This resource accompanies our Rethink 1st Grade Social Studies Geography unit. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 2nd Grade Social Studies Geography unit. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning.

This unit was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 2nd Grade Social Studies in Geography.

Location, location, location. You may have heard this phrase before. It is used by realtors to explain that the most important thing in selling a house is its location. With the civilizations you are about to study, location might be the most important thing that determined the success of those civilizations.

This series of activities focuses on the world's oceans and their integral role in weather and climate. In step 1, students will identify the basic circulation patterns of the oceans and evaluate the relationship between ocean currents and trade routes of the past. In step 2, students will analyze climatic data from coastal and inland regions and conduct and experiment on the differing heat capacities of water and air. In step 3, students will locate major port cities of the world and identify ocean currents as potential travel routes. In step 4, students will explore El Nino by analyzing satellite-based data and evaluating weather reports for evidence of its occurrence.

NASA Astronomy Photo of the Day website hosted this photo of Earth at night in November 2000. The photo shows what Earth looks like at night with urban centers highlighted by concentrations of city lights. The image is a composite of hundreds of satellite photographs taken by orbiting Defense Meteorological Satellites Program satellites.

In this lesson, students explore the effect that a particular culture can have on popular music.

In this lesson, students explore the effect that a particular culture can have on popular music.

Students will study Robert Rauschenberg's "Barge, 1962-63" and consider statements made by critics at the time. Students will also create a timeline of what was happening in the 1960's in the US. Students will identify the various processes used in "Barge". Students will also brainstorm images representative of their own community and create a collage from newspaper, magazine, and other image sources. They will also apply paint to the work. Students will also approach the subject through screenprinting.

This resource explains biomass and biofuels and how they are used as alternative forms of energy.

This article discusses the challenges facing a species of lemur in Madagascar. Due to atypical rain patterns resulting from climate change, the survival rate of the offspring of these lemurs is decreasing. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

Instructions are provided for constructing a terrarium. The analogy between the terrarium and Earth is also provided. This activity is part of the Climate Kids website, a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

A landscaper explains, through an interview format, how it is possible to design and maintain yards and gardens that require very little water. The Climate Kids website is a NASA education resource featuring articles, videos, images and games focused on the science of climate change.

This resource provides an overview of the NC Coastal Plain. Links to other resources are included, as well as maps.

Students learn that the Columbian Exchange resulted in an enormous exchange of goods, resources, and institutions between the Old World and the New World and that the results of the Exchange were both positive and negative. Slides for the lesson are included.

This article describes common misconceptions about the Arctic and Antarctica and how to test and teach for student understanding.

Students conduct interviews to learn migration stories in their own communities. Students will describe push and pull factors for their community, conduct an interview of a person in the community who migrated, and identify differences between migration stories. A list of vocabulary words is provided.

How do artists create a story that provides a message or provokes emotions in that single frame? This lesson will help students analyze ways in which the composition of a painting contributes to telling the story or conveying the message through the placement of objects and images within the painting.

While using this object, students are introduced to new information about Costa Rica.  It is reinforced with short facts and questions, and reviewed to strengthen their new knowledge of the concept.  Students can access Kahoot from a computer or mobile device.  As the teacher displays questions on the screen, students answer from their devices, and are given instant feedback.  Percentages of each answer chosen are then displayed on the screen.  As a bonus, students can later play in "Ghost Mode" to review the material and beat their score. 

The object addresses the following world language standards:
 

2.1.M.G.a Recognize important features of country(s) where language is spoken

2.1.M.G.c Identify major geographic features (rivers, mountains, deserts, forests)

In this OLogy activity, kids learn how a compass works and why it will always point north. The activity begins with an overview that discusses our reliance on directions and how a compass works. Students are then given step-by-step, illustrated directions for creating a compass with a sewing needle, a small bar magnet, a small piece of foam, and other household items. The activity includes ideas about how to try out your compass.