Social Studies Lessons for High School is designed for social studies teachers to use with their government and history courses. It was developed in response to a shift in education throughout our country: a move away from rote memorization and toward the critical thinking skills necessary for many of the new performance assessment programs.

Each lesson will enable teachers to teach seven specific critical thinking skills in a step-by-step process. The information has been adapted for old media and new media formats. Web sites will be provided that will allow teachers to choose the most appropriate resource for the selected activity. All selections can be copied for classroom use. Teachers may adapt activities to allow students to complete assignments via the web.

Bob Black is former Teachers Network web mentor. He is a social studies teacher at the Harbor City Learning Center, located across the street from the historic Edgar Allen Poe House  in Baltimore, MD.

Template

Explanation
There are many different types of maps:

• Political maps - show the location/boundaries of governmental units.
• Physical maps - show land forms and other important physical features of the earth.
• Population maps - show where and how many people live in each area.
• Economic maps - show products or economic activities.
• Climate maps - show average temperature and rainfall. Maps may contain a variety of elements such as:
  Title, compass rose, date, legend/key symbols, map scale, source

• Map Analysis Introduction
• Lesson Plan
• Sample Student Template