ALEX Learning Activity Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] USS5 (5) 10 :

10 ) Describe political, social, and economic events between 1803 and 1860 that led to the expansion of the territory of the United States, including the War of 1812, the Indian Removal Act, the Texas-Mexican War, the Mexican-American War, and the Gold Rush of 1849.

•  Analyzing the role of the Louisiana Purchase and explorations of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark for their impact on Westward Expansion

•  Explaining the purpose of the Monroe Doctrine

•  Identifying Alabama's role in the expansion movement in the United States, including the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the Trail of Tears (Alabama)

•  Identifying the impact of technological developments on United States' expansion

Examples: steamboat, steam locomotive, telegraph, barbed wire

[SS2010] USS5 (5) 1 :

1 ) Locate on a map physical features that impacted the exploration and settlement of the Americas, including ocean currents, prevailing winds, large forests, major rivers, and significant mountain ranges.

•  Locating on a map states and capitals east of the Mississippi River

•  Identifying natural harbors in North America

Examples: Mobile, Boston, New York, New Orleans, Savannah (Alabama)

[SS2010] USS5 (5) 11 :

11 ) Identify causes of the Civil War, including states' rights and the issue of slavery.

•  Describing the importance of the Missouri Compromise, Nat Turner's insurrection, the Compromise of 1850, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown's rebellion, and the election of 1860

•  Recognizing key Northern and Southern personalities, including Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Joseph Wheeler (Alabama)

•  Describing social, economic, and political conditions that affected citizens during the Civil War

•  Identifying Alabama's role in the Civil War (Alabama)

Examples: Montgomery as the first capital of the Confederacy, Winston County's opposition to Alabama's secession (Alabama)

•  Locating on a map sites important to the Civil War

Examples: Mason-Dixon Line, Fort Sumter, Appomattox, Gettysburg, Confederate states, Union states (Alabama)

•  Explaining events that led to the conclusion of the Civil War

Students in each Grade 5 class will work in collaboration to create a group Google Slides presentation celebrating the Alabama Bicentennial (or Alabama History.) Each student pair will research a different topic to find information to create two or three slides as part of the group slideshow. The finished class Google Slides show will be presented, with each student pair reading their own slides. (See digital resource for suggested topic list drawn from course standards.) 

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX Learning Development Summit.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] USS5 (5) 1 :

1 ) Locate on a map physical features that impacted the exploration and settlement of the Americas, including ocean currents, prevailing winds, large forests, major rivers, and significant mountain ranges.

•  Locating on a map states and capitals east of the Mississippi River

•  Identifying natural harbors in North America

Examples: Mobile, Boston, New York, New Orleans, Savannah (Alabama)

In this activity, students are challenged to identify and locate the major geographical features in the United States. There are 20 questions, and students have 30 seconds to respond to each question. Each question also includes a hint as a scaffold for students who need additional support in locating the feature. 

This activity results from the ALEX Resource Gap Project.