While George Washington was leading the Continental Army against the British, Thomas Jefferson was writing a document that would be used to declare America’s separation from England-the Declaration of Independence. Students identify some of the people who fought for the rights of Americans. Once free, the planning of a new government began with the writing of our Constitution. Realize that our country’s government is based on a constitution and learn the changes made to our constitution. Appreciate the significance of the Constitution. Learn the formation of the three branches of the national government. DVD features include on-screen teacher’s guide and vocabulary plus chapter selections.
Languages: English
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United States Expansionism
Students witness the expansion of America from the early colonies through the acceptance of Hawaii as our fiftieth state. Includes a look at the formation of the first 13 colonies, the French and Indian War, The Revolutionary War, The Louisiana Purchase, Florida and the Seminole Indians, The Westward Movement, The Mexican-American War, The California Gold Rush, Manifest Destiny, Oregon Territory, Alaska Purchase, and Hawaii. DVD features include on-screen teacher’s guide and vocabulary plus chapter selections.
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Long Ago, Yesterday, and Today
Compare the lives of people living in a community today to those who lived recently and long ago. Re-creations, artifacts, photographs, and time-lines tell the stories of how our parents, grandparents, and other ancestors lived on a daily basis. This program includes different types of shelter, food, clothing, transportation, recreation, and forms of education. DVD features include on-screen teacher’s guide and vocabulary plus chapter selections: (1) Introduction (2) The past (3) Grandparent’s generation (4) Life 100 years ago (5) Pioneers (6) Native Americans (7) Immigrants (8) Change (9) Future.
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How Mountains Affect Life
Discover that the way we live depends on our environment. From valleys and foothills to high mountain ridges, learn how communities and people adapt to the different features of the Earth. Understand the kind of work and lives people must lead to adapt to different levels of rainfall, temperature, and natural resources. (Guide available online)
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Understanding Maps: Key to Everywhere
Relate the three-dimensional world in which we live to the two-dimensional world of maps by taking a plane ride over a neighborhood and translating the view onto a flat map. This program demonstrates the points on a compass, how different types of maps show different things, what symbols and scales are, and what a globe is. DVD features include on-screen teacher’s guide and vocabulary plus chapter selections: (1) Introduction (2) What is a map? (3) Direction (4) Distance (5) Different maps show different things (6) symbols (7) Trip planning (8) Grid maps (9) globes (10) compass (11) Review and Conclusion.
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Globes & Us
Learn about latitude and longitude, grids, degrees, minutes, seconds, time zones, scale, legends, keys, cardinal and intermediate directions, hemispheres, and more. Live action and animation help simplify these concepts. DVD features include on-screen teacher’s guide and vocabulary plus chapter selections.
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The Five Themes of Geography
Join five enthusiastic students in their high-tech “Social Studies Lab” to learn about the five themes of geography: Location, Place, Human-Environment Interactions, Movement, and Regions. Visit locations around the world to understand how geographers study the earth and the people who live here. DVD features include on-screen teacher’s guide and vocabulary plus chapter selections.
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Maps: Types, Symbols, and Terms
Learn about the world of information available to map readers. Understand the common and practical uses of maps – from finding one’s way across town to finding the yearly rainfall in England. See examples of how symbols on a map stand for real features. Recognize relief, topographical, political, historical, population, and many other kinds of maps. Learn how grids are used on both globes and maps to find locations – and much more! DVD features include on-screen teacher’s guide and vocabulary plus chapter selections.
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Native Americans: The First Peoples
Examine the life-styles of Native Americans who lived in the Eastern Woodlands, the Great Plains, the Southwest Desert, the Pacific Northwest, and the Arctic. Witness what happened when the white man arrived with his different cultural beliefs. See how Native Americans live today in the United States. DVD features include on-screen teacher’s guide and vocabulary plus chapter selections.
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Plymouth Plantation
Students blast back in time to the original Plymouth Plantation of 1620, the first colonial settlement in southern New England. Follow along as they learn about daily life and culture, the roles of Pilgrim men and women, the voyage of the Mayflower, and the importance of the Mayflower Compact. Begin to understand that Thanksgiving for the Pilgrims was a daily practice, not just a feast held once a year. DVD features include on-screen teacher’s guide and vocabulary plus chapter selections.