Unit Plan 32 (Grade 5 Social Studies): Expanding America’s Borders
Students trace U.S. exploration, migration, and westward expansion using maps and primary/secondary sources, examining how geography shaped routes and how expansion brought opportunity for some and loss and harm—especially for Indigenous peoples.
Focus: Trace exploration, migration, and westward expansion of the United States and evaluate its effects on land, economies, and different groups of people. Students use maps, routes, and primary/secondary sources to understand how geography shaped movement and how expansion brought both opportunities and harm, especially for Indigenous peoples.
Grade Level: 5
Subject Area: Social Studies (Geography • History • Inquiry/Skills)
Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session
I. Introduction
Students explore how the United States grew from a cluster of Atlantic coast states into a nation stretching westward. Using historical maps and journey stories, they trace major territorial changes, exploration routes, and migration trails. They investigate how landforms, waterways, and climate shaped the paths people took and the places they settled. Students also examine diverse perspectives—including Indigenous nations, settlers, enslaved people, and immigrants—to understand the causes and effects of expansion and how it remains a debated part of U.S. history.
Essential Questions
- How did the United States expand its borders through exploration, migration, and new territories?
- How did landforms, waterways, and climate influence where people traveled and settled in the expanding nation?
- What caused westward expansion, and what were some of its effects on different groups of people and on the environment?
- How did Indigenous peoples, enslaved people, women, settlers, and immigrants experience expansion differently?
- How can maps and primary/secondary sources help us understand both the promise and the costs of expanding America’s borders?
II. Objectives and Standards
Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:
- Use and create maps with scale, grid, legends, and routes to trace major territorial expansions, exploration routes, and migration trails in U.S. history.
- Explain how landforms, waterways, and climate shaped settlement patterns and regional economies in newly added territories.
- Use primary and secondary sources (maps, journal excerpts, images, short informational texts) to explain causes and effects of key expansion events (e.g., exploration journeys, migration movements, removal or relocation policies) in age-appropriate ways.
- Describe diverse perspectives and experiences related to expansion, including those of Indigenous peoples, enslaved people, women, settlers/pioneers, and immigrants.
- Create a “Expanding America’s Borders” map + explanation that shows routes, new territories, geographic features, and at least two cause–effect chains that highlight multiple perspectives.
Standards Alignment — 5th Grade (C3-based custom)
- 5.C3.Geo.2 — Use/create maps with scale, grid, legends, and routes to analyze exploration, trade, and migration.
- Example: Trace a migration trail, add distances, and show key waypoints.
- 5.C3.Geo.3 — Explain how landforms, waterways, and climate shaped settlement patterns and economies.
- Example: Connect fertile plains, rivers, and passes through mountains to farming communities and trade routes.
- 5.C3.Hist.2 — Use primary/secondary sources to explain causes and effects in major events.
- Example: Identify cause/effect chains for a migration or removal event.
- 5.C3.Hist.3 — Describe diverse perspectives/experiences (Indigenous peoples, enslaved people, women, patriots/loyalists, immigrants).
- Example: Compare two short accounts of the same expansion event from different viewpoints.
Success Criteria — Student Language
- I can read and create maps with a legend, scale, and routes to show how the United States expanded westward.
- I can explain how rivers, mountains, plains, and climate affected where people traveled and settled.
- I can use at least two sources to explain what caused an expansion event and what happened because of it.
- I can describe how different groups (such as Indigenous peoples, settlers, enslaved people, and immigrants) experienced expansion in different ways.
- I can make a map and explanation that show both the growth of the U.S. and some of the costs of expansion for people and places.