Social Studies 6
Society and Culture

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

It is expected that students will:

• describe ways social and economic organizations satisfy needs and wants in a variety of cultures
• assess the relationship between cultures and their environments
• describe daily life, work, family structures, and gender roles in Canada and the world
• analyse how a society's artistic expression reflects its culture
• demonstrate appreciation of contributions of a variety of cultures to Canada and the world

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Society and Culture in other grades click on an icon below.

• List social or economic organizations on cards and distribute the cards to students. Have each student research and write about or illustrate how the organization on his or her card meets needs and wants. (Sources of information could include the Internet, the organization itself, and library research.) As a class, sort cards into common categories of needs and wants and label them. Set up a station for each category and add students' descriptions.
• Have students view multimedia portraits and read short stories or poems about people from a variety of environments (e.g., rain forest, desert, city). Using specific criteria (e.g., geographic features, resources, artistic expression), ask students to assess the relationships between various cultures around the world and their environments and to report on differences and similarities.
• Provide students with pictures of people living and working in different countries. Generate questions to prompt student response. (e.g., What can you tell about work and daily life? Can you distinguish between the roles of women and men? Boys and girls?) Then have them work in groups to create role dramas or audiotapes depicting the family structures, gender roles, and daily life of people in Canada or in another part of the world.
• Ask students to brainstorm examples of artistic expression (e.g., painting, carving, theatre, rap music, dance), then have them each select a form of expression and hypothesize about how and why it reflects its culture.
• Organize students into groups and have each group simulate a tour of a culture. Tours should include "stops" at locations showing representations or artifacts that show specific contributions of that culture to society.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• To assess students' work in classifying social and economic organizations, look for evidence that they can:
  • develop categories of needs and wants that these organizations satisfy
  • give specific examples of how particular organizations address specific needs or wants
  • generalize about the role of the organizations in meeting needs and wants
• When students create role dramas or audiotapes depicting family structures, gender roles, and daily life in a chosen culture, note the extent to which they:
  • provide accurate representations of each required element
  • include details that show understanding of some of the complexities
  • avoid oversimplifying or stereotyping
  • show respect for the culture they are portraying
• When students simulate tours of a culture, note the extent to which they:
  • assemble authentic artifacts or representations
  • identify specific contributions of the culture
  • show interest and respect
• To demonstrate their understanding of how a society's artistic expression reflects its culture, have students analyse several examples of art from a chosen culture. Look for evidence that they:
  • identify common elements in the artworks (e.g., style, themes, materials, content)
  • make connections among elements in the artworks and what they already know of the culture
  • make inferences to extend their understanding of the culture
• At the end of a unit of study on a selected culture, ask students to complete statements such as:
  • An important thing I learned was ‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .
  • One thing I learned that surprised me was ‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .
  • I think this was a worthwhile (not a worthwhile) study because ‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .