Social Studies — Grade 5

World War II at home: Victory Gardens

Students will learn about home front activities during World War II. Using primary source documents and photographs, students will discover how children their own age participated by growing Victory Gardens. They will design their own gardens and propaganda posters.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Social Studies)

By Linda Mazzei.

Looking at an object

In Intrigue of the Past, page 2.10

Students will analyze unfamiliar objects in order to observe the attributes of an object, infer the uses of objects; and discover how archaeologists use objects to learn about the past.

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

Archaeobotany

In Intrigue of the Past, page 2.6

Students will use pictures of seeds, an activity sheet, and a graph to identify seven seeds and the conditions in which they grow. They will also infer ancient plant use by interpreting archaeobotanical samples and determine changing plant use by Native North Carolinians by interpreting a graph of seed frequency over time.

Format: lesson plan (grade 4–5 and 8 Science and Social Studies)

Resources on the web

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

Weather complaints

Students will refer to a climate map to predict what the climate might be like in specified United States cities. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: National Geographic

Traces: Historic archaeology

In this unit, students will “recover” and analyze artifacts from sites in use from the settlement period to the second half of the 19th century. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Endowment for the Humanities

Our National Parks: Recreation and preservation

Students will learn about the National Park system in the United States and identify human modifications to the physical environment and the intended and unintended effects of those modifications. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 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

Geo-friendly travel: Destination Honduras

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 5 Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic

The garden

In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore the virtual exhibit, “The Garden”. After the teacher explains that students will learn about the impact human actions have on a variety of areas in the world, they navigate their way through the exhibit... (Learn more)

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

Provided by: Xpeditions

Design a regional "eco park"

In this Xpeditions lesson, students use the Internet to find out about the plants and animals that live in their local area. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: National Geographic

Climate controls

This Xpeditions lesson has students consider how various parts of the world and the United States are affected by climate controls such as world air currents. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: National Geographic