Social Studies answers the burning question ”why”? Why do people live there? Why do they speak that way? It combines the study of cultures, geography, history, economics, and government and their impact on our lives today and tomorrow! In Social Studies, we have “five strands” of Social Studies. A strand is an area of study. They are geography, history, government, culture, and economy. Each strand is combined to create the identity of a region, a nation, and a person. The strands of Social Studies form the identity of a region, nation and person but not necessarily in equal parts.
Geography: The study of people, places and the environment
Physical features: Continents, oceans, and landforms
Climate: weather over a period of time
Longitude & Latitude
Political features: countries & cities
History: A record of the past-can be a written account or an artifact
Events that changed the way people live today
People who changed society
We learn history from 2 sources:
• Primary source: document, person, or object from the actual time
• Secondary source: document, person, or object that interprets or analyzes primary sources
Culture: The beliefs, customs, laws, art, and ways of living of a group of people.
Art & Recreation
Religion & Traditions
Language
Food, Dress, & Greetings
Government: The people and groups within a society that make laws, to make sure they carried out, and to settle disagreements about them.
Structure of the government
Type of government
Citizen participation
Personal freedom
Economics: The study of how people manage their resources by producing, exchanging, and using goods and services.
Trade barriers, money, exchange rates
Natural, Capital, and Human resources
Entrepreneurs
Economic systems: traditional, market, command, and mixed
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