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Seventh Grade Social Studies Resources
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Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Video (with support Materials)
News Quiz is KET's weekly 15-minute current events program for students. The program consists of news segments, a current events quiz, opinion letters, and an Extra Credit report.
Georgia Standards: ALL SS7
What is Democracy? Vote Democracy! Lesson 1
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Activity with supporting documents
Definitions and conceptions of democracy are many. In this introductory lesson, students attempt to define for themselves what democracy is and what it means. Students are also exposed to how people around the world view democracy and what democracy looks like in other countries. The other activities will further expand this study of democracy.
Skill: Compare and contrast different forms of citizen participation in government.
Georgia Standard: SS7CG1
What is Democracy? Vote Democracy! Lesson 4
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Activity with supporting documents
Democracy exists in different forms in many countries around the world. Some countries are in the process of transitioning to or developing democracy; in other countries, democracy is more established. Still others may have a different system, yet still be influenced by democracy because it has been strongly promoted around the world by the United States and other Western countries. In this lesson, students examine what democracy looks like and how it plays out in countries with different political, ideological and cultural histories and backgrounds.
Skill: Compare and contrast different forms of citizen participation in government.
Georgia Standard: SS7CG1
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Video
Economic systems have driven nations to both prosperity and collapse. This video follows these systems, and outlines why each flourished or failed.
Skills: Analyze different economic systems.
Georgia Standards: SS7E1, SS7E4, SS7E7
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Lesson with supporting documents
Students will read a short description of labor specialization and its role in the larger economy, then they will read two scenarios and analyze the impact of specialization on the job market for each.
Skills: Explain how voluntary trade benefits buyers and sellers in Africa.
Explain how voluntary trade benefits buyers and sellers in Southwest Asia (Middle East).
Explain how voluntary trade benefits buyers and sellers in Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standards: SS7E2, SS7E5, SS7E8
Making Cents: Financial Literacy Videos for Young Learners
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Video Series with Classroom Materials
With this video series, teach teens and pre-teens how to manage their money and foster an entrepreneurial spirit. Visit KSPS Education for more additional learning resources.
Skill: Understand that a basic principle of effective personal money management is to live within one’s income.
Georgia Standard: SS7E10
Where in the World do Pinnipeds Live?
Source: Georgia Aquarium
Resource Type: Lesson Plan
Students will discover that pinnipeds (sea lions and seals) can be found all over the world in addition to the coast of California. Students will identify where pinnipeds are found throughout the world on a map and explore the adaptations pinnipeds use to survive in their habitats.
Skills: Locate selected features of Africa.
Locate selected features in Southwest Asia (Middle East).
Locate selected features in Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standards: SS7G1, SS7G5, SS7G9
Data Analysis: Pollution in Asia
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Worksheet: Data Analysis
Students read a brief introduction to sources of air pollution in Asia and clean air initiatives and then look at data charts presenting air pollution rates in cities and countries. Students must complete a graphic organizer of potential causes of air pollution in Asia, and then write a brief response that brainstorms solutions to air pollution and analyzes differences in Asian, European, and North American air pollution rates.
Skill: Explain the impact of environmental issues across Southwest Asia (Middle East).
Georgia Standard: SS7G6
Data Analysis: Society's Impact on the Environment in Asia
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Worksheet: Data Analysis
Review information on population pressures in Asia, study results of human interactions on the natural environment, describe society’'s impact on the environment, and identify a way to reduce either air or water pollution. Teacher notes are included in Support Materials.
Skill: Explain the impact of environmental issues across Southwest Asia (Middle East).
Georgia Standard: SS7G6
Religion: Three Religions, One God
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Lesson with supporting documents
Three of the world's major religions -- the monotheist traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- were all born in the Middle East and are all inextricably linked to one another. Christianity was born from within the Jewish tradition, and Islam developed from both Christianity and Judaism. Learn more about the religions of the Middle East in this text from the WGBH production, Global Connections: The Middle East.
Skill: Analyze the diverse cultural characteristics of the people who live in Southwest Asia (Middle East).
Georgia Standard: SS7G8
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Map Analysis
Students will read a short description of the geography of Southeast Asia, answer a set of questions on this geography, and then write a short essay using the knowledge they learned.
