Nebraska Academic Standards
Social Studies/
History
Grades 2-4 |
Second, Third, and Fourth Grade Social Studies (By the end of fourth grade . . .)
United States History, Nebraska History, Geography, Civics/Government, Economics
- 4.1 Students will compare communities and describe how United States and Nebraska
communities changed physically and demographically over time.
Example Indicators:
- Identify and describe cultural holidays and events in their communities,
Nebraska, and United States.
- Identify changes in daily life past and present, e.g., roles, jobs, communication,
technology, schools, and cultural traditions.
- 4.2 Students will describe the contributions from the cultural and ethnic groups that
made up our national heritage: Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, African
Americans, European Americans, and Asian Americans.
Example Indicators:
- 4.3 Students will describe social and economic development of Nebraska in the 20th
century.
Example Indicators:
- Identify the accomplishments of 20th century Nebraskans.
- Explain the impact of advance in transportation, communication, immigration,
and economic development.
- 4.4 Students will describe the interaction between Native Americans and their
environment on the plains prior to European contact.
Example Indicators:
- Explain how Native Americans used the resources for daily living.
- Identify different types of shelters used by Native Americans.
- Describe the daily life of a Native American.
- 4.5 Students will describe Nebraska's history, including geographic factors, from
European contact to statehood.
Example Indicators:
- Explain how historic and geographic factors affected the expansion and
development of Nebraska.
- Locate on a map, forts, missions, settlements, trails, cities, transportation
routes, and migration patterns.
- Describe the exploration of the Great Plains.
- Describe the impact of westward expansion on tribal nations.
- Describe Spanish, French, and English settlements.
- 4.6 Students will identify significant individuals, historical events and symbols in their
community and in Nebraska and explain their importance.
Example Indicators:
- Identify and describe the past and present contributions of Native Americans,
Hispanic Americans, African
Americans, European Americans, and Asian Americans.
- Identify members of Nebraska's Hall of Fame.
- Identify accomplishments of prominent Nebraskans, e.g., Black Elk, Malcolm X,
and Evelyn Sharp.
- Identify groups that have impacted Nebraska's history, e.g., buffalo soldiers,
cowboys, and sodbusters and immigrant settlers.
- Identify symbols associated with Nebraska, e.g., the flag, tree, and bird.
- 4.7 Student will use higher level thinking processes to evaluate and analyze primary
sources and other resources.
Example Indicators:
- Identify, analyze, and make generalizations using primary sources, e.g.,
artifacts, diaries, letters, photographs, art, and newspapers.
- Compare documentary sources on historical figures, events, with fictionalized
characters and events to distinguish fact from fiction.
- 4.8 Students will describe characteristics of a market economic system and the
interactions of consumers and producers.
Example Indicators:
- Describe the concepts of scarcity, choice, and the use of limited natural, capital,
and human resources in an economic system.
- Explain the specialization and interdependence of producers and consumers
involved in producing goods and services.
- Demonstrate how markets and prices help consumers buy and producers
supply products and services in an economic system.
- Identify how changing modes of transportation and communication by
entrepreneurs have changed the economic system of the United States and
Nebraska.
- Explain the purpose of taxes and their use and collection in an economic
system.
- 4.9 Students will demonstrate an understanding of money and the financial system
used in the United States.
Example Indicators:
- Identify the concepts of earning, saving, spending, checking accounts and
credit used by financial institutions and consumers.
- Describe the functions of money in an economic system.
- 4.10 Students will identify and use essential map elements.
Example Indicators:
- Distinguish between longitude and latitude.
- Use the equator and prime meridian to identify the hemisphere.
- Use the grid system to find locations.
- Use cardinal directions.
- Understand map keys, e.g., scale, symbols, compass rose.
- 4.11 Students will use maps and globes to acquire information about people, places,
and environments.
Example Indicators:
- Locate and identify on maps and globes his/her local city or county, Nebraska,
the Unites States, the seven continents, and four oceans.
- Sketch maps to illustrate places described in narratives, e.g., neighborhoods,
rooms, routes, regions, states, countries, continents.
- Explain how physical characteristics, transportation routes, climate, and
specialization influenced the variety of crops, products, industries, and the
general patterns of economic growth in Nebraska.
- Illustrate how Nebraska communities differ in physical features, e.g., land use,
population density, architecture, services, and transportation.
- Construct physical maps and three-dimensional models that include the
essential map elements, political areas, and the geographic regions of
Nebraska and the United States, e.g., Coastal Plains, Appalachian Mountains,
Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Basin and Ridge, and Costal
Range.
- Explain the directional flow of rivers.
- 4.12 Students will identify the geographic and human characteristics of the regions of
the United States and Nebraska.
Example Indicators:
- Name the major geographic regions of the United States.
- Identify the states within each region.
- Identify capital cities and major cities.
- Identify mountains, lakes, and rivers in each region.
- Name the countries and bodies of water, which border the United States.
- Identify geographic and historic features unique to each region.
- 4.13 Students will describe the process of making laws, carrying out laws, and
determining if laws have been violated.
Example Indicators:
- Describe the constitutional rights and responsibilities of being a citizen.
- Explain the role of citizenship in the promotion of laws.
- Describe the election process.
- Identify the consequences of violating the law.
- Identify local, county, and state representatives.
- Explain the process of contacting a representative
- 4.14 Students will identify the uniqueness of the Nebraska Unicameral compared with
other state legislatures.
Example Indicators:
- Describe the difference between bicameral and unicameral legislatures.
- Identify the contribution of George Norris.
- 4.15 Students will identify and describe the responsibilities of the elected mayor,
governor and president on the local, state, and federal level.
Example Indicators:
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