In this lesson, students learn what forests were like before European settlement and discover how Native Americans altered forests to provide their basic needs. To accomplish this, students read a journal of an explorer, note specific details, and draw an illustration.

Students explore the characteristics of the physical environment of communities, including their own community, in order to describe and explain variations in the physical environment, including climate, landforms, natural resources, and natural hazards. They also explore these characteristics to identify and compare how people in different communities adapt to the physical environment in which they live. They also look at the journals of Christopher Columbus.

In this lesson, students investigate people's historic relationship with whales and compare it to people's attitude toward whales today.

Students can plan the first attempted flight around the world in 1924. They will have to map out the route, plan what items they will carry, and deal with problems which will develop during the voyage.

Did you know that gold was first discovered in the United States in North Carolina? In this short video, students can learn about what makes gold so special, this historic discovery, and how people searched for it in the past.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 3rd Grade Social Studies. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 3rd Grade Social Studies.

Explore 14,000 years of history from the NC Museum of History' exhibit, The Story of North Carolina in 360°—one gallery at a time. Designed with the student experience in mind, each tour features artifacts, photos, & videos.

In this activity, students use a story map to follow the historic route of the Buncombe Turnpike and learn more about its economic and cultural impact on western North Carolina. Students will also see how the landscape has transformed in the nearly 200 years since the creation of the Turnpike.

In this activity, students study the geography of Greece and how it affects where people live and work. Students will then use art supplies to create a 3-D model of a Greek coastline.

In this lesson, students take on an environmental project. They interview long-time residents of the town/neighborhood about the state of the local environment and then choose an environmental problem on which to focus and take action.

This inquiry engages students in exploring world geography through the compelling questions "Where are we?" This question sparks students' intellectually curiosity through the study of geographic location and the impact of humans on their environment. Working with evidence from sources, students should understand that, although we can be in different places, our impact on Earth is worth considering.

This lesson will address the physical and human characteristics of the local community. Students will build geographic vocabulary as well as use map skills.

Students review the types of communities, examine physical and human characteristics of place, and compare the characteristics of communities.