Social Studies…the easiest and hardest of

all the school subjects…

Social Studies“…the most important subject you can study

…it involves everything you do

…understanding this concept

can help you with the core ideas in this class!”

Social Studies• What is social studies?

Everything that affects the past, present and future aspects of a society.

• What are disciplines?

Disciplines are general areas of study that we use to simplify vast amounts of information

Disciplines in Social Studies

Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Geography,

Economics, Government,

History

Psychology• Study of the mind,

behaviors and actions• Understanding how “you

influence your surroundings”

• Deals with development, learning, behaviors, brain/body, disorders, dreams, thinking

• Everything starts with understanding who “you” are as an individual, which effects your understanding of the world around you

Sociology

• Study of society• Understanding how your

“environment influences you”

• Deals with needs, problems, issues in society that affect our daily lives

• If we know who we are as an individual in a society, then we can understand how certain aspects of society will influence us to act in certain ways

Anthropology

• Study of culture• Culture – how people live; a blue-

print for living• Gaining an understanding and

appreciation of “culture,” which influences world diversity

• Deals with the unique cultural characteristics of society, such as language, music, clothing, art/architecture, dance and any thing that sets a group apart from another

• If you learn about other cultures, you experience “assimilation” (or a blending of cultures to make yours unique)

Geography• Study of the world• Understanding of our

physical, regional and cultural world that dictates how we live our lives

• Deals with landforms, bodies of water, human usage, human impact and impact on history

• Everything that happens is directly related to geography; as if you don’t know where something is, how can you understand why it happened?

Economics• Study of the creation and usage of money

• Gaining an appreciation of how people incorporated “value” to their lives

• Tracing the roots of economic systems and how they have effected our world of today

• Everything that happens today is absolutely connected to money!

Government• Study of government• Understanding how rules and

leadership effects society, from early times to our current daily lives

• Tracing the origins of leadership and governments to its modern development into world governments

• Our societies need leadership, so government has been and will always be necessary!

History• Study of the past, present and

future• Understanding the past so we

can get a picture of where we came from, what we are doing and where we are headed

• Tracing the story of “mankind” from early origins to modern times

• History has always been, always is and always will be!

• “Don’t study history…Live it!”

Themes you need to understand for this class…

• Themes in Geography • Location• Place• Region• Movement• HEI (Human-

Environment Interaction)

• Themes in History• Cooperation/Conflict• Individuals and History• Technology and History• Economics and History• Social Institutions• Impact of Ideas• Rise of Free Ideas• Cultural Creativity• Continuity and Change

Location• Where you are in

the world• Two types –

– Absolute (exact)

– Relative (vicinity)

Place

• Description of a location– Everything happens

somewhere (location) and what influences it is what the area is like (place)

– Example: Classroom and learning

environment

Region

• An area with common characteristics or a general area that a group has in common– Examples:– (easy) N, SE, S, W, Central,

Midwest– (difficult) religion,

language, culture, shared beliefs, common heritage

Movement

• The movement of people, goods and ideas across our world– Examples: traveling, trade

and commerce, computers, television, radio, language, internet, cultural cooperation and conflict

Human-Environment Interaction

• People interacting with their environment; the manipulation of the surroundings to improve a lifestyle or situation

• Examples: swimming, hiking in the mountains, digging a hole, cutting down a forest

Cooperation and Conflict

• People working together to achieve a common goal (cooperation) and people trying to harm one another (conflict)

• Examples: Building a monument and war

Individuals and History

• People making history and history making people• Examples: Christopher Columbus – 1492 a.d., Julius Caesar – 44 b.c.

Technology and History

• The tools and skills needed for a society to run smoothly and endure for the future

Social Institutions

• Groups necessary for society to run smoothly• Family, education, religion, government, economics,

military, science, medicine, sports and entertainment

Impact of Ideas

• Ideas that influence the way people think and behave

• “-ism’s” are concepts hold meaning for a society changing concept

Rise of Free Ideas

• Ideas that promote freedom and democracy in a society

• Examples: ending of slavery, a revolution that creates a free nation, right to “free speech”

Cultural Creativity

• Unique aspects of a culture that sets one group apart from another

• Examples: food, clothing, language, history, mannerism, “look”

Continuity and Change

• As time moves on, the same problems, ideas and issues remain in society

• Examples: war, terrorism, hatred, discrimination, love, friendship, loyalty, education, poverty, homelessness, stupidity, ignorance

Applying the disciplines and themes…

“…keep social studies simple…”

K – keep

I – it

S – simple

S - stupid

Keep it simple, stupid!

I can, and I’m in

elementary school!

How do these disciplines and themes apply to this class?

1. Aids our understanding of difficult material… and…

2. Makes learning history more relevant to our interests!

…which leads us to what our class is about…

Definition of history…•A collection of events and ideas that have been retained throughout mankind’s existence.

•The past contributions and societies that make up our world of today.

•The basis of all knowledge from people’s previous thoughts and actions; from this information we try to create a better world.

•A repeating cycle…

•Mankind’s (or womankind’s) autobiography…their story…’his-story’ or ‘her-story’…which ever you prefer!…even though ‘HISTORY’ is correct.

•All event’s since the beginning of time.

* Everything that has happened “before” us…keep in mind we are only here for a short while!

_________ (is) history?

• What? Past, present and future

• Who? Anyone and everyone

• Why? Why not!!! Curiosity is good!!!

• When? Way back to now…all the time

• Where? Everywhere

Why study history?“fascinating…”

Page 2

“story of real people…”

p. 72

“role models…”

p. 178

“problem solving insight…”

p. 332

“democracy…”

p. 442

“impact…”

p. 540

“learn from mistakes…”

p. 674

“world impact…”

p. 802

“why not?…be curious and learn something new…!!!”

Equation with Variables…Math or History???

TIME + SPACE + PEOPLE + EVENT (when) (where) (who) (what)

=HISTORY