Social Studies
FREE Standards Aligned Social Studies Lessons!
Our National Parks is were history comes alive! Which is why OutSCIder Classroom provides activates for educators so their classrooms can be places where students think and learn like historians. In these lessons, students not only watch videos that teach fascinating pieces of American history, they also take on the role of a historical detective, analyzing maps, reading primary documents, listening to oral histories, and debating views based on evidence. As always, our instructional materials are free and aligned to standards and come in both print digital forms, making them easy for teachers to access and incorporate into their lesson plans.
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Students watch a video with Nolan Altvater of the Passamaquoddy Tribe sharing the connection between his people and the land that is now Acadia National Park. After watching a video on, students choose an American tribe to research and learn about their traditional way of life and how those people are still contributing to our country today. Assessment includes a project rubric.
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Standards
Grade 8 - Colonization Independence
2. North America, originally inhabited by American Indians, was explored and colonized by Europeans for economic and religious reasons.
3. Competition for control of territory and resources in North America led to conflicts among colonizing powers.​
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The Wabanaki: Acadia's Indigenous People
Students learn from a park ranger on why and how the Ohio & Erie Canal was built, then analyze historical data and discuss the canal's economic and cultural impact.
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Standards
Grade 8 - Expansion
11. Westward expansion contributed to economic and industrial development, debates over sectional issues, war with Mexico and the displacement of American Indians. ​
Why the US Built a 300 Mile Canal - 1800s Transportation and the Ohio & Erie Canal
Students learn from historian and artist Gene Tinnie about why the US Navy built a fort at the end of the Florida Keys to protect the slave trade in the Gulf of Mexico. The class then takes on the roles of senators in 1820 and debate spending funds to build Fort Jefferson.
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Standards
8th Grade - Colonization and Independence
4. The practice of race-based slavery led to the forced migration of Africans to the American colonies and contributed to colonial economic development. Their knowledge, skills and traditions were essential to the development of the colonies.
8th Grade - Civil Warn and Reconstruction
12. Disputes over the nature of federalism, complicated by economic developments in the United States, resulted in sectional issues, including slavery, which led to the American Civil War.
13. Key events and significant figures in American history influenced the course and outcome of the Civil War. 14. The Reconstruction period resulted in changes to the U.S. Constitution, an affirmation of federal authority and lingering social and political differences.​
Why the Navy Built a Fortress in Paradise - Transatlantic Slave Trade
Students watch a video about the history of the Gullah/Geechee people, then analyzing historical data and maps to learn the were enslaved African Americans kidnapped from and why were they taken.
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Standards
8th Grade - Colonization and Independence
4. The practice of race-based slavery led to the forced migration of Africans to the American colonies and contributed to colonial economic development. Their knowledge, skills and traditions were essential to the development of the colonies.
8th Grade - Civil Warn and Reconstruction
12. Disputes over the nature of federalism, complicated by economic developments in the United States, resulted in sectional issues, including slavery, which led to the American Civil War.
13. Key events and significant figures in American history influenced the course and outcome of the Civil War. 14. The Reconstruction period resulted in changes to the U.S. Constitution, an affirmation of federal authority and lingering social and political differences.​
Rice, Sea Islands & the Untold Legacy of the Gullah Geechee
Students watch a video about the history of the Virgin Islands, analyze historical data and maps to learn about sugar plantations and the slave trade in the Caribbean, then write an essay on why that region was used for sugar production.
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Standards
8th Grade - Colonization and Independence
4. The practice of race-based slavery led to the forced migration of Africans to the American colonies and contributed to colonial economic development. Their knowledge, skills and traditions were essential to the development of the colonies.
The Hidden History of St. John and the US Virgin Islands:
The Untold Black History of Mammoth Cave National Park
Students watch a video about the history of the Mammoth Cave and its guides, read the journal of an abolitionist who visited the caves in 1864, and reflect on what they have learned about African American history.
