Introduction
Congratulations! You successfully traveled back in time! But, sensors on your machine broke, and you have no idea where, or when, you are. As you step out of your time machine, you notice the land around you, objects scattered all over the ground, and an old photo album at your feet. Your job is to think like a social scientist and discover where you ended up.
Task
Working in groups of four, you must document your visit as a social scientist. You need to look at your location with four different lenses: a geographer, a political scientist, an economists, and a historian. After looking at artifacts from all four perspectives, you will draw conclusions about your location.
1. Identify four artifacts from your location and describe what questions must be asked as a social scientist.
2. Identify possible answers to each of your questions.
3. Chart on a map which region of the United States your location can be found. Support your conclusion with evidence from the artifacts your collected.
Process
Task 1:
As a group of four, identify the four roles your group members will take on. Each group member will have a different role. A economist, a historian, a political scientist, and a geographer. Using your Social Studies Alive text book, read the section associated with each role identified. The economist will read page 12, the geographer will read page 13, the political scientist will read page 14, and the historian will read page 15. After reading, each member of your group should share what their scientific perspective is (economist, political scientist, historian, or geographer) and which sort of artifacts you would find interesting.
The online version of the text can be found at the TCI link located below. You need your school ID number and password to log onto the website.
https://student.teachtci.com/student/sign_in
Task 2:
As a group, watch the social scientist video located in the link below. Using chart paper, divide your paper into four quadrants. Label each scientist in each box (historian, economist, geographer, political scientist). Make a list of questions each social scientist would ask. Each group member should have at least two questions in each quadrant.
Task 3:
Look around at your location using the location and artifacts links. Brainstorm your observations. What do you see? What could each item be used for? What materials are used to make each item? What is the weather like?
Task 4:
You also find an old photo album. You open it up and take a look at the pictures. With your group, brainstorm more observations.
Task 6:
Turn your chart paper over and divide the paper into four more quadrants. As a group decide on 4 artifacts you and your group members will analyze further. Sketch one artifact in each quadrant. Decide on two questions to ask about each artifact and write down possible answers to each question. Using your chart paper as evidence, click on the final link and decide your location and time period.
Evaluation
| SS.3-5.IS.1.Develop essential questions and explain the importance of the questions to self and others |
3 points Students ask appropriate and thoughtful questions |
2 points Students ask generalized questions that come from the media or text provided |
1 point Students ask questions irrelevant to the projects purpose |
| SS.3-5.IS.3.Identify varied resources that answer essential and student-generated questions and that take into consideration multiple points of view |
3 points Students ask questions from all four social scientists perspectives |
2 points Students ask questions from 3 or more social scientist perspectives |
1 point Students ask questions from 2 or less social scientist perspectives |
| SS.3-5.IS.5.Develop claims using evidence from multiple sources to answer essential questions |
3 points Claims are supported with logical and thoughtful evidence |
2 points Claims are supported with evidence |
1 point Claims are not supported with evidence |
Conclusion
Hopefully, you learned the importance of thinking like a social scientist. It is important to look at the world around you with more than one perspective. A geographer can help you identify a location. A historian can help you identify the impact of choices people made in the past. An economist can help explain why goods and services are important to a society and a political scientist can see how rules of the government made an impact on people's daily lives. The next time you find yourself in a new place, take a look around and ask yourself, "What do you see?"
Credits
Bower, Bert, and Teachers' Curriculum Institute. Social Studies Alive!. Regions of Our Country. Rancho Cordova, Ca, Teachers’ Curriculum Institute, 2016.
Teacher Page
This webquest was designed and intended for fourth graders to develop an understanding of the four core social sciences.
In this webquest students discover the four core social sciences while actively engaging with their peers and becoming familiar with the regions of the United States. Upon completion of this webquest students will be able to identify the four core social scientists and explain the cultural and environmental impact on society.
Students should have some knowledge of the different regions of the United States prior to completing this webquest.
Students need to be placed in groups of four. This webquest was designed to be completed over a 2-3 day period with 20-30 minutes of time per day.