3rd grade Social Studies
9 units matched to the California Content Standards. Kids see this subject as “Our World”.
Focus areas
- Continuity and change in the local region
- American Indian nations of the region, then and now
- Local history and the basics of US government
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: 3.1.2 · how people use the resources of a region and change the environment 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: 3.4.2 · public virtue and the role of citizens in solving problems together
Unit 3
Money, Taxes & Voting
Natural, human and capital resources, what is made locally and elsewhere, trade-offs and opportunity cost, how taxes pay for services, and how citizens vote and take part.
Learning standard: 3.5.1; 3.5.2; 3.5.3; 3.4.2 · how local producers use resources, goods made near and far, trade-offs, and how citizens take part in government
Unit 4
Culture & Traditions
Culture, diversity and unity in a community, the traditions newcomers bring, and national symbols and mottoes that tie people together.
Learning standard: 3.3.1; 3.4.3 · the people who settled and continue to settle the community, and landmarks and symbols that express American ideals
Unit 5
Changemakers & Allies
Americans who took risks to secure freedoms, majority rule with respect for others, and using sources to learn about them.
Learning standard: 3.4.6 · the lives of American heroes who took risks to secure our freedoms
Unit 6
Our Region's Land
Deserts, mountains, valleys, coasts, rivers and bays in California, reading maps and tables, and how people use the region's resources and change the land with farms, dams, canals and freeways.
Learning standard: 3.1.1; 3.1.2 · the geographic features of the local region and how people have used its resources and changed the environment
Unit 7
First Peoples of Our Region
California Indian nations such as the Chumash, Pomo, Cahuilla, Ohlone and Yurok: how the land shaped how they lived, trade, tribal governments and constitutions, what settlers' arrival meant for them, and nations today. Light, in the present tense, and with nothing sacred or ceremonial.
Learning standard: 3.2.2; 3.2.3; 3.2.4 · how geography shaped how local Indian nations lived, their economies and governments, and their interaction with settlers
Unit 8
How Our Community Began
The explorers and settlers who came to California, why towns started where they did, the economies settlers built, primary and secondary sources, and how communities change over time.
Learning standard: 3.3.1; 3.3.2; 3.3.3 · explorers, newcomers and settlers, the economies settlers established, and why the community was founded and how it changed
Unit 9
Rules, Laws & Government
Why we have rules, laws and the Constitution, the three branches of government with a focus on cities and counties, and how California, the other states and tribal nations each govern.
Learning standard: 3.4.1; 3.4.4; 3.4.5 · reasons for rules, laws and the Constitution, the three branches of government with an emphasis on local government, and the governments of states and sovereign American Indian tribes
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