting out a skit that demostrates needs and wants, or scaracity and abundance or natural resouces.   Needs and wants of the imaginary town in "Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm" by Jeerline Nolen Virtual Dairy Farm   Identify the needs and wants of the town in "Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm" Discuss and understand the rights of the people in the U.S.A. to have their wants satisfied. Explore a virtual dairy farm and be able to discuss what is happening on the farm with economic terms such as: producer, consumer, goods and services.

United States of America  Content   Skills  Democratic form of government   Through discussions, students come to an understanding that our democratic form of government is made up of officials elected by our  citizens who determine the way in which a country, state or city/town is run. Discuss the U.S. Constitution, our framework of government which has laws and rights that govern our nation and people. Brainstorm what some rights and responsibilities U.S. citizens have, web them with "citizen" in the middle and note that our government protects our rights.   How laws are made in a democracy   Explore how laws are made in "House Mouse, Senate Mouse" by Peter Barnes. Discuss and understand that members of Congress represent the people and make laws by a majority vote.  Act out the voting laws process by looking at our school rules, thinking of additonal rules that would benefit our school, present those rules and class votes.  Rules accepted will be sent to the principal for approval or rejection.   The job of the President of the United States   Read "Woodrow, the White House Mouse" by Peter Barnes and the article, "What Is the President's Job".  List the jobs the President does and brainstorm questions students have for the President.  Write a letter to the President of the United States via U.S. mail or e-mail (www.whitehouse.gov)   Role and purpose of the Supreme Court in a democratic society.   Read and discuss "Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse" by Peter Barnes and understand key words such as: justices, lawyer, rules, preserve, protect, legal, petition, deny, argument, decision Using the debate model, classmates argue the pros and cons of a selected issue and then the "court" will make a decision.   Culture includes the arts, language, religion, family systems, food, clothing, holidays, shelter, recreation and education   Explore the culture of their own family and compare that to to other culture wheels completed by their classmates. Make decisions about what U.S. culture is and make a culture wheel for the United States. Research U.S. symbols and their meanings: flag, Uncle Sam, eagle, Liberty Bell, Statue of Liberty List and understand our national holidays

Brazil  Content   Skills  Maps of Brazil with location, geographical features, boundries, natural resources, economy and population   Use a KWL chart to asses knowledge of the country of Brazil Use a variety of maps to understand, locate and identify georaphical features, political boundaries and natural resources of Brazil. Explore an economic map and population map of Brazil and answer a DBQ (document based question) based on these maps.   Point of View dependant on one's role in society Needs and wants of the people of Brazil   Construct a T-chart to display the needs and wants of a variety of Brazilians: indigenous people, shaman, doctor, farmer, merchant, city dweller. Discuss point-of-view and all the T-charts to discover how different people in the same country need and want different things.

Brazil  Content   Skills  Books that showcase the cultural elements of Brazil and its people.   Take notes on the cultural aspects of Brazil and then use that information to add to the cultural wheel for Brazil. Use the Brazilian culture wheel and the U.S. culture wheel completed earlier, to compare and contrast Brazil and the U.S.A. Read Brazilian folktale "How Brazilian Beetles Got Their Gorgeous Coats" and write their own Pour Quoi tales.   Aspects of Brazilian government including political system, capitol, current President and flag    Review symbolism and discuss the colors and shapes in Brazil's flag and what those things stand for. Compare the flag of Brazil to the U.S. flag and discuss how each represents the people of that country. Locate the capitol of Brazil and infer/discuss why this location might have been chosen as the capitol.

Brazil  Content   Skills  Magazine articles and trade books about the rain forest such as  "The Great Kapok Tree" by Lynn Chenney and "Rain Forest Research" by Mary Pope Osborne.   Students take notes while listening to a story. Use a research guide to gather information about the Brazilian rain forest, including definitions, labeled drawings and questions that have both short and long answers.

Japan/China  Content   Skills  Location of Japan (and/or China) on a map   Use a worksheet to locate where we are and where Japan (and/or China) are. Complete a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the U.S and Japan (and/or China) Identify and label geographical features of Japan (an/or China) on a map   Japan's (and/or China's) culture, including: clothing, food, language, shelter and National Holidays   Using trade books and/or magazines and the internet, identify major cultural aspects of the country Connect how these cultural aspects have been ifluenced by the geography of that country. Read and understand Japanese (and/or Chinese) folk tales and pour quoi tales, noticing how these tales reflect the culture and beliefs of the people.

Japan/China  Content   Skills  Monarchy as a form of government Flag of Japan (and/or China)  Capitol of Japan (and/or China) Current leader of Japan (and/or China)   Explore the differences and similarities between an Emperor and a President using a venn diagram Identify and understand the symbolism of the flag of Japan (and/or China)  Locate the capitol of Japan (and/or China) and infer reasons why this location was chosen as the capitol. Identify the current Emperor of Japan (and/or China) and how he was chosen   Needs of the Japanese (and/or Chinese) people Wants of the Japanese (and/or Chinese) people   Read magazines, trade books, articles and the internet to identify needs and wants of the people of Japan (an/or China). Use information to construct a T-chart of the needs and wants and how the government has or will supply those things. Identify goods and/or services which come from Japan (and/or China) that we use in our daily lives.

Japan/China  Content   Skills  Information gathered about the United States, Brazil and Japan (and/or China?) throughout the year   Review and study the cultures/countries studied for similarities.  How are we all alike? Discuss and record how these cultures/countries find different solutions to the problems faced by their people. Focus on how the geography of a country has influenced its history and decisions.