3rd grade Social Studies
6 units matched to the Alaska content standards. Kids see this subject as “Our World”.
Focus areas
- Alaska's land and regions
- Alaska's history, from the first peoples to statehood
- How Alaska is governed, and Alaska Native cultures today
Units
Unit 1
Needs Around the World
Everyone needs food, water, shelter and clothing. How people in different places meet these needs using what the land and climate offer, and why caring for the land matters.
Learning standard: SS.3.1.11.1; SS.3.2.11.1 · natural resources and capital, and how people specialize and trade to meet their needs
Unit 2
Working Together Fairly
Practices group skills: sharing ideas, decisions and responsibilities, being fair and respectful, considering other people's views, listening actively and choosing ways to present information.
Learning standard: SS.3.6.6.1; SS.3.3.7.1 · how people benefit from working together, and why groups need ways to make decisions
Unit 3
Alaska's Land & Regions
Alaska's place on the map and its land: neighbors and oceans, Denali and the Yukon River, the Southeast, Southcentral, Interior, Southwest and Far North regions, permafrost, tundra and glaciers, and why most Alaskans live where they do.
Learning standard: SS.3.1.18.1; SS.3.1.17.1; SS.3.3.16.1 · making maps of Alaska, why environments differ among Alaska's regions, and how land and climate shape where people live
Unit 4
Alaska Through Time
Alaska history in order: Russian America, the purchase of 1867, the gold rushes, territory and statehood in 1959, the 1964 earthquake, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the pipeline and the Permanent Fund, with timeline and arithmetic practice.
Learning standard: SS.3.1.23.1; SS.3.2.23.1; SS.3.1.20.1 · timelines of Alaska history, comparing life in different eras with today, and how Alaska's resources connect to its statehood
Unit 5
Governing Alaska
How Alaska is governed: the three branches of state government in Juneau, the Legislature's 40 representatives and 20 senators, how a bill becomes law, boroughs and cities, Tribal governments, and the rights and responsibilities of Alaska residents.
Learning standard: SS.3.5.6.1; SS.3.1.9.1; SS.3.1.10.1; SS.3.2.8.1 · the structure of state and Tribal governments in Alaska, how Alaska's laws are made, and the rights and responsibilities of residents
Unit 6
Alaska Native Cultures
An introduction to Alaska Native cultures as living communities: where some of Alaska's many Native peoples live, Alaska's 20 official Native languages, subsistence, sharing and trade, and how Elders pass on history. Kept light and in the present tense.
Learning standard: SS.3.1.25.1; SS.3.1.15.1; SS.3.1.14.1 · the cultures of Alaska, how Alaska Native groups use natural resources, and how trade connected Indigenous groups
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