Social Studies
~ Grade 4
Link to
Learning - web sites selected for YRDSB students
Term 1
Map, Globe and Graphic
Skills
Term 2 Heritage and
Citizenship: Medieval Times:
Europe & the Mediterranean
Regions
Term 3
Canada and World Connections:
Canada's Provinces,
Territories & Regions
Term 1 Map, Globe, and Graphic Skills
Internet Sites for Maps:
-
Xpeditions Atlas "You’ve got the whole world in
your hands—and nearly 600 National Geographic maps at your
fingertips. Just click to a province, country, or continent; choose
your settings; and print away!" (Crisp and clear, these page-size
maps were designed for printing and copying.)
- Google Maps
- maps and satellite images
- Outline
Maps (in .pdf format)
- locate on a map community boundaries and adjacent communities
(e.g., towns, counties) within a region;
- locate on a map of Ontario and label
- the Great Lakes
- Huron
- Ontario
- Michigan
- Erie
- Superior
- and other major bodies of water and waterways (e.g.
- Hudson Bay,
- James Bay, the
- Ottawa River);
- use a variety of sources (e.g.,
- atlases,
- relief maps,
- globes,
- aerial and satellite photographs) to locate and
label the physical regions of Canada on a map;
- use cardinal and intermediate directions,
- pictorial and non-pictorial symbols (e.g., dots to
represent entire cities),
- scale, and
- colour to locate and display geographic information
on various maps;
- use number and letter grids to locate places on
- base maps and
- road maps, and in
- atlases;
- create and use a variety of thematic maps of
Canada's physical features (e.g.,
- landforms,
- climate,
- natural resources);
- construct maps of transportation routes
between local communities within a region (e.g.,
- construct maps of the provinces and
territories, showing
- major roadways,
- railways, and
- cities, including
- capital cities;
- prepare various forms of maps, using
- symbols and
- legends,
- to display places,
- transportation routes, and
- political boundaries
- international,
- national,
- provincial in Canada.
Term 2
Heritage and Citizenship: Medieval
Times
Overview
Students discover the major features
of daily life in medieval European
societies. Students investigate the
major events and influences of the
era and determine how they shaped
medieval society. Students apply
their understandings to compare
communities in medieval times with
their own communities today.
Overall Expectations
- identify and describe major
features of daily life and
social organization in medieval
European societies from about
500 to 1500 C.E. (Common Era);
- use a variety of resources
and tools to investigate the
major events and influences of
the era and determine how they
shaped medieval society;
- relate significant elements
of medieval societies to
comparable aspects of
contemporary Canadian
communities.
Specific Expectations:
Knowledge and Understanding
- describe the
hierarchical structure of
medieval society and the
types of people in it (e.g.,
peasants, officials,
scholars, clergy, merchants,
artisans, royalty, nobles),
and explain how and why
different groups cooperated
or came into conflict at
different times (e.g., to
promote trade, to wage war,
to introduce the Magna Carta);
- describe aspects of
daily life for men, women,
and children in medieval
societies (e.g., food,
housing, clothing, health,
religion, recreation,
festivals, crafts, justice,
roles);
- describe characteristics
of castles and aspects of
castle life (e.g., design
and building methods;
community structure – lord,
knights, squires,
men-at-arms, workers; sports
and entertainment; heraldry;
justice; conflict and
defence);
- outline the reasons for
and some of the effects of
medieval Europe's expanding
contact with other parts of
the world (e.g., the
Crusades; Muslim influence
on arts, architecture, and
the sciences; the
explorations of Marco Polo,
the opening of the Silk
Road, and the trade in
luxury goods; the Black
Death; Italian control of
the Mediterranean;
development of the printing
press);
- describe some of the
ways in which religions
shaped medieval society
(e.g., Catholicism, Judaism,
Islam; events and practices:
pilgrimages, tithing,
confession, festivals;
occupations: clergy, caliph,
nuns, monks; buildings:
cathedrals, mosques,
monasteries, temples,
synagogues; influences on
the arts; the building of
libraries);
- describe medieval
agricultural methods and
innovations (e.g., common
pasture, three-field
rotation, fertilizers, the
padded horse collar, the
wheeled plough, mills), and
explain why the innovations
were important;
- outline important ways
in which medieval society
changed over time (e.g.,
growth of towns,
specialization of labour,
changes in transportation
methods, changes to law and
justice), and give reasons
for the changes.
Inquiry/Research and
Communication Skills
- formulate questions
to guide research (e.g.,
What impact did Islamic
culture have on European
medieval societies? Why
did castles have moats?
Which medieval trade
guilds have comparable
apprenticeship programs
today? What valuable
items did Marco Polo
bring back from Asia?);
- use primary and
secondary sources to
locate information about
medieval civilizations
(e.g., primary sources:
artefacts, field trips;
secondary sources:
atlases, encyclopedias
and other print
materials,
illustrations, videos,
CD-ROMs, Internet
sites);
- use graphic
organizers to summarize
information (e.g.,
pyramid showing social
hierarchies, circle
chart showing system of
crop rotation, timeline
showing dates of
innovations and events,
T-chart showing
comparison of peasants'
and lords' lifestyles);
- draw and label maps
or create models to
illustrate features of
medieval landscapes
(e.g., a village, a
castle or palace, a
mosque with a minaret);
- read and interpret
maps relevant to the
period (e.g., showing
trade routes, locations
of castles, layout of a
town or city);
- use media works,
oral presentations,
written notes and
descriptions, and
drawings to communicate
information about life
in medieval society
(e.g., the roles of men,
women, and children; the
problems of sanitation
and health in towns and
cities);
- use appropriate
vocabulary (e.g.,
peasant, page, clergy,
squire, caliph, imam,
merchant, trade guild,
chivalry, manor,
monastery, mosque,
pilgrimage, Islam,
Christianity, Judaism,
Magna Carta, Crusades)
to describe their
inquiries and
observations.
Application
- compare aspects
of life in a
medieval community
and their own
community (e.g.,
with respect to
housing, social
structure,
recreation, land
use, geography,
climate, food,
dress, government);
- make connections
between social or
environmental
concerns of medieval
times and similar
concerns today
(e.g., pollution,
the spread of
disease, crime,
warfare, poverty,
religious
intolerance);
- use artistic
expression to
re-create or respond
to imaginative works
from medieval times
(e.g., illustrate a
coat of arms;
dramatize a story
about the Knights of
the Round Table;
listen and respond
to medieval ballads
and poems; create a
storyboard for a
tale from The
Thousand and One
Nights).
Term 3 Canada
and World
Connections:
Canada's Provinces,
Territories, and
Regions
Overview
Students investigate
and describe the
physical and
political divisions
of Canada. They
determine how
physical
characteristics
influence the
economy and culture
of Ontario and the
other provinces and
territories, and use
maps, graphics, and
print materials to
present information
about their
findings. They also
identify and
describe economic
and cultural
relationships that
connect communities
throughout the
country.
Overall
Expectations
- name and
locate the
various physical
regions,
provinces, and
territories of
Canada and
identify the
chief natural
resources of
each;
- use a
variety of
resources and
tools to
determine the
influence of
physical factors
on the economies
and cultures of
Ontario and the
other provinces
and territories;
- identify,
analyse, and
describe
economic and
cultural
relationships
that link
communities and
regions within
Ontario and
across Canada.
Specific
Expectations:
Knowledge and
Understanding
- explain
the concept
of a region
(i.e, an
area that is
similar
throughout
its extent
and
different
from the
places
around it);
- identify
the physical
regions of
Ontario and
describe
their
characteristics
(e.g.,
Canadian
Shield,
Great Lakes-
St. Lawrence
lowlands,
Hudson Bay
lowlands);
- explain
how the St.
Lawrence
River and
the Great
Lakes
systems
shape or
influence
the human
activity of
their
surrounding
area (e.g.,
with respect
to
transportation,
industry,
recreation,
commercial
fishing);
- identify
Ontario's
major
natural
resources
and their
uses and
management
(e.g.,
water, for
hydroelectricity
and
recreation);
- identify
and describe
types of
communities
in each
physical
region of
Ontario
(e.g.,
tourist,
manufacturing,
and
agricultural
communities
in the St.
Lawrence
lowlands;
First Nation
communities
in the
Hudson Bay
lowlands;
forestry and
mining
communities
in the
Canadian
Shield
region);
- describe
a variety of
exchanges
that occur
among the
communities
and regions
of Ontario
(e.g., fruit
from the
Niagara
Peninsula,
nickel from
Sudbury,
vehicles
from Oshawa,
wild rice
from Kenora,
cranberries
from Wahta
First
Nation) and
among the
provinces
and
territories
(e.g.,
potatoes
from Prince
Edward
Island, fish
from British
Columbia,
grain from
Saskatchewan,
Inuit
artwork from
Nunavut);
- identify
Canada's
provinces
and
territories
and its main
physical
regions
(e.g.,
Canadian
Shield,
Appalachians,
Hudson Bay
lowlands,
Arctic
lowlands,
Great
Lakes-St.
Lawrence
lowlands,
interior
plains,
cordilleras);
- describe
and compare
the
environments
of the
physical
regions of
Canada
(e.g., with
respect to
landforms
and
waterways);
- identify
the natural
resources
necessary to
create
Canadian
products,
and the
provinces
and
territories
from which
they
originate
(e.g.,
trees/furniture/Ontario);
- relate
the physical
environment
to economic
and cultural
activities
in the
various
provinces
and
territories
(e.g.,
mountains/
skiing/British
Columbia;
the Grand
Banks/
fishing/Newfoundland
and
Labrador;
beaches/tourism/Prince
Edward
Island;
temperate
climate and
fertile
soil/orchards/
southern
Ontario).
Inquiry/Research
and
Communication
Skills
-
formulate
questions
to guide
research
and
clarify
information
on study
topics
(e.g.,
What are
the
effects
of
physical
features
on land
use? How
are
goods
transported
from one
province
or
territory
to
another?);
- use
primary
and
secondary
sources
to
locate
information
about
natural
resources
and
their
uses
(e.g.,
primary
sources:
interviews,
classroom
visitors,
class
trips;
secondary
sources:
atlases,
encyclopedias
and
other
print
materials,
illustrations,
videos,
CD-ROMs,
Internet
sites);
- use
graphic
organizers
and
graphs
to sort
information,
clarify
issues,
solve
problems,
and make
decisions
(e.g.,
use a
pro-and-con
chart to
identify
the
effects
of
clear-cutting
on a
forest
community;
use a
decision-making
chart to
consider
the
alternatives
to and
consequences
of
constructing
dams on
a river
system;
create a
bar
graph to
show
average
temperature
by
province);
- use
media
works,
oral
presentations,
written
notes
and
descriptions,
drawings,
tables,
and
graphs
to
identify
and
communicate
key
information
about
the
regions,
provinces,
and
territories;
- use
appropriate
vocabulary
(e.g.,
regions,
Canadian
Shield,
Great
Lakes
lowlands,
St.
Lawrence
lowlands,
Hudson
Bay
lowlands,
interior
plains,
Arctic
lowlands,
cordilleras,
physical
features,
boundaries,
province,
capital,
territory,
natural
resources,
grid) to
describe
their
inquiries
and
observations.
Application
-
identify
relationships,
in a
variety
of
fields,
that
link
Ontario
and
the
other
provinces
and
territories
(e.g.,
in
art,
literature,
music,
dance,
technology,
heritage,
tourism,
sports);
-
compare
two
or
more
regions
(e.g.,
the
Arctic
and
the
Prairies),
with
respect
to
their
physical
environments
and
exchanges
of
goods
and
services;
-
identify
and
describe
a
cause-and-effect
relationship
between
the
environment
and
the
economy
in a
province
or
territory
(e.g.,
overfishing
on
the
Grand
Banks;
changes
to
landscape
resulting
from
open-pit
mining
or
clear-cut
logging);
-
describe
how
technology
(e.g.,
in
communications,
transportation)
affects
the
lives
of
people
in
an
isolated
community
in
Canada
(e.g.,
the
impact
of
snowmobiles
on
hunting
in
the
Arctic;
the
effects
of
satellite
television
and
the
Internet
on
schoolchildren;
the
effect
of
air
transport
on
the
availability
of
products).
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