Social Studies 2

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Big Ideas

Grandes idées

Local actions have global consequences, and global actions have local consequences.

Canada is made up of many diverse regions and communities.

Individuals have rights and responsibilities as global citizens.

Curricular Competencies

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Students are expected to be able to do the following:

Use Social Studies inquiry processes and skills to ask questions; gather, interpret, and analyze ideas; and communicate findings and decisions

Key skills:
- Use cardinal directions to identify relative locations on simple maps (e.g., the school is north of the park)
- Interpret symbols and legends on maps to identify given locations in the community (e.g., schools, roads, railways, playgrounds, museums)
- Create simple maps of familiar locations (e.g., the school and grounds)
- Use simple graphic organizers (e.g., charts, webs) to record relevant information from selected sources
- Draw simple interpretations from personal experiences, oral sources, and visual and written representations
- Use selected communication forms (e.g., presentation software, models, maps, oral, written) to accomplish given presentation tasks
- Ask relevant questions to clarify a classroom or school problem
- Brainstorm and compare a variety of responses to a given classroom or school problem
- Describe ways to choose a response to a problem (e.g., voting or majority rule, consensus, authority rule)
- Predict the possible results of various solutions to a problem
- Demonstrate willingness to consider diverse points of view

Explain why people, events, or places are significant to various individuals and groups

Sample activity:
- Identify significant people and places in BC, Canada, and the world.
Key questions:
- Why do people have different opinions on what people, events, and places are more significant than others?
- Are there people, events, and places that everyone thinks are significant? Explain why or why not.

(significance)

Ask questions, make inferences, and draw conclusions about the content and features of different types of sources

Sample activities:
- Conduct research (e.g., interview an Elder, visit a museum) to identify changes that have occurred in your community
- Examine photographs from a variety of communities and identify similarities and differences

(evidence)

Sequence objects, images, and events, or explain why some aspects change and others stay the same

Sample activities:
- Create a timeline of key events in your region
- Make simple predictions about how communities might change in the future
- Conduct research (e.g., interview an Elder, visit a museum) to identify changes that have occurred in your community
- Give examples of traditions and practices that have endured over time in the communities you have studied
Key questions:
- How has Canada changed over time?
- How have people’s needs and wants changed over time?
- What needs and wants have changed and which have stayed the same?

(continuity and change)

Recognize the causes and consequences of events, decisions, or developments

Key questions:
- What would happen if people did not take care of their local environment?
- What would happen if there was nobody leading a community or country?

(cause and consequence)

Explain why people’s beliefs, values, worldviews, experiences, and roles give them different perspectives on people, places, issues, or events

Sample activities:
- Give examples of issues on which there are differing points of view
- Give examples of diverse perspectives on meeting your community’s needs and wants
Key questions:
- Does everyone agree on the importance of conservation?
- Who should make decisions about the future of the community and country?

(perspective)

Make value judgments about events, decisions, or actions, and suggest lessons that can be learned

Sample activity:
- Distinguish between factual statements and value and opinion statements
Key questions:
- What should be done about the distribution of natural resources?
- Should more wealthy countries help out less prosperous countries?

(ethical judgment)

Content

Students are expected to know the following:

diverse characteristics of communities and cultures in Canada and around the world, including at least one Canadian First Peoples community and culture

Sample topics:
- daily life in different communities (e.g., work, housing, use of the land, education, access to public services and utilities, transportation)
- key cultural aspects (e.g., language, traditions, arts, food)
- cultural diversity within your community
Key question:
- What does community mean to you?

how people’s needs and wants are met in communities

Sample topics:
- how people acquire goods and services (e.g., by buying or renting, or through public funding)
- needs and wants in different communities: different needs and wants depending on the climate; different goods and services depending on the size of the community (i.e., small versus large)
- differences between psychological and physical needs and wants
Key questions:
- How do the local environment and culture affect the goods and services available in your community?
- How do different communities help people who can’t meet their basic needs?

relationships between people and the environment in different communities

Sample topics:
- impact of different economic activities and ways of life on the environment
- impact on the environment by small and large communities
- impact of recreational activities on the environment
- community values regarding conservation and protection of the environment
Key question:
- What types of environmental challenges do people face in different communities (e.g., natural disasters, climate change, lack of natural resources)?

diverse features of the environment in other parts of Canada and the world

Sample topics:
- climate zones
- landforms
- bodies of water
- plants and animals

rights and responsibilities of individuals regionally and globally

Sample topics:
- responsibility to the environment
- human rights
- connections between your community and communities throughout Canada and around the world

roles and responsibilities of regional governments

Sample topics:
- examples of leaders in your community (e.g., mayor, town councillors, chief, Elders, community volunteers) and the places where they meet
- services such as transportation, policing, firefighting, bylaw enforcement
Key questions:
- How are decisions made in your region?
- Should everyone be responsible for helping others in their community?

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