Cool Spring Elementary

5th Grade Social Studies Curriculum

The fifth grade social science curriculum is focused on the regions of the United States of America from Perspective of human geography. The economic, geographical, and cultural rationales behind the separation of the country into regions will be studied, and the particular characteristics of six US regions will be defined and compared. Students will investigate the features of each region from the perceptive of 6 themes: history, economics, culture, technology, transportation, and geography. They will be encouraged to characterize cause-effect relationships between themes and regions. The course is built upon a solid familiarity with facts pertaining to the six regions in the realms of geography, economic resources, and human culture, so the study of these will focus the foundational units in the curriculum.

1st Quarter / 2nd Quarter / 3rd Quarter / 4th Quarter
Social Studies / Geography Skills
I.1,I.2,I.3,I.4,
I.5,I.6,I.7,I.8
Geography of the Northeast II.1,II.2,II.3,II.4,II.5,
II.6,II.7,II.8,II.9,II.10
*III.1 through III.8 / Geography of the Southeast
II.11,II.12,II.13,
II.14,II.15
*III.1 through III.8
Geography of the Midwest II.16,II.17,II.18,II.19,
II.20,II.21,II.22,II.23,
II.24,II.25
*III.1 through III. / Geography of the Southwest
II.25,II.26,II.27,II.28,
II.29,II.30,II.31,II.32
II.33,II.34,II.35
*III.1 through III.8
Geography of the Rocky Mountains
II.25,II.26,II.27,II.28,
II.29,II.30,II.31,II.32
II.33,II.34,II.35
*III.1 through III.8 / Geography of the Pacific States
II.39,II.40,II.41,II.42,
II.43,II.44,II.45,II.46,
II.47
*III.1 through III.8
Geography Affects How People Live All
1st Quarter
Identify, Read, and use Maps and Globes: Tools of Geography
Analyze and interpret maps that include major physical features: including elevation
Use parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude to describe hemispheric conditions.
Identify the Five Themes of Geography: Location, Place, Human Environment Interactions, Movement and Regions.
Use maps, globes, photographs, pictures, and tables, to identify and describe the location of the geographic regions of North America: Coastal Plain, Appalachian Mountains, Canadian Shield, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains , Basin and Range, and Coastal Range
Use maps, globes, photographs, pictures, and tables, to locate and identify: The Great Lakes, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Ohio River, Columbia River, Colorado River, Rio Grande, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico.
The Student will apply the concept of a region by explaining how characteristics of regions have led to regional labels.
The student will apply the concept of a region by explaining how regional landscapes and the cultural characteristics of human populations affect each other.
The Northeast Region* Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania / 2nd Quarter
The Southeast Region*
Virginia, Westvirgina, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, and Delaware
The Midwest Region*
Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio / 3rd Quarter
The Southwest Region*
Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona
The Rocky Mountain Region*
Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho
/ 4th Quarter
The Pacific Region*
Califorina, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska-those that touch the Pacific