Enduring Understandings - important ideas that students should carry with them years beyond the instruction received this year.

• Maps, globes and other geographic tools are used to locate information about places.
• Societies are diverse and change over time.
• Decisions must be made about the use of scarce resources.
• Technology has changed societies throughout history.

Essential Questions - most important “big picture” questions students should be able to answer after completing learning activities.

• Where am I on a map? Where am I on a globe?  Where am I in the world?
• Where is Australia on a map?  Where is Australia on a globe?
• How do people live in different parts of the world?
• How can I help take care of my world?
• How do people around the world communicate?

Standards and Benchmarks
History 3: Students understand that societies are diverse and change over time.
Benchmark B: Students understand the history of social organization in various societies.
History 4: Students understand how science, technology, and economic activity have developed, changed, and affected societies throughout history.  
Benchmark A: Students understand the impact of scientific and technological developments on individuals and societies.
Geography 1: Students know how to use and construct maps, globes, and other geographic tools to locate and derive information about people, places, and environments.
Benchmark A: Students know how to use maps, globes, and other geographic tools to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
Geography 3: Physical processes shaped the earth's surfaces.
Benchmark A: Students know the physical processes that shaped earth's surface patterns.
Economics 1: Students understand that because of the condition of scarcity, decisions must be made about the use of scarce resources.
Benchmark A: Students know that economic choices are made because resources are scarce and that the act of making economic choices imposes opportunity costs (e.g., using land for farming and ranching, forests for recreation or lumber). 

Indicators
History
3. Diverse and Changing Societies: Describe cultural similarities, differences and interactions
among various groups in both past and present.
4. Science, Technology, and Economic Activity: Identify and explain changes in technology
(scientific achievements and inventions) and how they changed history.
Geography
1. Use of Geographic Tools: Use tools (maps, globes, photographs, graphs, charts, and databases) to locate information about places.
2. and 3. Physical Processes/Physical and Human Characteristics of Places and Regions: Identify and describe human and physical characteristics of places, and use them to define regions.
Economics
1. Scarcity and Decision-Making: Identify scarce natural, human, and capital resources and evaluate decisions about how they are used.

Lessons 1-6:  Where Am I?
Duration: 6 classes of 20-25 minutes
   
Enduring Understanding: Maps, globes, and other geographic tools are used to locate information about places.
Essential Question: Where am I on a map?  A globe?  Where am I in the world?
Assessment:  Locate on a globe and map: United States, Australia, Colorado, and Colorado Springs. Use manipulative, to have students show/explain representation of city, state, country, continent (small to large/ large to small).

Activities

• Use mixing bowls, nesting dolls, measuring cups or different size blocks to identify different sized communities, e.g. smallest bowl represents the neighborhood/largest the world.
• Use a map and a globe to locate: United States, Australia, Colorado, and Colorado Springs. National Geographic's MapMachine and http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html will allow you to project locations for students.
• On a map of Australia, find the mountains, desert, the major towns and rivers.
• Social Studies Alive! Lesson 8 All activities will help build students knowledge, from neighborhood to world.

Differentiation 
Support: Use manipulative to show going from largest to smallest and smallest to largest.
Extension: Draw an outline of the United States/ Australia.  Locate different places on both maps. Use manipulative to show knowledge of places in Australia

Resources
Social Studies Alive! Lesson 8
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/index.html map of the world
National Geographic's MapMachine
Literacy Connections: Me on the Map by J. Sweeney; Crown publications (1996) 
Where in the World  from Creative Publications.  As the Crow Flies by Gail Hartman. 

Lesson 7:  Where Are You?
Duration:  1- 20 minute class. 
   
Enduring Understanding: Maps, globes, and other geographic tools are used to locate information about places.
Essential Question: Where is Australia on a map? Where is Australia on a globe?
Assessment:  Orally point out the similarities and differences between Australia and this country

Activities

• Trace a map of Australia using information from one of the web sites.
• Label and identify boundaries, mountains, and desert areas.

Differentiation
Support: Identify the different mountains, deserts, lakes, rivers. Orally discuss the difference between them.
Extension: Draw a picture of Australia and locate the mountains, rivers, deserts areas.

Resources
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/australia/about.htm
http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/australia/australia.htm
http://www.gigglepotz.com/caustralia.htm
http://www.kidskonnect.com/content/view/301/27/

Lessons 8-11:  Are We Alike or Different in the Way We Live?
   
Duration:  4 classes of 20-25 minutes
Enduring Understanding: Societies are diverse and change over time.
Essential Question: How do people live in different parts of the world?
Assessment:  Match name and flag; animals and names.  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/animals/label/australia/index.shtml
Use a graphic organizer to show similarities and differences between US and Australia.

Activities

• Begin with Social Studies Alive! Lesson 9, Activity 1

• Use words, music, flag, animals, books from Australia kit to illustrate concepts from Social Studies Alive!  9.1
• Make connections- life in US and life in Australia. View the Jeff Corwin Experience Video on Australian Koalas (3:01)

Differentiation
Support: Orally match names of animals with pictures.  Orally discuss similarities and differences between the US and Australia.
Extension: Make a list of animals found in the US and Australia and categorize them by where they live.
    http://library.thinkquest.org/28994/animals.html

Resources
Social Studies Alive! Lesson 9
Australia kit
Edmark (technology on school computers) Trudy’s Time and Place House- to identify points of interest in Australia; click on rocket, then globe, then Australia.
Maps, flags, and animals of Australia including http://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/australia/australia.htm

Lessons 12 - 14:  Hello from Around the World
Duration:  3 class periods of 20 -25 minutes.
   
Enduring Understanding: Technology has changed societies throughout history.
Essential Question: How do people around the world communicate?
Assessment:  Role play answering the phone using appropriate communication skills

Activities

• Start with Social Studies Alive! Lesson 9 Activity 2
• Talk about using the telephone and/or cell phones. What do you say when you answer a phone? Why do people call one another?
• Problem-solve ways to communicate actions and thoughts on the phone, about what should and should not be done when talking on the phone.
• Make a list or chart than evaluate by asking which of the items listed is most important

Differentiation
Support: Additional role playing modeling correct telephone manners.
Extension: Using a different language, practice saying hello and good bye on the phone

Resources
Social Studies Alive! Lesson 9
Telephone Etiquette

Lessons 15-18: Taking Care of the Earth!
Duration:  4 class periods of 20 -25 minutes.
   
Enduring Understanding: Decisions must be made about the use of scarce resources.
Essential Question: How can I help take care of the world?
Assessment:  Orally discuss how decisions are made when there is not enough of something.  Who gets what?  Explain scarcity and give a new example.

Activities:

• Practice classroom recycling.
• Scarcity- bring in pieces of chocolate, being sure that there are not enough for each student.  Ask how they could decide who gets the chocolate.
• Define scarcity with students as not having enough of something for all who want it.
• Have students make a simple product from scissors, paper, glue, etc., that could be used for some purpose.
• Discuss the resources used, and how the product could get to people who could use it.
• Social Studies Alive! Lesson 10 activities 1-3 or more

Differentiation
Support: Define the vocabulary words in this unit and use in a sentence to show they understand the meaning. (Orally)
Extension: Collect and examine trash they find in the classroom that can be recycled.  Group these things in bins: glass, plastic, paper.  Discuss the concept of reusing, reducing, and recycling.

Resources
    Social Studies Alive! Lesson
    Literacy Connection: Earth and I by Frank Asch.
    http://www.facingthefuture.org/Portals/0/Documents/TextbookSamples/TGSPG_chapter1.pdf