SS5

Grade 5, Social Studies
Std 1: Locate physical features that impacted the exploration and settlement of the Americas.

Lesson Plans:

Contour Maps
Students will craft miniature mountains from lumps of clay. They will then translate their mountains into topographic maps. These maps will include vital features and information such as date, orientation, grid, scale, title, author, index, legend, and sources—or DOGSTAILS, for short. When students know what goes into creating a representational map, they are more likely to understand how to analyze the geographic information in other maps.

American Colonial Life in the Late 1700's: Distant Cousins
Students will be able to identify the original thirteen British colonies on a map and understand how physical geography affected settlement.

Eye on Exploration: Take a Second Look Students will consider the viewpoint of the vanquished as well as the victors. They will walk in the steps of famous explorers as they research their journeys and examine their motives. They will delve into the daily life of the 15th century, and examine native accounts of the conquest of the Americas.

European Exploration, Trade and Colonization The focus of this unit is for students to develop a historical understanding of the explorations of early Europeans. This includes geographical mapping of explorers' routes and recognizing how European contact and colonization affected diverse groups of people. This unit provides activities for students to demonstrate acquired knowledge in a variety of ways.

Land Ho! Early Exploration and Settlement of the Americas
(Although this is labeled as a first grade unit, teachers of older elementary students will find it very useful, too.) Scroll down to History and Geography: American: Early Exploration and Settlement to find this lesson link. Concept objectives include understanding the relationship between location of settlements in relation to the resources and relief available in area.

Resources:

National Geographic Maps: Made for printing.

Early Explorers: The Age of Discovery: Join Diego as he learns about Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Amerigo Vespucci, John Cabot, Ferdinand Magellan and other fearless people who helped solve the mysteries of the uncharted world. United Streaming.

The Explorers: The Dawning of the Era of Exploration: Discover the factors that influenced transoceanic exploration during the 15th century. The navigation and shipbuilding advances made by the Spanish, Portuguese, and Chinese helped Europe find a trade route to Asia and the New World. United Streaming.

French Explorers: The Beginnings of French Exploration and Settlement in North America (1490-1564): This program begins by presenting the historical background that laid the foundation for French exploration in North America. United Streaming.

The Great Age of Exploration (1400-1550): This two-part program takes students through the history of the Great Age of Exploration, focusing on the period from 1400 to mid-1550s. United Streaming.

Exploring the World: Spanish Explorers of North America: This program takes a look at the accomplishments of the first Europeans to explore lands that are today in the United States of America. United Streaming.

Suggestions for English Language Learners:
(E/B=Entering/Beginning, D=Developing, E=Expanding)

(E/B) Students gather research with a partner.
(E/B, D) Students work with a partner and draw and label physical features on a map of America, noting features in areas of early American exploration.
(E/B) Students scan for information.
(E/B) Students develop a pictorial timeline.
(E/B) Students create a diorama.
(D) Students match visual with a description.
(D) Students use well-illustrated resources. Complete a graphic organizer with student-researched information.
(D) Write questions on researched information in groups. Then ask each other questions following a teacher model.
(E) Students produce reports from researching early America exploration and settlements (using technology).
(E) Students respond to inferential questions.

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