Our Community Through Social Sciences

Overview

This is lesson 1 of 30 in Understanding Our World. Students are introduced to social sciences as the study of people, relationships, groups, places and communities, using familiar examples from their own lives.

Learning intentions

• WALT explain that social sciences help us understand people and communities.
• WALT identify questions social scientists might ask.
• WALT notice how people, places and events are connected.
• WALT listen to and value different perspectives.

Success criteria

• I can explain social sciences in my own words.
• I can sort questions about people and places from questions about the natural world.
• I can ask a social sciences question about my classroom or community.
• I can share an idea respectfully and listen to someone else.

Curriculum links

• Understand how people participate individually and collectively in response to community needs.
• Understand how places and environments influence people and how people influence places.
• Understand how people’s ideas, experiences and actions are shaped by their communities.
• Develop inquiry practices: asking questions, gathering information, discussing evidence and communicating ideas.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 minutes – Welcome and visual hook Open with the opening community image. Show a busy community scene and ask: “What is happening here? What could we learn about the people and place?” Accept observations without correcting them. Explain that today begins a unit about understanding our world.

2. 5–10 minutes – Introduce social sciences Display the simple definition in the social sciences definition slide: “Social sciences help us learn about people, groups, places and how communities work.” Explain that this includes learning about families, rules, culture, jobs, celebrations, homes, local places and ways people help one another. Connect each example to students’ lives.

3. 10–18 minutes – Question sorting together Read the questions on the question sorting slides one at a time. Students show thumbs up if a question is mainly about people or society, and hands on head if it is mainly about the natural world. Examples include: “Why do we have playground rules?”, “Who helps in our neighbourhood?”, “Why do birds have feathers?” and “How has our school changed?” Briefly discuss that some questions can connect both areas.

4. 18–30 minutes – Pair inquiry activity Distribute the Our World questions worksheet. In pairs, students draw or write one thing they notice about their classroom, school or neighbourhood. They then complete the sentence: “A social scientist might ask…” Encourage questions beginning with who, what, where, when, why or how. Pairs choose one question and explain why it would help us understand people or a place. Circulate, scribing for students who need support.

5. 30–37 minutes – Share and connect ideas Invite four to six pairs to share their questions. Record them under simple headings such as people, places, rules, jobs and belonging. Use the class question map slides to show how different questions connect. Ask: “Who might this question help?” and “What information would we need to find out?”

6. 37–42 minutes – Class reflection Revisit the learning intention on the reflection slide. Students turn to a partner and complete: “Social sciences are useful because…” Take several responses. Reinforce respectful listening and that people may have different experiences and viewpoints.

7. 42–45 minutes – Exit check Hand out the traffic-light check-in exit ticket slips. Students select STOP, SLOW or GO and respond to the prompts about what social sciences are and one question they could investigate. Collect slips to identify students needing further explanation in lesson 2.

Resources

• the Introduction to Social Sciences slide deck
• the Our World questions worksheet
• the traffic-light check-in exit ticket slips
• Whiteboard or large paper
• Markers or pencils
• Optional projector or interactive display
• Pairing plan for 25 students

Assessment

• Listen to student explanations during question sorting and pair discussion.
• Check worksheets for a relevant observation and a social sciences question.
• Use exit tickets to identify whether students can describe the purpose of social sciences and suggest an inquiry question.

Differentiation

• Provide picture prompts, sentence starters and adult scribing for students who need literacy support.
• Pair students thoughtfully and allow oral, drawn or written responses.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach people, community, place, question and society using gestures and images.
• Extend confident students by asking them to suggest how they could find an answer, such as interviewing someone, observing a place or using a map.