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Social Studies Strands and Standards

By student from Fall 2020

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Social Studies Standards Strands

  • There are six Wisconsin Social Studies Common Core strands.
    1. Inquiry
    2. Behavioral Sciences
    3. Economics
    4. Geography
    5. History
    6. Political Science
  • These are subject areas that teachers helped the DPI decide are important for students to learn about to become active United States citizens. You have likely taken courses in many of these areas.

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Main Ideas of each Strand

  • Inquiry: critical thinking, asking questions, evaluating sources, using evidence, and collaboration
  • Behavioral Sciences: understanding people, psychology, sociology, anthropology
  • Economics: goods, services, money, resources, technology, producers, and consumers.
  • Geography: the earth, interactions between places and people, the environment, and locations
  • History: the relationship between the past and the present, change, cause and effect, and perspective taking
  • Political Science: authority, power, government, civics (ex: voting), local government, state government, and federal government

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How to Remember the Strands

  • Inquiry
  • Behavioral Sciences
  • Economics
  • Geography
  • History
  • Political Science
  • I Believe Every Good Human Participates in Social Studies

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Ideas For Teaching the Strands

  • Inquiry: Practice writing open and closed questions about a historical document
  • Behavioral Sciences: Write a poem about how people from different cultures in provided photos interpret the same historical event as others from other cultures 
  • Economics: Using a graphic organizer, compare and contrast how prices of goods at a local store have changed in ten years
  • Geography: Write a paragraph about the positive and negative effects of cities
  • History: Using a Venn Diagram, compare and contrast German immigration to Wisconsin in the 20th century to Latinx immigration to Wisconsin in 2020
  • Political Science: Create a poster that describes basic human liberties

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The Path to Being a Civic-Minded Citizen

  • By teaching these strands, teachers will help 3rd-5th grade students (and all students) become actively engaged in the United States society, government, and policies. Students will understand why analyzing the past is important, learn how to take others' perspectives, and make decisions based on information learned in social studies class, personal experience, and the experiences of others. 

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References

  • Thompson, C. et. Al. (2018). Wisconsin standards for social studies. Wisconsin Department of Instruction.