Problem-Based Learning units for Grade 6 social studies. Each unit moves students from building knowledge (surface) to organizing it (deep) to solving a real, ill-structured problem as a stakeholder (transfer).
Vocabulary, key facts, jigsaw reading, map & data work.
Resource–needs concept map, secondary sources, points of view, argument.
Meet the problem, take a role, investigate, propose a solution, debrief.
Three neighboring countries share one great river. Populations are growing, a dry year has come, and the river cannot meet everyone's demand. Students become stakeholders in the region and work the question of how the countries should share the river. 5–8 class periods.
Open the unit → World Cultures · Culture · Economics · Government · §113.18A world region is offered a huge factory-and-tourism project that promises thousands of jobs and money for schools and roads — but it would rise next to an ancient heritage site and change a traditional way of life. Students become stakeholders and work the question of whether the project should go ahead, and how. 5–8 class periods.
Open the unit → World Cultures · Government · Citizenship · §113.18A new community has come together to share a land and a future, and must decide how it will govern itself: who holds power, what limits that power, how decisions are made, and how rights are protected. Students become founders and stakeholders and work the question of what kind of government the society should build. 5–8 class periods.
Open the unit →| TEKS SE | What students do |
|---|---|
| (c)(3) | Explain factors that influence the location and characteristics of settlements. |
| (c)(4) | Explain how geographic factors affect the economic development of societies. |
| (c)(5) | Analyze human–environment interaction: physical processes, how people modify environments, and how they use resources. |
| (c)(6) · (c)(7) | Identify the factors of production and describe ways people organize economic systems (traditional, command, market, mixed). |
| (c)(8) | Interpret economic activities and data across places. |
| (c)(9) · (c)(10) | Compare limited and unlimited governments and ways societies organize government. |
| (c)(11) · (c)(12) | Describe how citizenship, rights, and responsibilities vary among societies. |
| (c)(15) | Explain relationships and points of contact among world cultures. |
| (c)(19) · (c)(20) | Analyze sources and points of view; use geographic tools and data; support a claim with evidence. |
| (c)(22)(B) | Use the problem-solving process: identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, weigh advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate its effectiveness. |
🧑🏫 Teacher supports: UDL · ELPS · PBL facilitation guide · Activity → TEKS correlation