Social Studies Standards

Casey Watson

ED 417-02

Unit: Religion

Grade Level: 6th

Table of Contents

History

People in Societies

Geography

Economics

Government

Citizenship Rights & Responsibilities

Social Studies Skills & Methods

History

Students use materials drawn from the diversity of human experience to analyze and interpret significant events, patterns, and themes in the history of Ohio, the United States, and the world.

Activity 1

Students must construct a multiple-tier time line based on the major events that took place in the numerous religions.

This includes: Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam.

List the major events and activities that took place for these religions.

Activity 2

Looking at the time line, fill-in a chart of the different religions and characteristics of each religion.

Chart this on a larger image on the board in the classroom somewhere where the students can see it and use it during other related lessons or activities.

Activity 3

Print off maps of the World and have the students look up where each religion is mainly located.

Then have another map and have the students look up and place on the map where the religion originally started.

Compare what the results were as to where the religions have migrated to over the years.

Activity 4

Have a map of the United States and have the students label where certain religions are heavier than others.

Discuss why this would be so and have them journal their reasons as to why one state may have more Christians than Buddist and why they think that might be.

Activity 5

Have the students research as to how religion has something to do with the founding of the United States.

Have the students show some of the major developments that led to the religious growth in the US.

The students can do a group presentation about a religion and how it contributes to the US.

Sources for History

www.ode.state.oh.us/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_religionshttp://www.letusreason.org/Cult11.htmhttp://www.timelineindex.com/content/select/324/912,324http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_world_religions

People in Societies

Students use knowledge of perspectives, practices, and products of cultural, ethnic and social groups to analyze the impact of their community and diversity within local, national, and global settings.

Activity 1

Have the students make a Venn Diagram and indicate how the different religions play into North America’s cultural group.

Ask the questions: “Is there a cultural group that has more than one religion in it?” “Is religion consider a cultural group?”

Have them journal their responses and maybe discuss the responses in class.

Activity 2

Again, have another Venn Diagram in front of the classroom and have the students take turns writing on the diagram what, to them, is the differences between North American cultural groups and religion to South American cultural groups and religion.

Discuss what is wrote on the diagram.

Activity 3

Have the students do a group research project where they have to look up why certain religions have came to the US and North America in general. How is this evident today in our culture?

Have the students pick a different religion that is found in North America and have them present their findings in front of the class.

Activity 4

Use the maps from the third activity under the History standard and show how those religions have migrated over the North America.Chart some reasons as to why these religions might have come to the US.Look up some key reasons as to why those religions have migrated.

Activity 5

Have the students do some research on how these religions and cultures interact with each other and then make a project that might explain this to their classmates.

Allow a couple of class periods to work on this using different resources and materials.

Sources for People in Societies

www.ode.state.oh.us/

http://www.ghandchi.com/437-GeographyEng.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_Stateshttp://www.valpo.edu/geomet/geo/courses/geo200/religion.htmlhttp://www.academicinfo.net/amrelig.html

Geography

Students use the knowledge of geographic locations, patterns, and processes to show the interrelationship between the physical environment and human activity, and to explain the interactions that occur in an increasingly interdependent world.

Activity 1

Bring out the maps again and show discuss if the locations of certain religions have anything to do with the features around them.

Are there human features that the religion has aggregated to and have incorporated into their activities?

Activity 2

Look at how the different features of geography and how they vary from place to place.

Discuss how this might effect the migration of religions to different locations.

Activity 3

Have the students make a list of reasons why they think that religions have affected the physical environment or how they have not.

Combine a list altogether on the board and debate why or why not.

Activity 4

Have the students do research the coming of transportation and how it has affected different cultures.

Then have the students use this to determine how transportation has made it easier for the religions to disperse into foreign countries and expand.

Activity 5

Have the students look up what countries each religion came from or is based from and then have them to a presentation to the class that shows their use of transportation towards their religion and how this has helped the settlement of different religions.

Sources for Geography

www.ode.state.oh.us/

http://www.academicinfo.net/amrelig.html

http://www.adherents.com/

http://www.wheelsthroughtime.com/

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/isgodgreen_lesson.html

Economics

Students use economic reasoning skills and knowledge of major economic concepts, issues and systems in order to make informed choices as producers, consumers, savers, investors, workers and citizens in an interdependent world.

Activity 1

Have the students compile a list of reasons why religions have the need for economics.

This will help them discover what the word “economics” means and how it is involved with numerous religion status and situations.

Activity 2

Students must research economics and how it is involved with religion.

