Social Studies — Grade 3

What in the world does this have to do with maps and globes?

This lesson focuses on the similarities and differences between a globe and a flat world map. It introduces critical vocabulary relating to cardinal directions and longitude and latitude.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 English Language Development and Social Studies)

By Phebe Watson and Sylvia Easterling.

Greece: Part 1

This lesson is one of three created as an interdisciplinary unit on the connection between the art and artifacts of a culture and the values and beliefs of the members of that culture. This unit begins with a class-wide investigation of Ancient Greece and concludes with a visit to the Ackland Art Museum. During the visit, students will have the opportunity to assess their predictions about the Ancient Greeks. In addition, students will look at works of art from other cultures and compare and contrast the visual information provided about those cultures with visual information provided about Greek culture.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

By Winn Wheeler.

Resources on the web

Where were the U.S. Presidents born?

In this Xpeditions lesson, students learn about the constitutional requirement that U.S. presidents be natural citizens. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

What we can learn from maps

In this Xpeditions lesson, students examine different types of maps. They look at marine maps and maps of their state's agricultural pattern to learn how maps can be used to provide information about a variety of activities, distributions, and geographical... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–4 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

What is geography?

Students work in groups to analyze a website to locate information about a particular country or region, and then create presentations showing how the geographic concepts described in the themes can be used to help solve environmental problems. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

There's no place like home

This Xpeditions lesson uses children's literature and maps to explore reasons for past and present settlement. Students give various reasons people in the past or present have chosen to settle and live in different regions of the United States. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Regional foods

In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore the culture of different regions by learning about differences in foods and recipes. They create maps of the United States and the world based on what they have learned about various regions through Internet research. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Pioneer America: Journey west

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students learn about the early pioneers in America and their motivations for moving West. They discover what life was like for these explorers and list items necessary for westward travel during the mid-1800s. Students also create... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–3 Social Studies)

Provided by: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Marketplaces of Asia

In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore kinds of marketplaces and view goods as a reflection of the characteristics of a region. This lesson is one in a series developed in collaboration with The Asia Society, with support from the Freeman Foundation. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Locator booth: Mapping South America

In this lesson, from Xpeditions, students visit the Locator Booth exhibit in National Geographic's Xpedition Hall and consider conditions to find position of places. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

An introduction to reading North Carolina maps

In this lesson, students are introduced to the language of maps and why maps are important in our world. They are given the opportunity to read simple maps and find major features of more complicated maps. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 2–4 Social Studies)

Provided by: UNC Libraries

Introduction to Latitude and Longitude

This Xpeditions lesson introduces students to latitude and longitude. They look at lines of latitude and longitude on a United States map and discuss the reasons why these lines are helpful. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Immigrating to America

In this ARTSEDGE lesson, students learn about what it was like for new immigrants to come through Ellis Island at the turn of the century. Through first-hand accounts, students discover where the immigrants were from, the reasons they fled their homelands,... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade K–4 Social Studies)

Provided by: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Human migration: The story of a community's culture

In this Xpeditions lesson, students come to understand key concepts of human migration through the examination of maps and migration patterns. Students research and document the impact of migration on a region's cultural landscape. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Get oriented

Students learn about the four cardinal directions—north, south, east, west. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Geotourism: Friendly destinations

In this Xpeditions lesson, students learn about a partnership between the government of Honduras and the National Geographic Society to highlight the concept of geotourism and its benefits. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 and 5 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Genealogical atlases

This Xpeditions lesson asks students to interview their parents or other relatives about what it was like where they grew up. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Expedition to the poles

Students pretend they've just returned from a year in the Arctic or Antarctic and look at web sites about these regions and expeditions. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

Comparing the continents

In this Xpeditions lesson, students examine a map and globe to compare the physical features of Earth's continents. They play the GeoSpy continents game and manipulate an online map to compare the continents' climates. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic