Social Studies, Grade 5

Unit 1: Introduction

How we learn about the past: through primary sources, oral histories, and the interpretation of evidence, and the major historical eras.

• Primary sources and oral history
• The major historical eras

Unit 2: Environment

How environment shaped an ancient society: the geographic features that influenced where and how an ancient society developed, and how the society adapted over time.

• How environment shaped an ancient society
• How an ancient society changed over time

Unit 3: Social Structure

The importance of social structure in a society from the Middle Ages: how a society was organized, the roles people played, and why structure mattered for survival and development.

• Why social structure mattered
• Roles in a medieval society

Unit 4: Decision Making

First Nations and Inuit societies and how they made decisions: the diverse societies across Canada's physical regions, and the decision-making practices - the roles of Elders and leaders, resources, and oral tradition - in Atlantic Canada.

• First Nations and Inuit societies across the regions
• Way of life and technology

• Who made decisions: roles and power
• Resources, needs, and oral tradition

Unit 5: Interactions

Interactions between British and French and First Nations and Inuit in what later became Atlantic Canada: contributions and exchanges, and the mostly devastating consequences of European exploration for Indigenous peoples.

• Contributions and exchanges
• The devastating consequences of European exploration

Unit 6: My Society

Comparing past societies to our own: using historical evidence to identify similarities and differences between past societies and the students' society today.

• How we are similar to past societies
• How we differ from past societies