Social Studies Curriculum Planning Project

Carrie Burns
EDC 363 Dr. Findley

What is it like to live in Carson City, Michigan?

On-going Project: Building a map of Carson City (G1.0.1, G1.0.2)

At the beginning of the school year, students will look at all different kinds of maps and
begin to learn how to read them. Using a very large piece of white bulletin board paper, the class
will together create their own map of Carson City throughout the school year. The initial
template of the city (unnamed roads and a square that represents Carson City Crystal Elementary
School) will be drawn on the map and provided for the students. The students will then work
outward from the school and name roads, draw buildings, landmarks, and important places in the
community. Throughout each unit, we will focus on different aspects of the community. For the
geography unit, we will focus on locating and drawing landmarks and waterways. In the
economics unit, we will focus on locating and drawing supermarkets, places where their parents
work, and farms. During the civics unit, we will focus on locating and drawing the city hall and
other important buildings that are part of the government of our town. In the history unit, we will
focus on locating and drawing historical buildings and areas in the community of Carson City.

Culminating Activity: Community Map Presentation

For the culminating activity, students would take their finished map and attend a city
council meeting. At this meeting, students would be able to present their map to the city council
members and show their findings. This is a great opportunity for students to take all of the
information that they have researched about the community and synthesize it into several big
ideas about the community of Carson City. Students should be prepared to answer questions that
the city council members might ask.

Four Units of Study:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Geography: 10 weeks
Economics: 7 weeks
History: 9 weeks
Civics: 7 weeks

Geography Unit: 10 weeks

a) Compelling Question: What does Carson City look like and

b)Supporting
c)Data sources
d)Key concepts and
Questions
conceptual
understandings
Where is Carson
Maps, atlas
Absolute location,
City?
relative location,
(G2.0.2)
longitude, latitude
What is the
climate in Carson
City? What do our
seasons feel like?
(G5.0.1, G5.0.2)

What does our

town look like?
(G4.0.1, G4.0.3)

What does the

population look
like?
(G4.0.3)
Evidence-based
claims (answer)

Weather reports,
almanacs, National
Weather Service

Weather, climate,
precipitation,
temperature

feel like?
e)Key skills and
strategies
Map-reading,
locating places
through absolute
location
Reading bar
graphs, graphing
information

f)Da

431
845
-Mo

Avg
Janu
deg
Avg
70 d
-The
snow
15 i
Topographical
Landforms, hills and Interpreting
Cars
maps, photos,
flatlands (farms),
maps, photos,
squa
GoogleEarth, US
lakes, ponds, rivers, interpreting data
of w
Census Bureau
resources
and
wate
-ele
ft
US Census Bureau
Diversity,
Data analysis
-Pop
population, density,
94.1
race
4.2%
-48.
51.1
Carson City is located in Montcalm County in the middle of Michigan
peninsula. Its absolute location is 431037N 845047W. It is closes
of Hubbardston and Perrinton. It is 50.1 miles from the state capital o
Michigan. It has a climate of humid continental. The average snowfal
City is consistently higher than the US average and the percentage o
Carson City is consistently lower than the US average (G2.0.1). Ther
higher average wind speed in Carson City than the US average in the
September through June. Carson City is 1.07 square miles. 3% of the
while the rest is land. The climate and land mean that farming is pos
months of the year. The population in Carson City consists of a major
people with the second highest race being Hispanics.
Geography Standards

G1 The World in Spatial Terms

Use geographic representations to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial
perspective.

2 G1.0.1 Construct maps of the local community that contain symbols, labels, and legends
denoting human and natural characteristics of place.
2 G1.0.2 Use maps to describe the spatial organization of the local community by applying
concepts including relative location and using distance, direction, and scale.
G2 Places and Regions
Understand how regions are created from common physical and human characteristics.
2 G2.0.1 Compare the physical and human characteristics of the local community with those of
another community.
2 G2.0.2 Describe how the local community is part of a larger region (e.g., county,
metropolitan area, state).
G4 Human Systems
Understand how human activities help shape the Earths surface.
2 G4.0.1 Describe land use in the community (e.g., where people live, where services are
provided, where products are made).
2 G4.0.2 Describe the means people create for moving people, goods, and ideas within the
local community.
2 G4.0.3 Use components of culture (e.g., foods, language, religion, traditions) to describe
diversity in the local community.
G5 Environment and Society
Understand the effects of human-environment interactions.
2 G5.0.1 Suggest ways people can responsibly interact with the environment in the local
community.
2 G5.0.2 Describe positive and negative consequences of changing the physical environment of
the local community.

Economics Unit: 7 weeks

b) Compelling Question: How do people make a living in Carson City?

b)Supporting
Questions

c)Data sources

d)Key concepts and

conceptual
understandings
Goods, services,
consumers,
producers, wants
and needs, scarcity,
surplus, resources

e)Key skills and

strategies

f)Data

What kinds of
goods and services
do we provide in
our community?
(E1.0.1, E1.0.2,
E1.0.3)

US Census
Bureau, city
website, personal
data collection

Data analysis,
reading graphs,
data collection

City website,
family interviews

Employment,
unemployment,
labor, management

Data analysis,
reading graphs,
data collection

Primary research
(go to grocery
store), interviews

Goods, needs and

wants, consumers,
producers, means of
exchange, scarcity,
surplus

Data analysis,
data collection

Most c
indust
was m
(32.3%
and h
social
(36.9%
Most c
occup
poll w
maint
repair
office
admin
suppo
No da
online
into st
more

What kinds of jobs

do we have in our
community?
(E1.0.4)

What goods do we
sell in our
community that are
from other cities,
states, or
countries?
(E1.0.5)
Evidence-based
claims (answer)

Carson City is a community that relies mostly on the manual labor o

inhabitants and the social and administrative assistance of its femal
The ways that people in Carson City make a living also differ from th
themes as well. The second highest industries include public adminis
other services for males and educational services for females. As far
occupations go, they range from food preparation, to education and
occupations, to fire fighting and prevention, and to health technolog
technicians. To figure out what this community cannot produce for it
inhabitants, more research would have to be done and more data wo
be collected.

Economics Standards
E1 Market Economy
Use fundamental principles and concepts of economics to understand economic activity in a
market economy.
2 E1.0.1 Identify the opportunity cost involved in a consumer decision.
2 E1.0.2 Identify businesses in the local community.
2 E1.0.3 Describe how businesses in the local community meet economic wants of consumers.

2 E1.0.4 Describe the natural, human, and capital resources needed for production of a good or
service in a community.
2 E1.0.5 Use examples to show that people cannot produce everything they want
(specialization) and depend on trade with others to meet their wants.

History Unit: 9 weeks

c) Compelling Question: How is Carson City
the past?
b)Supporting
c)Data
d)Key concepts
Questions
sources
and
conceptual
understanding

different now than it was in

e)Key skills
and
strategies

f)Data found

What
buildings or
structures are
new in Carson
City?
(H2.0.4)

Historical
photos,
maps, and
drawings,
Carson City
Public
Records
What changes Newspaper
have
articles,
happened in
primary and
Carson City
secondary
since it was
sources,
founded?
interviews,
(H2.0.1,
Carson City
H2.0.4,
public
H2.0.6)
records
Who are some Carson City
important
Public
people in
Library,
Carson Citys
history
past?
books,
(H2.0.3,
newspaper
H2.0.5)
articles,
primary
sources
What are
some
different
stories you
have heard
about Carson
Citys past?
(H2.0.2)
Evidencebased claims
(answer)

Architecture,
change and
continuity

Photo
analysis,
compare
and contrast

New
benches on
streets
downtown,
new hospital

Chronology,
causality

Research,
research
synthesis

-Sawmill in
1868
-first post
office in
1868
-village in
1887 -city in
1960

Mayors,
founders,
landowners,
role of
individuals and
groups

Research

-first mayor
was John T.
Hallett
- Hiram T.
Sherman
was the first
postmaster
-Thomas
Scott named
it Carson
City
Interviews,
perception
Data
This data
primary
collection
would
sources,
depend on
secondary
what
sources,
students got
newspaper
from their
articles
research and
interviews
Carson City incorporated as a village in 1887 and as a city
in 1960. Thomas Scott named it Carson City after Carson
City, Nevada because he was out there during the gold
mining days. After a slow start to what eventually became
a city, Carson City has recently made vast improvements
on the physical appearance and the physical stability of
the city. Depending on what information students receive

from family members or what they research in

newspapers, some students could find that there are very
different views on history. Depending on who you talk to,
some people might see Carson Citys history in a
completely different light.
History Standards
H2 Living and Working Together in Communities
Use historical thinking to understand the past.
2 H2.0.1 Demonstrate chronological thinking by distinguishing among years and decades using
a timeline of local community events.
2 H2.0.2 Explain why descriptions of the same event in the local community can be different.
2 H2.0.3 Use an example to describe the role of the individual in creating history.
2 H2.0.4 Describe changes in the local community over time (e.g., types of businesses,
architecture and landscape, jobs, transportation, population).
2 H2.0.5 Identify a problem in a communitys past and describe how it was resolved.
2 H2.0.6 Construct a historical narrative about the history of the local community from a
variety of sources (e.g., data gathered from local residents, artifacts, photographs).

