Social Studies: Social Studies Skills

A sixth-grade geography teacher has introduced a unit on South America. For one assignment in the unit she asks students to choose a cultural element like art, music, or literature from the area for research. Following the research, she asks the class to write a paragraph explaining how they think the environment may have influenced their researched topics. Why does the teacher ask this question at the end?

to provide an opportunity for students to think critically about their research

For which of the following reasons would a teacher use a population pyramid, like the one above?

to show the distribution of population based on age in the United States

A teacher is working to increase engagement and communicate the value of the social sciences. Which TWO of the following are strategies that would further progress toward these goals? Select all answers that apply.

use simulations when appropriate & incorporate current events into class instruction

The timeline above best supports which of the following conclusions? ( The Time line of Acient Romans )

Ancient Romans valued public health.

Which of the following conclusions does the map above best support?

Angola was under Portuguese control in 1913.

A second-grade teacher is planning a unit and wants to address the state standard that "the student understands multiple points of view and how they shaped historical research." Which of the following would best address this standard?

Compare various primary and secondary sources about a single notable event

Using the information above, which of the following conclusions can be made using the data above?

Foreign-born citizens were better represented in large cities than small towns.

Mr. Mathers is teaching his class about the Louisiana Purchase. What social science should Mr. Mathers connect to this history lesson in order to best explain the importance of the Louisiana Purchase to the United States?

Geography

Ms. Fullmore intends to use a primary source document to introduce a new unit to her sixth-grade class. The text contains some challenging vocabulary. Which of the following would be the best approach to ensure her sixth-graders are able to comprehend the text?

Introduce and define unfamiliar vocabulary with the students before beginning the text.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau The information above can best help a student identify which of the following? (Country Population under 15 Years Old Population over 65 Years Old Argentina 26.8% 10.4% Brazil 29.1% 5.3% Colombia 32.2% 4.7% Ecuador 36.2 4.4%)

Life expectancy in a country

Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the illustration above?

Modern Russia was the last area to be affected by the Black Death.

Which northern city experienced the largest population (by number) increase of African Americans from 1910-1930?

New York City

When teaching the students about the three branches of the government and checks and balances, which of the following would be the best way to make this information relatable to the students?

Organize a simulation with students playing roles within the different branches, and passing legislation.

Mr. Thompson is assigning his class a research project and is able to provide computer access to students throughout the process. Which of the following is the LEAST effective way to incorporate technology into the research project?

Teach a lesson on using research databases and require that all sources come from the one database provided by the librarian.

Standardized assessment exams for social studies will often require students to interpret multiple viewpoints of a topic from various authors. Which of the following skills should a social studies teacher promote to develop this skill?

The ability to compare and contrast literature excerpts

Based on the information illustrated above, which of the following conclusions can be reached?

The largest importer of African slaves was the Caribbean countries.

Based upon the picture above, which of the following statements is most accurate for the year 2000 in America?

There are more 35-39 year-old males than there are males ages 5-9.

Mrs. Adams is beginning instruction on WWII in her history class. How could the English teacher best support this instruction by connecting their two disciplines?

Use Night, a Holocaust memoir, as the text for their upcoming genre study of memoirs.

Given the map above, which of the following conclusions is best supported?

West African kingdoms built upon the success of previous kingdoms.

A social studies teacher wants to address the social studies theme of time, continuity, and change. Which of the following questions for a sixth-grade elementary class would be most appropriate to address this theme?

Why did the demand for oil increase with the mass production of the automobile?

Which of the following would be the best graphic to demonstrate the relationship between temperature and elevation?

a scatterplot

Mrs. Sims wants to demonstrate to her students how the price of gasoline has increased over time. Which of the following graphs would best help Mrs. Sims visually demonstrate this concept?

line graph

During social studies instructions, students will often encounter new, unfamiliar words. There are many ways the teacher can support student vocabulary development. Which of the following is the LEAST effective way to support student understanding of new vocabulary?

provide dictionaries for student use during class