Social Studies — Grade 3

Tour the United States via HyperStudio Stacks

Students will combine classroom, library time, and computer lab time to research and construct knowledge about 49 U.S. states. (Students will not research their home state.) Students will use their new research knowledge and the resources provided to construct a HyperStudio stack on their assigned state.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

By Karl Schaefer.

Motor car and galimoto: An intercultural lesson in pragmatism, creativity, and perseverance

In this lesson for grade three, students read the book Galimoto, about a young boy in Malawi, Africa, and his quest to gather wire in order to make a toy car. Students discuss the literary elements of the book, study the language used, and complete their own quests to gather wire and create their own galimotos.

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Visual Arts Education, English Language Arts, and Social Studies)

By Edie McDowell.

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

Where I come from

Students take research into their heritage a step beyond the construction of a family tree, traveling through cyberspace to find out what's happening in their ancestral homelands today and explore their sense of connection to these places in their past. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: EDSITEment

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

The sun and the earth

In this lesson from the National Geographic Xpeditions website, students diagram the earth and sun during different seasons to further their understanding of the relationship between these two bodies. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: National Geographic

Sing me a song about the USA

Students create a song that relates to a specific geographic area of the United States. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 1–4 Music Education and Social Studies)

Provided by: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

Seeing the world through the news

In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore National Geographic News and find several articles about recent geographic and environmental developments. Activities in this lesson engage students in collaborative group work and... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3 Social Studies)

Provided by: Xpeditions

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

Planning a road trip

This lesson reviews latitude and longitude and asks students to find the latitude and longitude for several United States cities. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: National Geographic

Pirate map

In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore reasons pirates frequented certain areas, taking into account the relationship between piracy and the slave trade. Activities in this lesson engage students in whole class discussion, online learning, and development... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: Xpeditions

Pioneer America: Journey west

Students learn about the early pioneers in America and their motivations for moving West. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

One if by land, and two if by sea!

In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore Lexington and Concord, the Old North Church, or the historical poem “Paul Revere's Ride?” Students use historical and current maps of the Boston area to trace Paul Revere's route and learn about the... (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 3–5 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provided by: Xpeditions

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