Civics Unit: 7 weeks

d) Compelling Question: What does the government do in Carson City?
b)Supporting
c)Data sources
d)Key concepts and
e)Key skills and
Questions
conceptual
strategies
understandings
What happens at
Interviews, city
Civil duty, decisionResearch, close
city council
council meeting
making
reading
meetings?
minutes, Carson
(C1.0.1, C1.0.2,
City website
C2.0.1, C5.0.1,
C5.0.2, C5.0.3)

What does Carson

Citys government
spend money on?
(C1.0.2, C3.0.3)

Research, graphs
and charts

Structure of
government

Data analysis,
reading graphs
and charts

Who makes and

enforces laws in
Carson City?
(C3.0.1, C3.0.2)
Evidence-based
claims (answer)

Interviews, Carson
City website,
research

Power

Research

f)Dat

Discu
poss
acce
and e
appo
mem
differ
and c
etc.
Spen
salar
wage
regu
and t
utilit
Cars
their
depa

In Carson City, the government is very active. The City Council meet
and they discuss many different happenings in the community as we
of secretarial needs. Carson City has their very own police departme
received a grant to upgrade their police cars, which the City Council
The fact that the government in Carson City spends the most money
and wages implies that they must put a lot of emphasis on making s
citizens have good-paying jobs.

Civics and Government Standards

C1 Purposes of Government
Explain why people create governments.
2 C1.0.1 Explain why people form governments.
2 C1.0.2 Distinguish between government action and private action.
C2 Values and Principles of American Democracy
Understand values and principles of American constitutional democracy.
2 C2.0.1 Explain how local governments balance individual rights with the common good to
solve local community problems.
2 C2.0.2 Describe how the Pledge of Allegiance reflects the core democratic value of
patriotism.
C3 Structure and Functions of Government
Describe the structure of government in the United States and how it functions to serve citizens.
2 C3.0.1 Give examples of how local governments make, enforce, and interpret laws
(ordinances) in the local community.
2 C3.0.2 Use examples to describe how local government affects the lives of its citizens.
2 C3.0.3 Identify services commonly provided by local governments (e.g., police, fire
departments, schools, libraries, parks).
C5 Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy
Explain important rights and how, when, and where American citizens demonstrate their
responsibilities by participating in government.
2 C5.0.1 Identify ways citizens participate in community decisions.
2 C5.0.2 Distinguish between personal and civic responsibilities and explain why they are
important in community life.
2 C5.0.3 Design and participate in community improvement projects that help or inform others.

Teaching Ideas

Geography Unit:
o Take a virtual tour of the city using google maps, pointing out street names and
landmarks
o Spend several days on city-data.com looking at and analyzing the different graphs
for snowfall, temperature, wind speed, sunshine, precipitation, etc.
o Begin the on-going project by discussing landforms and pointing out where they
might show up on our map
o Bring in a guest speaker who is from somewhere else (preferably another climate
zone) and have them talk about how it is different here in Carson City
Economics Unit:
o Field trip to the grocery store to look at where some of our goods come from (data
collection day)
o Spend several days looking on city-data.com at the graphs about industries and
occupations in Carson City
o Continue the on-going project by discussing where students parents work or
where there might be a big source of employment in the community
o Have a guest speaker from one of our major industries or occupations come in to
discuss what their responsibilities are
History Unit:
o Download old pictures of main street and of other recognizable places in Carson
City and compare them to modern-day pictures of the same place
o Activity: have students create their own town from scratch where would they
start? What would they name their town?
o Continue the on-going project by finding out if there are any historical buildings
in Carson City and putting them on the map
o Bring in guest speakers that can tell us about when they first moved to Carson
City and how it has changed
Civics Unit:
o Have a mock City Council Meeting in the classroom to discuss how we should
run the classroom (rules, spending, etc.)
o Research different grants that you can apply for in your classroom and have
students help apply for them
o Continue the on-going project by putting City Hall on the map, as well as other
important buildings in our city government
o Have a guest speaker come in (the Mayor?) to talk about what different things our
City government does to make Carson City run smoothly.