Sunshine State Standards

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Grade Level Expectations

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Social Studies, Grade 5

The Fifth Grade Student:

• extends and refines understanding of the effects of individuals, ideas, and decisions on historical events (for example, in the United States).
• compares and contrasts primary and secondary accounts of selected historical events (for example, diary entries from a soldier in a Civil War battle and newspaper articles about the same battle).
• constructs and labels a timeline based on a historical reading (for example, about United States history).
• knows selected European explorers and the territories they explored in North America.
• understands selected geographic, economic, political, and cultural factors that characterized early exploration of the Americas (for example, impact on Native Americans, war between colonial powers, the institution of slavery).
• knows significant events in the colonization of North America, including but not limited to the Jamestown and Plymouth settlements, and the formation of the thirteen original colonies.
• understands selected aspects of everyday life in Colonial America (for example, impact of religions, types of work, use of land, leisure activities, relations with Native Americans, slavery).
• understands reasons Americans and those who led them went to war to win independence from England.
• knows significant events between 1756 and 1776 that led to the outbreak of the American Revolution (for example, the French and Indian War, the Stamp Act, the Boston Tea Party).
• knows selected aspects of the major military campaigns of the Revolutionary War.
• knows reasons why the colonies were able to defeat the British.
• knows the history of events and the historic figures responsible for historical documents important to the founding of the United States (for example, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights).
• knows selected principal ideas expressed in significant historical documents important to the founding of the United States (including but not limited to the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Federalist Papers).
• understands selected geographic and economic features of the growth and change that occurred in America from 1801 to 1861 (for example, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the Louisiana Purchase).
• understands selected technological developments and their effects that occurred in America from 1801 to 1861 (for example, the cotton gin increasing the need for large numbers of slaves to pick cotton).
• understands selected economic and philosophical differences between the North and the South prior to the Civil War, including but not limited to the institution of slavery.
• knows roles and accomplishments of selected leaders on both sides of the Civil War (for example Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Frederick Douglas, William Lloyd Garrison).
• knows causes, selected key events, and effects of the Civil War (for example, major battles, the Emancipation Proclamation, General Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse).
• understands selected aspects of Reconstruction policies and ways they influenced the South after the Civil War.
• knows ways American life was transformed socially, economically, and politically after the Civil War (for example, Western settlement, federal policy toward Native Americans, massive immigration, the growth of American cities, big business, mechanized farming).
• knows selected economic, social, and political consequences of industrialization and urbanization in the United States after 1880 (for example, expansion of transportation, development of large population centers, woman's suffrage, rise of organized labor, improvements in the standard of living).
• knows the political causes and outcomes of World War I (for example, isolationism, League of Nations).
• understands selected social and cultural transformations of the 1920's and 1930's (for example, impact of the automobile, racial tensions, role of women).
• understands the social and economic impact of the Great Depression on American society (for example, business failures, unemployment, home foreclosures, breadlines).
• understands selected events that led to the involvement of the United States in World War II (for example, German aggression in Eastern Europe, the bombing of Pearl Harbor).
• understands selected causes, key events, people, and effects of World War II (for example, major battles such as the D-Day invasion, the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan, reasons for the Allied victory, the Holocaust).
• knows selected economic, political, and social transformations which have taken place in the United States since World War II (for example, Civil Rights movement, role of women, Hispanic immigration, impact of new technologies, exploration of space).
• knows selected political and military aspects of United States foreign relations since World War II (for example, Cold War attempts to contain communism such as in Berlin, Korea, Latin America, and Vietnam; nuclear weapons and the arms race; attempts to secure peace in the Middle East).

The Fifth Grade Student:

• extends and refines use of maps, globes, charts, graphs, and other geographic tools including map keys and symbols to gather and interpret data and to draw conclusions about physical patterns (for example, in the United States).
• knows how regions in the United States are constructed according to physical criteria and human criteria.
• understands varying perceptions of regions throughout the United States.
• understands reasons certain areas of the United States are more densely populated than others.
• understands ways the physical environment supports and constrains human activities in the United States.
• understands ways human activity has affected the physical environment in various places and times in the United States.

The Fifth Grade Student:

• understands the functions of government under the framework of the United States Constitution.
• understands the branches of federal government and their main roles.
• understands the structure, functions, and primary responsibilities of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the United States government.
• understands ways all three branches of government promote the common good and protect individual rights.
• knows the names of his or her representatives at the national level (for example, president, members of Congress.
• knows possible consequences of the absence of government, rules, and laws.
• knows basic things the United States government does in one's school, community, state, and nation.
• understands the importance of participation through community service, civic improvement, and political activities.
• extends and refines understanding of ways personal and civic responsibility are important.
• knows that a citizen is a legally recognized member of the United States who has certain rights and privileges and certain responsibilities (for example, privileges such as the right to vote and hold public office and responsibilities such as respecting the law, voting, paying taxes, serving on juries).
• knows examples of the extension of the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship.
• knows what constitutes personal, political, and economic rights and why they are important (for example, right to vote, assemble, lobby, own property and business).
• knows examples of contemporary issues regarding rights (for example, freedom from discrimination in housing, employment).

The Fifth Grade Student:

• knows examples from United States history that demonstrate an understanding that all decisions involve opportunity costs and that making effective decisions involves considering the costs and the benefits associated with alternative choices.
• understands that scarcity of resources requires choices on many levels, from the individual to societal.
• understands the basic concept of credit.
• understands that any consumer has certain rights (for example, an individual, a household, a government).
• creates a simple budget including income and expenses.
• knows different ways that money can increase in value through savings and investment (for example, banks savings accounts, stocks, bonds, real estate, other valuable goods).
• understands economic specialization and how specialization generally affects costs, amount of goods and services produced, and interdependence.
• understands the roles that money plays in a market economy.
• understands basic services that banks and other financial institutions in the economy provide to consumers, savers, borrowers, and businesses.
• knows ways the Federal government provides goods and services through taxation and borrowing (for example, highways, military defense).