This year in Social Studies we will be studying the following topics:

Chapter 1
    In this chapter we will explore where our community is in the world by using terms such as hemisphere, continent, country, state, and city.

Chapter 2
    In this chapter we will discuss where our community is in the United States and how far it is from different landmarks.  We will talk about the cardinal and intermediate directions and how they work to find places on a map.

Chapter 3
    In this chapter we discuss the geography of our community.  We discuss terms such as natural resources, climate, and physical geography and how they relate to different communities around the country.

Chapter 4
    In this chapter we discuss immigration and the challenges people faced while coming to be a part of this country.

Chapter 5
    In this chapter we discuss what makes our community diverse.  We'll cover topics such as languages, customs, traditions, holidays, foods, and sports and how they differ in different areas around the country and the world.

Chapter 6
    In this chapter we discuss how people can improve their communities.  We talk about people such as Rosa Parks, Cesar Chavez, Ruby Bridges, Lois Marie Gibbs, and Judy Hueman.  Each of these people bettered their community in some way and we will talk about ways to better our community as well.

Chapter 7
    In this chapter we will talk about children around the world and how they differ from us and how they are the same.  We will discuss the different things they eat, how they travel and go to school, and how they entertain themselves. 

Chapter 8
    In this chapter we discuss the economy and how it works.  We talk about buyers and sellers and their rolls in the economy.  We will also talk about supply and demand and how it affects the prices of things we buy.

Chapter 9
    In this chapter we will talk about global trade and how it affects our economy.  We look at where things are made and how we trade items with other countries for the things we need.

Chapter 10
    In this chapter we will discuss the public services in our community.  We talk about what makes it a public service and which ones we feel are the most important.  Some of these public services include policeman, fireman, education, child care, public transportation, and health care.

Chapter 11
    In this chapter we talk about the people who work in city hall.  We will discuss who they are and what their jobs include.  We will also read some made up letters from concerned citizens and try to figure out which office of city hall could help.

Chapter 12
    In this chapter we will look at how we can have a voice in our community.  We talk about voting on issues and meetings in the community.

Chapter 13
    In this chapter we will discuss the planet and how we can help around our community.

Chapter 14
    In this chapter we will talk about our global community and the ways we can help.