Unit Plan 18 (Grade 3 Social Studies): Midyear Inquiry Project — Our Community Atlas

Focus: Create a class atlas that shows our community and region using student-made maps, landform and water diagrams, human-made features, and cultural traditions, while practicing the full inquiry cycle (questions → research → source checks → evidence-based explanations).

Grade Level: 3

Subject Area: Social Studies (Geography • Inquiry/Research)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 45–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students become geographers and community researchers who work together to create a class “Our Community Atlas.” They develop questions about their community and region, gather information from maps, photos, charts, short texts, and interviews, and then design atlas pages that highlight types of communities (urban/suburban/rural), landforms and waterways, human-made features, and local traditions or events. Along the way, students practice checking whether sources are relevant and mostly factual, and they use evidence to write short explanations with simple citations (naming source titles or authors). By the end, the class has a shared atlas that tells the story of where they live and how people interact with the environment.

Essential Questions

• How does where we live shape what we do, how we travel, and how we celebrate?
• How can maps and geographic tools help us understand our community and region (landforms, water, roads, buildings)?
• How do we know if a source (map, photo, text, website, interview) is useful and trustworthy for answering our questions?
• How can we use evidence to explain what makes our community unique and how people interact with the environment?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Develop compelling and supporting questions about their community and region (e.g., landforms, neighborhoods, traditions, transportation).
2. Gather information from multiple sources (maps, charts, photos, short texts, interviews, simple digital tools) to learn about local geography and community life.
3. Evaluate sources for relevance and basic credibility, and distinguish between facts, opinions, and simple perspectives about the community.
4. Create simple maps with titles, legends, and cardinal/intermediate directions to show community regions, landforms, waterways, and human-made features.
5. Describe local landforms, waterways, climate/weather patterns, and human activities, explaining how people adapt, modify, and conserve the environment.
6. Use evidence from their sources to write short explanations for their atlas pages, including simple citations (source title/author).
7. Combine individual or group pages into a class “Our Community Atlas” and present it to a real audience (another class, families, or school staff).

Standards Alignment — 3rd Grade (C3-based custom)

• 3.C3.Inq.1 — Develop compelling and supporting questions about communities and regions.
  • Example: “How does where we live shape what we do?”
• 3.C3.Inq.2 — Gather information from multiple sources (maps, charts, photos, primary/secondary texts, interviews).
  • Example: Use a town map, a park brochure, and a short news article to learn about a new trail.
• 3.C3.Inq.3 — Evaluate sources for relevance and basic credibility; distinguish fact, opinion, and perspective.
  • Example: Identify which paragraph is opinion vs. fact in a community newsletter.
• 3.C3.Inq.4 — Use evidence to make claims and explanations; cite source titles or authors.
  • Example: Write a claim about why a river is important, citing a map and a park sign.
• 3.C3.Geo.1 — Identify and compare types of communities and regions (urban/suburban/rural; physical and cultural regions).
  • Example: Create a Venn diagram of city vs. rural features.
• 3.C3.Geo.2 — Use and create maps with titles, legends, scale symbols, and cardinal/intermediate directions.
  • Example: Draw a neighborhood map using N, NE, E… to describe a route.
• 3.C3.Geo.3 — Describe landforms, waterways, climate, and weather patterns; connect them to human activities.
  • Example: Explain why a town near a river might have a levee.
• 3.C3.Geo.4 — Explain human-made features and infrastructure (roads, bridges, canals) and their purposes.
  • Example: Show how a new bridge shortens travel between two towns.
• 3.C3.Geo.5 — Analyze human–environment interaction (adapt, modify, conserve) and propose stewardship actions.
  • Example: Recommend two ways to reduce litter at a local park and justify with evidence.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can ask good questions about my community and region.
• I can find answers by using maps, photos, short texts, and maybe an interview.
• I can tell if a source gives mostly facts or is just someone’s opinion.
• I can make a map with a title, legend, and directions to show part of our community.
• I can explain how landforms, water, roads, and buildings affect what people do here.
• I can write a short explanation and name the source where I got my information.
• I can help create a page for our class Community Atlas.