Social Studies — Grade 5

Women in flight: Using music to study American women pioneers in flight

As North Carolina's 97-98 Christa McAuliffe Teaching Fellow, I designed this plan to musically enhance the 5th grade social studies of American heroes, focusing on women pioneers in flight. It is intended to utilize singing and rhythmic activities to compare and contrast the lives of Amelia Earhart and Christa McAuliffe. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to successfully complete a solo trans-Atlantic flight and tragically disappeared while attempting to fly around the world in 1937. Christa McAuliffe was selected for NASA's Teacher-in-Space program and tragically died in the 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. I traditionally use this plan close to the January 28 anniversary of the shuttle disaster.

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 Music Education and Social Studies)

By Robin Smathers.

Tobacco bag stringing: Elementary activity two

This activity for grades 3–6 will teach students how examining photographs can help them to better understand the past. This activity can be used as an introduction to looking at primary source photographs.

Format: lesson plan (multiple pages)

Resources on the web

Your town in the past, present, and future

This Xpeditions lesson illustrates one way that the study of geography can be applied to planning for the future. (Learn more)

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

Provided by: National Geographic

Lewis and Clark: A Legacy to Remember

Students design a memorial that illustrates the legacy of the Lewis and Clark expedition from a geographic perspective. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5 and 8 English Language Arts, Information Skills, and Social Studies)

Provided by: National Geographic