Farmland Elementary School

Unit 1

Worlds Collide

(1300-1650)

Unit Question: What does it mean to "discover" a new land?

Unit Overview: Students will review indigenous cultures existing in West Africa and eastern North America before European exploration in the late 1400s. They will also identify explorers who were significant to early European presence in North America and describe early European settlement in the New World.

Unit 2

The Impact of European Exploration and Colonization

(1450-1700)

Unit Question: How does exploration and colonization impact people?

Unit Overview: Students will describe the impact of European exploration and colonization on existing indigenous African and American Indian cultures, including the cultural exchanges between European settlers and American Indian tribes and the rise of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Unit 3

British Expansion in the Thirteen Colonies

(1500-1750)

Unit Question: How did colonization shape the lives of various groups of people in the "New World"?

Unit Overview: Students will learn about the development of the colonial regions and their economies, including how colonial economies relied on enslavement and indentured servitude as sources of labor. They will describe the experiences of free and enslaved Black people in the colonies and explain how freedoms were denied or limited based on colonial laws.

Unit 4

The American Revolution

(1750-1789)

Unit Question: How did people in the colonies resist British rule?

Unit Overview: Students will identify major events leading to the American Revolution and explain opposing perspectives of those in support of and against the war. They will also explain the purpose of the Declaration of Independence and describe the new nation’s first attempt at establishing a central government.

Unit 1

Development of a New American Government

(1787-1800)

Unit Question: How did the creation and transformation of governing documents affect the new nation and people living there?

Unit Overview: Students will explain the purpose of the Constitution and how it established a more effective centralized government. They will also identify the three branches of government and their scopes of power and explain the federal, state and local levels of government.

Unit 2

Challenges of a New and Expanding Nation

(1800-1865)

Unit Question: How do people respond to social, economic, and political uncertainty?

Unit Overview: Students will describe the varying interests and the increasing conflicts among different groups of people living in the new nation.

Unit 3

Reconstruction and the Rise of Industrial America

(1863-Early 1900s)

Unit Question: How did the United States change as a result of the Civil War, industrialization, immigration and urbanization?

Unit Overview: Students will describe the impact of the Civil War on the nation and how freedom, populations, and innovations in America changed during the late 19th century.

Unit 4

Challenges of American Economic, Political and Civic Life

(1900-Today)

Unit Question: How have people used democratic tools to solve problems?

Unit Overview:  Students will explore how over time individuals, community members, institutions, and organizations have used tools of a democracy to redefine and expand freedom.