Social Studies - 5th Grade

• Abraham Lincoln's Crossroads
  Abraham Lincoln's Crossroads is an educational game based on the traveling exhibition Lincoln: The Constitution & the Civil War, which debuted at the National Constitution Center in June 2005. The online game invites students to learn about Lincoln's leadership by exploring the political choices he made. An animated Lincoln introduces a situation, asks for advice and prompts players to decide the issue for themselves, before learning the actual outcome. At the end of the game, players discover how frequently they predicted Lincoln's actions. A Resources Page keyed to each chapter provides links to relevant Websites on Lincoln and the Civil War, permitting students to explore issues in more depth.
• Amazing Americans
  Discover the inventors, politicians, performers, activists and other everyday people who made the United States what it is today.
• American History Timeline: 1780-2005
  Timelines include Native American, cultural, history, presidents, etc.
• Animated Atlas: Growth of a Nation
  View an interactive movie which which illustrates the growth of the United States from the original 13 colonies in 1798 to modern day. Includes timeline that covers political, social, and scientific events in America and the world.
• Before the Civil War
  As you read this Thinkquest website, you will learn the truth about what really caused the Civil War and how it affected our nation.
• Bryce Canyon National Park: Hoodoos Cast Their Spell
  By looking at Bryce Canyon National Park: Hoodoos Cast Their Spell, students explore why and how the geological wonders of Utah's Bryce Canyon were set aside for public enjoyment in the early 20th century. Students describe the formations that deterred settlement and encouraged tourism in Bryce Canyon and examine how it was used by settlers, scientists, government agencies, and tourists.
• California Gold Rush
  Gold was discovered in California at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848. Learn how that discovery changed California as you explore an interactive picture, timeline, and map.
• Civil War - Jump Back in Time
  View a timeline and read stories about the Civil War.
• Civil War Photos.NET
  This website has hundreds of photographs from the Civil War.
• Civil War Soldier
  Choose a side! Be a soldier in the Civil War.
• Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian: Photographic Images
  This American Memory, a Library of Congress project, includes pictures of The North American Indians.
• Exhibit: The Louisiana Purchase
  This exhibit from the National Archives shows the original documents and includes Napoleon Bonaparte's signature.
• Finding Edison
  Learn about a few of the over 1,000 Edison inventions.
• Go West: Imagining the Oregon Trail
  After this lesson, students will have learned about the pioneer experience on the Oregon Trail,compared and contrasted modern-day travel experiences with travel experiences of the 19th century, and synthesized historical data through creative writing.
• Heritage Gateways
  This is the official Utah sesquicentennial web site for K-12 education. It features information about the Mormon Pioneer Trail as well as interaction with the modern-day pioneers on the trail during the 1997 summer months
• History in Quilts
  Throughout history, women and sometimes men have used the art of quilting for many diverse purposes: to keep warm, to decorate their homes, to express their political views, to remember a loved one. Heighten your students' awareness of how quilts have reflected and continue to reflect the lives of the people who create them, and of how quilts record the cultural history of a particular place and time. This theme of History in Quilts contains two separate lessons that can stand alone or be taught in conjunction with one another.
• I Hear the Locomotives
  In this lesson, found on the EDSITEment website, students analyze archival material in order to make connections between the arrival of the railroads and many of the changes that occurred subsequently in the United States and its territories. They learn how the development of the Transcontinental Railroad brought about an increase in hide hunting and so the demise of the Native American tribes dependent on the buffalo herds, and they examine documents relating to other economic and social upheavals brought about by this revolution in travel. From this introductory page teachers can access archival materials needed to complete the lesson.
• Immigration: Stories of Yesterday and Today
  Find out what it means to come to the United States as an immigrant from the early 20th century through the early 21st century.
• Interactive Lewis and Clark
  Check out all the things you can learn about the Lewis and Clark expedition including: maps, biographies, animals, video, and activities.
• Inventive Genius: Biographies of Inventors
  Check out several biographies, written by students, of important inventors of the 20th Century.
• Jefferson's West
  Students: Join the Lewis & Clark expedition so you can report on the West to President Jefferson. This is the demo version, the full version is available to subscribing schools.
• Just Curious: Westward Expansion
  Lists of links for learning about the people, places, and movements involved with Westward Expansion.
• LOC: Selected Civil War Photographs for Teachers
  This Library of Congress collection titled "Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865," contains 1,118 photographs which feature Civil War encampments, battlefields, and portraits including Lincoln, Lee, and Grant) as captured by Mathew Brady and his staff of photographers. Brady's photography exhibits marked the first time Americans witnessed the carnage of war in their homeland.
• Lesson Plans and Links about the The Civil War
  This collection of 14 lesson plans include reading, quizzes, and activities. Then many website resources are included in the end.
• North American Indians
  Learn about Indians from four different parts of the current United States.
• PBS- The West
  Learn about the different groups of people involved in the movement west and what happened to them.
• Scholastic: Our America
  The American Civil War was a conflict that pitted the Northern states against the Southern states. The war raged for four years (1861-65) and was marked by some of the bloodiest battles of modern history. Everyone was engaged on supporting the war effort even when battles were taking place in view of their homes.
• Teaching With Documents: The Homestead Act of 1862
  Learn about The Homestead Act of 1862 from copies of the original documents.
• The Civil War for Fifth Graders
  This website lists the basic reasons for the Civil war.
• The History Place: Child Labor In America 1908-1912
  Check out photographer Lewis W. Hine's (1874-1940) photographs and captions documenting Child Laborers from 1908-1912.
• The Industrial Revolution
  These pages give a summary of how the Industrial Revolution started, important facts, and information about specific individuals and their inventions. There are also a few activities.
• The Oregon Trail
  Learn more about the Oregon Trail and its place in history.
• The Trail of Tears Association
  The Trail of Tears Association (TOTA) is a non-profit, membership organization formed to support the creation, development, and interpretation of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail. Designated as a national historic trail by Congress in 1987, the Trail commemorates the forced removal of the Cherokee people from their homelands in the southeastern United States to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 1838 - 1839.
• The Trail of Tears and the Forced Relocation of the Cherokee Nation
  This National Park Service lesson plan commemorates the removal of the Cherokee and the paths that 17 Cherokee detachments followed westward. It also promotes a greater awareness of the Trail's legacy and the effects of the United States' policy of American Indian removal not only on the Cherokee, but also on other tribes, primarily the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole.
• The Underground Railroad: Escape From Slavery
  Check out this interactive website taking students through an escape. The website includes teacher lesson plans and activities such as writing a journal entry.
• Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters
  Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and Letters, 1846-1869 is a collection of the original writings of 49 voyagers on the Mormon, California, Oregon, and Montana trails who wrote while traveling on the trail. The collection also includes interactive maps of the area traveled by these pioneers.
• Webquest: Exploring Western Expansion
  Learn about actual hardships from letters of the people involved in western expansion.