Students will complete a worksheet that goes along with this and will require looking the information up through a variety of resources.

Activity 3

Have the students do a power point on how technology is involved with the expansion on religion.

Divide students into groups and have them discuss their power point and reasoning to the class during a presentation.

Activity 4

Have the students make a chart as to what certain religions do in order to gain a congregation or members.

Have them create a summary as to why economics is a key to religion and where certain religions are located.

Activity 5

Have the students compare and contrast economics in the current year to economics when each of the religions started.Have the students fill out a Venn Diagram and display these throughout the room.Assign each group a religion to research.

Sources for Economics

www.ode.state.oh.us/

http://www.polis.iupui.edu/RUC/Newsletters/Religion/vol4no4.htmhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_49/b3911107_mz057.htmhttp://www.religionlink.org/tip_050131b.phphttp://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2004/06/what_are_we_lea.html

Government

Students use knowledge of the purposes, structures, and processes of political systems at the local, state, national and international levels to understand that people create systems of government as structures of power and authority to provide order, maintain stability and promote the general welfare.

Activity 1

Have the students discuss how the government has played a role on religion.

Have the students discuss how religion has played a role on the government.

Have them make a chart that indicates how these two play into each other.

Activity 2

Have them make a tree and have the Branches of Government described on it.

Label the branches with a descriptions of each branch and what they do for the government.

Have them connect this to a religion and how might the Branches of Government be incorporated into an organized religion.

Activity 3

Have the students research specific documents that describe the structure of the government in the state and national level.

Have them indicate whether or not there are any mentions of any religion throughout them or if it hints to a religion, highlight how and where.

Activity 4

Have the students compare how the US government was set up and how other governments have been set up using a Venn Diagram.

Discuss with the students how the government was founded in the US and how it co-insides with religion.

How was our country founded? And what was is founded on?

Activity 5

Have the students set up a mock government and run this government through the class for a couple of days.

Incorporate the fact that there is organized religion and that some countries do not allow this.

Discuss this with the class afterwards to get their thoughts and feelings on religions that are not allowed to exist.

Sources for Government

www.ode.state.oh.us/

http://www.religioustolerance.org/govt_con.htmhttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel06.htmlhttp://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

Students use knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in order to examine and evaluate civic ideals and to participate in community life and the American democratic systems.

Activity 1

Students must make a list of their rights and responsibilities of being a citizen of the United States.

Take these and make a collective list on the board.

Discuss what the students are doing now as an active citizen.

Activity 2

From the last activity take that information and transform it into what are some of the ways that religion is part of a responsibility if citizenship, or is it?

Debate this issue amongst the class.

Activity 3

Students must indicate a certain religion and have them debate whether or not this could be part of our government in the United States and how/or why it does.

The students must have a couple of answers for this.

Activity 4

Have the students identify the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the United States and compare and contrast them to the rights and responsibilities of being involved in a religion.

Activity 5

From that last activity, have them journal as to why those ideas are important for keeping a democratic government.

Discuss some answers in class about the results and conclusions the students came up with.

Sources for Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

www.ode.state.oh.us/http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1650.htm

http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/4876http://www.lawmoose.com/internetlawlib/322.htmhttp://www.undergodprocon.org/pop/FoundersQuotes.htm

Social Studies Skills and Methods

Students collect, organize, evaluate, and synthesize information from multiple sources to draw logical conclusions. Students communicate this information using appropriate social studies terminology in oral, written or multimedia form and apply what they have learned to societal issues in simulated or real-world settings.

Activity 1

Have the students look up various viewpoints of different religions and chart the results on the board.

Research this via internet or books.

Activity 2

Create a power point with the class that indicates what they have discussed as far as various viewpoints of religion.

Let each student make their own slide.

Activity 3

Assign groups where each group must make a graph based on all of the religions and display it to the classroom.

Have them base their information from whatever way they want as long as it was something discussed in class.

Activity 4

Using educational websites, have the students make up an activity for the class to participate in about religion. They must have several resources to back up their lesson.

Activity 5

Students must create a commonplace book.

They must use whatever materials are needed to display what they have learned from this unit.

The commonplace book can be of any sort and they must have exact examples of work that they have completed in class.

Sources for Social Studies Skills and Methods

www.ode.state.oh.us/

http://www.religioustolerance.org/occult.htm

http://www.besthistorysites.net/USHistory_Colonial.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace

http://www.ampltd.co.uk/collections_az/RenCpbks-BL/highlights.aspx