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Standards
8th Grade - Colonization and Independence
4. The practice of race-based slavery led to the forced migration of Africans to the American colonies and contributed to colonial economic development. Their knowledge, skills and traditions were essential to the development of the colonies.
8th Grade - Civil Warn and Reconstruction
12. Disputes over the nature of federalism, complicated by economic developments in the United States, resulted in sectional issues, including slavery, which led to the American Civil War.
Students learn from a park ranger how the Ohio & Erie Canal was likely a route on the Underground Railroad, then read and discuss a journal entry from an abolitionist.
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Standards
8th Grade - Colonization and Independence
4. The practice of race-based slavery led to the forced migration of Africans to the American colonies and contributed to colonial economic development. Their knowledge, skills and traditions were essential to the development of the colonies.
8th Grade - Civil Warn and Reconstruction
12. Disputes over the nature of federalism, complicated by economic developments in the United States, resulted in sectional issues, including slavery, which led to the American Civil War.
13. Key events and significant figures in American history influenced the course and outcome of the Civil War. 14. The Reconstruction period resulted in changes to the U.S. Constitution, an affirmation of federal authority and lingering social and political differences.
The Underground Railroad's Secret Waterway
Students learn from a park ranger about African Americans in Appalachia and how they have impacted that region's culture, then analyze one of four oral histories from Black Voices of Appalachia Oral History Project.
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Standards
8th Grade - Civil Warn and Reconstruction
12. Disputes over the nature of federalism, complicated by economic developments in the United States, resulted in sectional issues, including slavery, which led to the American Civil War.
13. Key events and significant figures in American history influenced the course and outcome of the Civil War. 14. The Reconstruction period resulted in changes to the U.S. Constitution, an affirmation of federal authority and lingering social and political differences.
Uncovering Black History in Appalachia
Students learn about the work of the Civilian Conservaiton Corps, then analyze the oral histories of the people who used to live in where Shenandoah National Park now stands. Available in both print and digital forms.
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Standards
Prosperity, Depression, and The New Deal (191-1941)
19. The Great Depression was caused, in part, by the federal government’s monetary policies, stock market speculation, and increasing consumer debt. The role of the federal government expanded as a result of the Great Depression.
How the New Deal built the Skyline Drive and America's National Parks
Conservation Cross curricular Lesson Unit
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Students learn how the Cuyahoga River fire inspired the American Conservation movement and the passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. This two week unit connects high school biology and American history and includes article analysis, historical op-ed writing, a water quality lab, a project petitioning local government on ways to improve aquatic habitats in their community.
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Standards
Biology - B.DI.3: Loss of diversity
Environmental science - ENV.ER.3: Water and water pollution
American History
Social Transformations in the United States (1945-1994)
Political debates focused on the extent of the role of government in the economy,
environmental protection, social welfare and national security.
American Government
Topic: Civic Involvement
Topic: Civic Participation and Skills
How the Cuyahoga River Caught Fire and Changed America Forever
Coal and Labor Unions - Cross Curricular Lesson Unit
New River Gorge National Park
Students learn about the forces that create coal and the struggle of the coal miners who worked to unionize under difficult and dangerous conditions. This two week unit connects high school environmental science and American history and includes modeling coal formation, analyzing an oral history of a 1920s coal miner, and role playing a union vote.
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Standards
Environmental science - ENV.ER.1: Energy resources
Physical Geology
-PG.IMS.3: Sedimentary
-PG.PT.3: Historical review
-PG.ER. Energy resources
American History
Social Transformations in the United States (1945-1994)
8. The rise of corporations, heavy industry, mechanized farming and technological innovations
transformed the American economy from an agrarian to an increasingly urban industrial
society.
9. The rise of industrialization led to a rapidly expanding workforce. Labor organizations grew
amidst unregulated working conditions, laissez-faire policies toward big business, and violence
toward supporters of organized labor.
10. Immigration, internal migration and urbanization transformed American life.
How West Virginia's Coal Was Formed & How the Miners Changed America | New River Gorge