The Local Community

The local community serves as the focal point for third grade as students begin to understand how their community has changed over time and to make comparisons with communities in other places.  The study of local history comes alive through the use of artifacts and documents.  Students also learn how communities are governed and how the local economy is organized.

History Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Construct time lines to demonstrate an understanding of units of time and chronological order.
2. Describe the cultural patterns that are evident in North America today as a result of exploration, colonization and conflict.
3. Explain how new developments led to the growth of the United States.

Third Grade History Indicators

By the end of third grade, students will be able to:

Chronology

1. Define and measure time by years, decades and centuries.
2. Place local historical events in sequential order on a time line.

Growth

3. Describe the changes in our community over time, including changes in:
1. businesses
2. architecture
3. physical features
4. employment
5. education
6. transportation
7. technology
8. religion
9. recreation

People in Societies Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Compare practices and products of North American cultural groups.
2. Explain the reasons people from various cultural groups came to North America and the consequences of their interactions with each other.

Third Grade People in Societies Indicators

By the end of third grade, students will be able to:

Cultures

1. Compare some of the cultural practices and products of Native Americans and immigrants who have lived in our community over time, including:
1. artistic expression
2. religion
3. language
4. food
2. Compare the cultural practices and products of the local community with those of other communities in Ohio, the United States and countries of the world.

Interaction

3. Cite general reasons for immigration to our local community and describe the settlement patterns of various cultural groups.

Geography Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Use map elements or coordinates to locate physical and human features of North America.
2. Identify the physical and human characteristics of places and regions in North America.
3. Identify and explain ways people have affected the physical environment of North America and analyze the positive and negative consequences.
4. Analyze ways that transportation and communication relate to patterns of settlement and activity.

Third Grade Geography Benchmarks

By the end of third grade, students will be able to:

Location

1. Use political maps, physical maps and aerial photographs to ask and answer questions about the local community, the country, and the world.
2. Use a compass rose and cardinal directions to describe the relative location of places.
1. use a distance scale to measure to the nearest inch and kilometer*
3. Read and interpret maps by using the map title, map key, direction indicator and symbols to answer questions about our local community.
4. Use a number/letter grid system to locate physical and human features on a map.
5. Identify the location of the following on maps and globes:
1. Arctic Circle
2. Antarctic Circle
3. North Pole
4. South Pole
5. Prime Meridian
6. the tropics
7. the hemispheres
8. the continents*

Places and Regions

6. Identify and describe the following in our community and in the region:
1. landforms (create a landform map*)
2. climate
3. vegetation
4. population
5. economic characteristics.

Human Environmental Interaction

7. Identify ways that the physical characteristics of the environment (e.g., landforms, bodies of water, climate and vegetation) affect and have been modified by the local community.

Movement

8. Identify systems of transportation used to move people and products and systems of communication used to move ideas from place to place.
1. discuss how transportation and communication are used in our community
2. research and create time lines of transportation and communication.

Economic Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Explain the opportunity costs involved in the allocation of scarce productive resources.
2. Explain why entrepreneurship, capital goods, technology, specialization and division of labor are important in the production of goods and services.
3. Explain how competition affects producers and consumers in a market economy and why specialization facilitates trade.

Third Grade Economics Indicators

By the end of third grade, students will be able to:

Scarcity and Resource Allocation

1. Define opportunity cost and give an example of the opportunity cost of a personal decision:
1. identify productive resources*
2. explain how the availability of natural resources determines the type of products being made (Use Econ and Me videotape)*
3. introduce the four factors of production*

Production, Distribution and Consumption

2. Identify people who purchase goods and services as consumers and people who make goods or provide services as producers.
1. review the terms needs and wants*
3. Categorize economic activities in our community as examples of production or consumption.
4. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of specialization and the division of labor to produce goods.

Markets

5. Identify different forms of money used over time, and recognize that money facilitates the purchase goods, services and resources and enables savings.
1. develop an economic system in your classroom to be used throughout the year*
6. Explain how our local community is an example of a market where buyers and sellers exchange goods and services.
1. have students create and sell products during a class Product Fair*
7. Identify examples of economic competition in our community.
1. to demonstrate competition, find examples of advertising where products are on sale*
8. Explain how scarcity and surplus affects supply and demand
1. use Christmas as an example*

Government Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Identify the responsibilities of the branches of the United States government and explain why they are necessary.
2. Give examples of documents that specify the structure of state and national governments in the United States and explain how these documents foster self-government in a democracy.

Third Grade Government Indicators

By the end of third grade, students will be able to:

1. Explain the major functions of local government, including:
1. promoting order and security
2. making laws
3. settling disputes
4. providing public services
5. protecting the rights of individuals
6. compare local government to classroom and family structure*
2. Explain the structure of our local government (e.g., township trustees, county commissioners, city council members or mayor).
1. explore the process of electing or appointing government officials*
3. Identify the location of local government buildings and explain the functions of government that are carried out there.
1. plan class field trip to these sites*
4. Identify goods and services provided by local government, why people need them and the source of funding (taxation).
5. Define power and authority.
1. introduce the purpose and function of the three branches of state government: legislative, executive, judicial*
2. identify and locate the county seat, the state capital and the national capital*
6. Explain why the use of power without legitimate authority is unjust (e.g., bullying, stealing).

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Benchmarks Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Explain how citizens take part in civic life in order to promote the common good.
2. Identify rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the United States that are important for preserving democratic government.

Third Grade Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities Indicators

By the end of the third grade, students will be able to:

Participation

1. Describe how people help to make the community a better place in which to live, including:
1. working to improve the environment
2. helping the homeless
3. restoring houses in low-income areas
4. supporting education
5. planning community events
6. starting a business
2. Demonstrate effective citizenship traits, including:
1. civility
2. respect for the rights and dignity of each person
3. volunteerism
4. compromise
5. compassion
6. persistence in achieving goals
7. civic-mindedness
8. take part in creating rules based on the idea of fair play, selecting persons to serve in positions of authority, and following directions and rules*

Rights and Responsibilities

3. Describe the responsibilities of citizenship with an emphasis on:
1. voting
2. obeying laws
3. respecting the rights of others
4. being informed about current issues
5. paying taxes

Social Studies Skills and Methods Grades 3-5

By the end of the 3-5 program, students will be able to:

1. Obtain information from a variety of primary and secondary sources using the component parts of the source.
2. Use a variety of sources to organize information and draw inferences.
3. Communicate social studies information using graphs and tables.
4. Use problem-solving skills to make decisions individually and in groups.

Third Grade Social Studies Skills and Methods Indicators

By the end of third grade, students will be able to:

Obtaining Information

1. Obtain information about local issues from a variety of sources, including:
1. maps
2. photos
3. oral histories
4. newspapers, including “Communities Study Weekly”
5. letters
6. artifacts
7. documents

2. Locate information using various parts of a source, including:
1. the table of contents
2. title page
3. illustrations
4. keyword searches
5. glossary*
6. index*
7. create a “convention of print” book*

Thinking and Organizing

3. Identify possible cause and effect relationships
4. Read and interpret pictographs, bar graphs and charts, and summarize the information in writing.

Communicating Information

5. Communicate information
1. communicate information using pictographs, bar graphs and tables
2. write an informational report that includes main ideas and supporting details*

Problem Solving

6. Use a problem-solving/decision-making process that includes:
1. identifying a problem
2. gathering information from a variety of print and non-print resources
3. listing and considering options
4. considering advantages and disadvantages of options
5. choosing and implementing a solution