Utah Core Standards 3rd Grade Social Studies Activities

UT.I. Community and Culture: Students will understand how geography influences community location and development.

I.B. The geography of a community influences the cultural development of the humans who inhabit the community. There are relationships between climate, natural resources, and other geographic characteristics and a community's cultural development. The unique characteristics of an area influence where and how communities develop, their relative wealth and power, and how they adapt to changes.

I.1: Determine the relationships between human settlement and geography.

I.1.b. Use map features to make logical inferences and describe relationships between human settlement and physical geography (e.g. population density in relation to latitude, cities' proximity to water, utilization of natural resources).

I.1.c. Compare the shapes and purposes of natural and human-made boundaries of cities, counties and states.

I.2: Describe how various communities have adapted to existing environments and how other communities have modified the environment.

I.2.b. Identify important natural resources of world ecosystems.

I.2.c. Describe how communities have modified the environment to accommodate their needs (e.g. logging, storing water, building transportation systems).

I.3: Analyze ways cultures use, maintain, and preserve the physical environment.

I.3.a. Identify ways people use the physical environment (e.g. agriculture, recreation, energy, industry).

I.3.b. Compare changes in the availability and use of natural resources over time.

I.3.c. Describe ways to conserve and protect natural resources (e.g. reduce, reuse, recycle).

I.3.d. Compare perspectives of various communities toward the natural environment.

I.3.e. Make inferences about the positive and negative impacts of human-caused change to the physical environment.

UT.II. Community and Culture: Students will understand cultural factors that shape a community.

II.B. All people exist within cultures, or the way of life of a group of people. All human communities have cultural attributes. These attributes change over time in response to changes in the world around them. Indigenous cultures in North and South America demonstrate these attributes, and teachers are encouraged to select examples from these rich cultural traditions.

II.1: Evaluate key factors that determine how a community develops.

II.1.a. Identify the elements of culture (e.g. language, religion, customs, artistic expression, systems of exchange).

II.1.b. Describe how stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture.

II.1.c. Compare elements of the local community with communities from different parts of the world (e.g. industry, economic specialization )

II.1.d. Identify and explain the interrelationship of the environment (e.g. location, natural resources, climate) and community development (e.g. food, shelter, clothing, industries, markets, recreation, artistic creations).

II.1.e. Examine changes in communities that can or have occurred when two or more cultures interact.

II.1.f. Explain changes within communities caused by human inventions (e.g. steel plow, internal combustion engine, television, computer).

II.2: Explain how selected indigenous cultures of the Americas have changed over time.

II.2.a. Describe and compare early indigenous people of the Americas (e.g. Eastern Woodlands, Plains, Great Basin, Southwestern, Arctic, Incan, Aztec, Mayan).

II.2.b. Analyze how these cultures changed with the arrival of people from Europe, and how the cultures of the Europeans changed.

II.2.c. Identify how indigenous people maintain cultural traditions today.

UT.III. Community and Culture: Students will understand the principles of civic responsibility in classroom, community, and country.

III.B. There are purposes and roles of representative government. People are elected in this nation to represent the views of other people. There are rights people have within this government. There are multiple functions and services of government. Community members have rights, and with those rights come responsibilities. For a community to function effectively, community members must understand and accept those responsibilities. Recognizing and considering the viewpoints of others is essential in a community.

III.1: Describe the rights and responsibilities inherent in being a contributing member of a community.

III.1.a. Identify how these rights and responsibilities are reflected in the patriotic symbols and traditions of the United States (i.e. Pledge of Allegiance, flag etiquette).

III.1.b. List the responsibilities community members have to one another.

III.1.c. Identify why these responsibilities are important for a functioning community (e.g. voting, jury duty, taxpaying, obedience to laws).

III.2: Identify ways community needs are met by government.

III.2.b. Identify roles of representative government (e.g. make laws, maintain order, levy taxes, provide public services).

III.2.c. Research community needs and the role government serves in meeting those needs.