One of the most urgent contemporary challenges is to ensure a sustainable planet for future generations. The analysis of environmental problems and the best strategies for dealing with them should be an integral component of social studies education. This e-book offers essential information and recommends exemplary methods for teaching about…

Due to the changing landscape of K-12 education in the United States, particularly issues arising from funding, safety, accessibility, and standardization, the frequency at which teachers utilize traditional field trips has diminished over the last few decades. Thanks to continued advances in communicative technology, however, teachers are able to…

The result of a three year state-led collaborative effort, the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards was developed to serve two audiences: for states to upgrade their state social studies standards and for practitioners--local school districts, schools, teachers and curriculum writers--to strengthen…

In the advent of the development and mass adoption of the common core state standards for English language arts and mathematics, state and local agencies have now expressed a need to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO or the Council) for assistance as they upgrade existing social studies standards to meet the practical goal of…

Weather phenomena across the United States have provided heightened attention to climate change in headlines such as "Heavy Rain and Floods: The 'New Normal' with Climate Change?" ("Christian Science Monitor," Aug. 14, 2014); "Delay Action on Climate Change by 10 Years and Costs Rocket 40%"…

Social studies teachers of all grade levels are responsible for (a) connecting students with standards-based content, (b) engaging students in their own learning, (c) expanding students' levels of understanding by co-constructing new knowledge, (d) motivating students to express and exchange ideas with one another, and (e) incorporating social…

The key objective of this investigation was to uncover attitudes and pedagogical comparisons of a sampling of secondary social studies teachers in three schools in eastern Ontario, Canada. The researchers sought to gain insight into how historical and current United States (US) policies are addressed in the provincial curriculum. Moreover,…

The federal "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB) legislation required school districts to ensure that all teachers of core academic subjects met the requirements to be designated highly qualified by July 1, 2006. However, because no Maryland counties were able to comply with the 100 percent highly qualified designation by July 1,…

A social studies unit and student workbook explore the historical geography of the area of Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia. The unit deals with sequent occupance, a type of historical geography in which students study the same area, the changes in culture, and the changing land use in the area during certain time periods. For each period,…

These activities are part of a series of 17 teacher-developed instructional activities for geography at the secondary-grade level described in SO 009 140. The activity involves students in the use of maps as a source of information about American social and economic history. It outlines six learning activities which employ inductive methods. Given…

States that toys can be used in the social studies classroom to help elementary students learn and retain relevant content. Discusses how to incorporate toys into the classroom. Lists toys, games, and lesson plan ideas that can be used when teaching history, geography, and economics. (CMK)

Presents a lesson that combines economics, geography, history, archaeology, and inquiry to investigate the creation of the Cahokia trading empire that existed around 1000 A.D. Employs Standards 5 and 6 of the "Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics" and Theme 7 of the National Council for the Social Studies Standards. (CMK)

Social studies is essential in elementary curriculum. It is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. Within the school program, social studies provides coordinated, systematic study drawing upon such disciplines as anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, law, psychology, religion,…

The purpose of the book is to provide social studies teachers with a variety of interesting and workable ideas for presenting hard-to-teach concepts in new ways. Included in this volume are the best ideas for simulations, values exercises, and other social studies lessons from "Senior Scholastic," a magazine written especially for secondary social…