Skill: Locate selected features in Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standard: SS7G9
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Interactive Lesson & Assessment
Tsunami waves can be distinguished from ordinary ocean waves by many factors, including the tremendous amount of energy they carry, the great distance between their wave crests, and their capacity to travel at jetliner speeds across an entire ocean. In this interactive from NOVA, explore how the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami — the deadliest in recorded history — was triggered, how its waves traveled thousands of kilometers largely unchanged, and what happened once the waves reached coastlines both near and far from their source.
Skill: Explain the impact of environmental issues across Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standard: SS7G10
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Multimedia Unit Study
The Around the Globe: China collection allows students to take a virtual trip to China to learn more about China’s society and culture, as well as the art of China through the centuries. Explore significant events in Chinese history, the history of U.S.-China relations, and the experiences of Chinese Americans through videos, images, documents, and lesson plans.
Skill: Explain the impact of environmental issues across Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standard: SS7G10
Is Your Fleece Jacket Polluting the Oceans? | Above the Noise
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Video (with Analysis Questions)
By 2050, the World Economic Forum predicts that the amount of plastic in the oceans will outweigh ALL the fish. When you hear “plastic” pollution, you might picture six-pack rings wrapped around seagulls or beaches littered with plastic bottles. But now, researchers are discovering a new menace -- microfibers. They're tiny strands of synthetic fibers that come from the synthetic clothing that many of us love to wear -- think fleece jackets and yoga pants. Find out what we can do about microfiber pollution in this week's Above the Noise video.
Skill: Explain the impact of environmental issues across Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standard: SS7G10
Life Under Apartheid: Teaching with Primary Sources
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Primary Source Inquiry Kit
This inquiry kit has Library of Congress sources about the history of apartheid and South Africa's racial segregation policies.
Skill: Analyze continuity and change in Africa.
Georgia Standard: SS7H1
25 Years Later, Tiananmen Square Massacre Remains Unspoken Tragedy in China
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Video
Help students understand the significance of the Tiananmen Square massacre with this PBS NewsHour video and education resource from June 5, 2014. Twenty-five years ago, Chinese authorities indiscriminately massacred pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square as part of a government crackdown that captured the world's attention. Today, the incident garners little attention in China.
Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.
Skill: Analyze continuity and change in Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standard: SS7H3
Freedom Riders: The Inspiration
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Video
In this video segment from the American Experience: "Freedom Riders" Web site, watch interviews and newsreel footage and see archival photos to learn how Mahatma Gandhi, the leader in the struggle for an independent India, inspired and influenced those engaged in the struggle to end racial discrimination in the United States. Gandhi's use of nonviolence had allowed the people of India to win independence from Great Britain in 1947. While Gandhi declined an invitation from American civil rights leaders to become directly involved in the U.S. struggle for equal rights, his encouragement persuaded them that the tactic of nonviolence also held great potential in a struggle for the rights of a minority.
Skill: Analyze continuity and change in Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standard: SS7H3
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Video
Actor and comedian Kal Penn’s experience with immigration is fairly recent; his family came to America in the 1960s and Kal was born and raised in suburban New Jersey. He was influenced by his maternal grandfather who marched with Gandhi in the Salt March, a protest against British imperialism.
Skill: Analyze continuity and change in Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standard: SS7H3
Source: Georgia Public Broadcasting
Resource Type: Resource Guide
Viewer resource guide includes a timeline and description of the documentary series.
Caution: the documentary itself may be too graphic for this age group.
Skill: Analyze continuity and change in Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standard: SS7H3
Mapping the Korean Peninsula | Korea: The Never-Ending War
Source: PBS Learning Media
Resource Type: Video with activity
In this lesson, students will explore the ways Korea was divided at the end of World War II and how that division separated families, disrupted lives, and laid the foundation for the Korean War. Students will answer scaffolding questions about the video segment. They will then complete a map activity locating regional features on a map, the 38th parallel, locate key cities and identify water bodies, land masses, and neighboring countries. They will analyze the geo-politics of the region as key players, Soviet Union, China, and the United States vied for influence.
Skill: Analyze continuity and change in Southern and Eastern Asia.
Georgia Standard: SS7H3