5th Grade Social Studies

Essential Question:

• How do the beliefs and ideals of a society influence the social, political, and economic decisions of that society?
• Why is it important for us to be responsible citizens?

Social Studies - Unit 2

In this unit, students will learn the importance of being a responsible citizen. The students will understand the beliefs and ideals behind the need for amendments to protect the rights of U.S. citizens and the responsibilities of citizens. Students will also begin to understand basic economic principles by learning about the relationship within production, distribution, and consumption and how the four sectors of the economy contribute to those principles.

SS5CG1 Explain how a citizen’s rights are protected under the U.S. Constitution.

a. Explain the responsibilities of a citizen.

b. Explain the concept of due process of law and describe how the U.S. Constitution protects a citizen’s rights by due process.

SS5CG2 Explain the process by which amendments to the U.S. Constitution are made.

a. Explain the amendment process outlined in the Constitution.

b. Describe the purpose for the amendment process.

SS5CG3 Explain how amendments to the U.S. Constitution have maintained a representative democracy/republic.

a. Explain how voting rights are protected by the 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24th, and 26th amendments.

Key terms:

• amendment: a change or addition to the constitution
• citizen: member of a state or nation
• constitution: the system of fundamental principles according to which a nation, state, corporation, or the like, is governed
• due process: fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a citizen’s entitlement
• explain: to make something clear by describing it in more details or by revealing relevant facts or ideas
• demonstrate: to display, exhibit or explain by providing arguments, examples, etc.
• ratify: to confirm by expressing consent, approval, or formal sanction
• representative democracy: a type of democracy founded on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people
• suffrage: the right to vote
• 15th amendment: prohibits the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen’s “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”
• 19th amendment: gave women the right to vote in 1920
• 23rd amendment: extends the right to vote in the presidential election to citizens residing in the District of Columbia by granting the District electors in the Electoral College
• 24th amendment: abolished the poll tax for all federal elections
• 26th amendment: prohibits the states and federal government from using age as a reason for denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States who are at least eighteen years old

Students can watch BrainPop videos via MyBackpack. The videos below correspond with Unit 2.

• Citizenship
• U.S. Constitution
• Bill of Rights

In this unit, students will understand the impact of movement and migration on the expanding United States. By understanding the role of conflict and change, student will learn how the United States began to spread its influence throughout the western world. They will also gain knowledge about the importance of technological innovations created during this time.

SS5H1 Describe how life changed in America at the turn of the century.

• Describe the role of the cattle trails in the late 19th century; include the Black Cowboys of Texas, the Great Western Cattle Trail, and the Chisholm Trail.
• Describe the impact on American life of the Wright brothers (flight), George Washington Carver (science), Alexander Graham Bell (communication), and Thomas Edison (electricity).
• Explain how William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt expanded America’s role in the world; include the Spanish-American War and the building of the Panama Canal.
• Describe the reasons people immigrated to the United States, from where they emigrated, and where they settled.

SS5G1 Locate important places in the United States.

• Locate important man-made places; include the Chisholm Trail; Pittsburgh, PA; Gettysburg, PA; Kitty Hawk, NC; Pearl Harbor, HI; Montgomery, AL; and Chicago, IL.

SS5G2 Explain the reasons for the spatial patterns of economic activities.

• Locate primary agricultural and industrial locations between the end of the Civil War and 1900 and explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources have influenced these areas (e.g., Pittsburgh’s rapid growth in the late nineteenth century.
• Locate primary agricultural and industrial locations since the turn of the 20th century and explain how factors such as population, transportation, and resources have influenced these areas (e.g. Chicago’s’ rapid growth at the turn of the century.

SS5E1 Use the basic economic concepts of trade, opportunity cost, specialization, productivity, and price incentives to illustrate historical events.

• Explain how price incentives affect people’s behavior and choices (e.g., decisions to participate in cattle trails because of increased beef prices).
• Describe how trade and voluntary exchange promotes economic activity (e.g., how the Panama Canal increase trade between countries).

SS5E2 Describe the functions of four major sectors in the U.S. economy.

• Describe the private business function in producing goods and services.

Students can watch BrainPop videos via MyBackpack. The videos below correspond with Unit 3.

• Thomas Edison
• The Wright Brothers
• George Washington Carver
• Alexander Graham Bell (BrainPopJr)
• Industrial Revolution