In this lesson, students identify a globe as a model of the Earth. They interact with maps and globes to locate land masses (continents) and oceans.

In this lesson, students use data from visuals and graphs to make inferences about places. Students discover that human characteristics of places depend upon the natural resources found in environment in their community. Natural resources also affect jobs that are available in the area as well.

In this lesson, students will review the concepts of needs and wants. Through the use of fables, fairytales, and other literature, students learn about the differences between needs and wants. 
They examine the reasons why people can’t have everything they want and consider that individuals who want more than they can have often requires the person to make choices.

In this lesson, students learn how the concept of scarcity applies to choices families make every day. Students identify choices families make because of the lack of resources and because of wanting more than one can have.

In this lesson, students create a news story about a local citizen who exhibits good citizenship.

In this lesson, students revisit the traits of a good citizen using historical figures as examples (Thurgood Marshall, Abigail Adams, and Sojourner Truth). Students also examine choices they make that can lead to good citizenship in the classroom and in the community.

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

In this lesson, students practice using language related to chronology. They work with the histories of their own lives as well as the history of their school. They begin to learn about different sources of information.

In this lesson, students review the types of communities, examine physical and human characteristics of place, and compare the characteristics of communities.

In this lesson, students learn about good citizens. They learn about examples of good citizens in the local community, the state, and the nation, including veterans and how we honor veterans as a nation. Students also use geographic tools to learn about places veterans served and use timelines to learn more about veterans and patriotic holidays.

The lesson addresses how the community is impacted by innovators like George Washington Carver. Students examine the life of George Washington Carver and other innovators including those in the local community to learn about and use problem-solving skills and imagine themselves as problem-solvers and innovators.

The lesson looks more closely at how scientific and technological innovations have changed the way people meet their needs in communities. Robert Fulton is used as an example of an innovator in this lesson that focuses on changes in transportation.

In this lesson, students learn about how public officials are selected, including election and appointment. Students also learn about and compare the roles of mayor, governor, and president along with learning who our current government leaders are.

In this lesson, students will learn about the concepts of work, choice, spend, earn, and save.

In this lesson, students learn about how natural resources become products. Students also learn that people are both producers and consumers of goods and services.

In this lesson, students learn about community celebrations and their importance to a community’s cultural heritage. Students compare different celebrations including place, time, purpose, history, food and drinks, activities, and other important ideas associated with culture.

In this lesson, students build geography and map skills and apply them while learning about Juan de Oñate.

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. Students also look at excerpts from the journals of Christopher Columbus, whose journeys “opened”the New World to further exploration and settlement, to see how he described the physical environment of the islands where he landed.

In this lesson, students learn about people, important events, and natural disasters that have contributed most to influencing change in our communities.

Students focus on Benjamin Banneker, Pierre Charles L’Enfant, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Ford, Christopher Columbus, and Daniel Boone. They also study local people who have changed the local community. Students consider which changes are still having the most influence in the community today.