Social Studies — Grade 7

Traveling Through Africa

Students will plan a one-week, three country trip through Africa and create a travelogue of places they will visit. The students will create an electronic scrapbook of highlights of the trip (including cultural highlights, historical points of interest, geographic features, etc.)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies and Computer Technology Skills)

By Ren Bryan.

Lesson plans on the web

Africa's struggle with AIDS

In this Xpeditions lesson, students come to understand the enormity of the impact of AIDS on the population of Africa by comparing its effect there with its effect on the population of the world in general, and especially on that of the United States. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Animals of the nomads

In this Xpeditions lesson, students learn about nomadic pastoralism by examining the roles of animals and the relationship between available natural resources and nomadic life in Central Asian societies. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

The Aral Sea: Then and now

Students consider what happens when a sea shrinks and to compare pictures of the Aral Sea at different times. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Assessing political boundaries

In this Xpeditions lesson, students are introduced to the changing nature of political boundaries in Asia. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Can the chiru be saved?

In this Xpeditions lesson, students are introduced to the chiru of Tibet. A small deerlike animal, the chiru is endangered because it is hunted and killed for its luxurious wool. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies and English Language Arts)

Provider: National Geographic

Cities in Asia

In this Xpeditions lesson, students identify the characteristics of cities and analyze the influence of geography on patterns of urban settlement. They explore the role geography plays in the types of cities that develop. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Famous boundaries

Students label boundaries (between states or countries) on a map and then think about the boundaries they are familiar with near their homes. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Geography and your dream job

Introduces students to the five themes of geography. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Geography matters in history

Students consider the ways in which historical events and processes have been affected by geography. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

International food court

Students learn about the characteristics of the world's regions by investigating the types of food that are common in those regions. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 Computer Technology Skills and Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Interpreting population statistics

Students are introduced to population statistics such as birth, death, and literacy rates. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 5–7 Mathematics and Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Interpreting the evidence

This lesson, the second of a two-part series from Science NetLinks, offers useful information and activities to help students understand how scientists learn about civilizations that have disappeared. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–8 Science and Social Studies)

Provider: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Investigating central Asia through maps

In this Xpeditions lesson, students use physical, political, and thematic maps to investigate the geography of Central Asia through a scavenger hunt. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Kings of the Kalahari

In this Xpeditions lesson, students study the defining characteristics of deserts and apply this knowledge to a study of the Kalahari Desert. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies and Science)

Provider: National Geographic

Lions and people: Keeping the balance

In this Xpeditions lesson, students read an article about the conflicts between lions and people. They focus on an area of Kenya outside of the national park system that is being managed and studied in an attempt to maintain a healthy lion population. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Science and Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Living through a drought

In this Xpeditions lesson, students practice map-reading skills. Using a drought map of Afghanistan, students learn how to recognize drought, where drought can occur, and how drought affects the people who live in those places. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies and Science)

Provider: National Geographic

Mapping the past

Students gain experience in working with historical maps as cultural artifacts that reflect the views of particular times and places. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7–8 Social Studies)

Provider: National Endowment for the Humanities

Oil and water in the Middle East region

In this lesson, from Xpeditions, students explore the roles of oil and water in the Middle East, especially in Iraq. Students use maps to look at the distribution of oil in the Middle East and discuss what it means for the different countries in the region. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 7 Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic

Products across borders

In this lesson, students identify foreign products available in the United States and learn about U.S. companies that sell products abroad. The students discuss globalization and illustrate two maps to show where products come from and where they're sold. (Learn more)

Format: lesson plan (grade 6–7 English Language Arts and Social Studies)

Provider: National Geographic