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959 West Dundee Road
Wheeling, Illinois 60090

Phone: 847-537-8270

Hours: 8AM – 4PM

Superintendent: Dr. Michael Connolly

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Social Studies

Exploring Our Regions

Exploring Our Past

CONCEPTS

Movement and Change

Power Standards

  • Identify ways people depend on and interact with the physical environment.
  • Compare the lifestyles of groups of people (e.g., families, tribes and cultures) in various regions over time.
  • Compare the features of the physical environment of the Midwest to another U.S. region.
  • Utilize major elements of a map to locate specific places (e.g., title, scale, legend/key, directional indicators, number/letter grid system).

 

Essential Understandings & Guiding Questions

 

Essential Understanding: People depend on, adapt to, and modify their environment to meet basic needs.

Guiding Questions

  • Why do people depend on the environment?
  • How do people use the environment to meet basic needs?
  • How can humans positively or negatively affect the environment?
  • Why is caring for the environment so important?

 

Essential Understanding: The movement of people, goods, and ideas impact a society.

Guiding Questions

  • What goods and ideas can be moved throughout communities?
  • How can the movement of people impact society?
  • What changes happen in society because of movement?
  • How do technological, economic, and social advances affect society?

 

Essential Understanding: A place’s growth depends on land forms, natural resources, natural defense, and location.

Guiding Questions

  • What physical features define a place?
  • Why do people settle where they do?
  • How do land forms, natural resources, natural defense, and location effect the growth of a place?
  • How is transportation dependent on natural resources?
  • What positive and negative effects can occur as a result of human/environment interactions?

 

Essential Understanding: One individual’s effort to bring about change can impact a society.

Guiding Questions

  • What motivates people to change?
  • How can one individual make a difference in society?
  • What happens to a society when individuals don’t become involved?

 

CRITICAL CONTENT

 

 

Exploration’s past, present, and future

  • Motivation for exploration
  • Challenges of exploration
  • Technology used and developed
  • Impact of exploration on different groups of people and the environment

 

Key groups of explorers

  • Environmental impact
  • Social impact
  • Cultural influences
  • Interactions with native populations

 

Native American Tribes (Midwest/Northeast)

  • Cultural characteristics
  • Use of natural resources
  • Roles
  • Meeting basic needs
  • Economics and trade

 

Our Region, Yesterday and Today

CONCEPTS

Movement and Change

POWER STANDARDS

  • Identify ways people depend on and interact with the physical environment.
  • Compare the lifestyles of groups of people (e.g., families, tribes and cultures) in various regions over time.
  • Compare the features of the physical environment of the Midwest to another U.S. region.
  • Utilize major elements of a map to locate specific places (e.g., title, scale, legend/key, directional indicators, number/letter grid system).

 

ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS & GUIDING QUESTIONS

Essential Understanding: The ability to provide for the needs and wants of a society depends upon availability, management, distribution, and consumption of resources.

Guiding Questions

  • What are economic needs?
  • How are economic needs met?
  • How do the natural resources of a region impact the economy?

 

Essential Understanding: A place’s growth depends on land forms, natural resources, natural defense, and location.

Guiding Questions

  • What physical features define a place?
  • What human designed environments can define a place?
  • Why do people settle where they do?
  • What natural resources are available?
  • How is transportation dependent on natural resources?
  • What positive and negative effects can occur as a result of human/environment interactions?
  • Why is it important to treat the environment respectfully?

 

CRITICAL CONTENT

Regional divisions of nation

Relative location of Illinois and the Midwest region

Characteristics of Midwest region past and present

  • Knowledge and information gained during the study of “Exploring Our Past” should be applied during the study of history within the region and state.
    • Natural resources
    • History
    • Economics – Key terminology

Compare and contrast the Midwest with at least one other region

 

Our Kind of Town

CONCEPTS

Movement and Change

POWER STANDARDS

  • Describe how people are citizens of their community, state and nation and explain the importance of good citizenship.
  • Identify ways people depend on and interact with the physical environment.
  • Compare the features of the physical environment of the Midwest to another U.S. region.
  • Utilize major elements of a map to locate specific places (e.g., title, scale, legend/key, directional indicators, number/letter grid system).

 

ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDINGS & GUIDING QUESTIONS

Essential Understanding: Political, economic, and social systems exist to meet the needs of citizens.

Guiding Questions

  • What are some examples of political, economic, and social systems in society?
  • How do systems help society?
  • How do systems meet the needs of citizens?
  • How would society be different if systems were not in place?

 

Essential Understanding: The ability to provide for the needs and wants of a society depends upon availability, management, distribution, and consumption of resources.

Guiding Questions

  • How does a community meet the economic needs of its citizens?
  • How does economic change impact a community?

 

Essential Understanding: Governmental systems are impacted by the beliefs, needs, and values of people.

Guiding Questions

  • What is government?
  • Why do people need government?
  • Who creates the government?
  • What documents are the foundation of American government?
  • How do these documents meet the needs, beliefs, and values of the people?
  • How are these documents connected?
  • How do citizens interact with governmental systems?

 

CRITICAL CONTENT

Review of local cities (suburbs) and the city system (Chicago)

  • History and development
  • Transportation
  • Communication
  • Physical characteristics
  • Economics
  • Government
  • Culture/traditions

 

Government (local, state, federal)

  • Location and structure of local, state, and federal governments
  • Comparison of local, state, and federal governments
  • Similarities and differences between leadership roles