Unit Plan 35 (Grade 5 Social Studies): The United States in the World

Focus: Understand global interdependence and how the United States is connected with other nations through trade, ideas, people, and shared problems, while noticing how different levels of government (local, state, federal) play roles in these connections.

Grade Level: 5

Subject Area: Social Studies (Geography • Economics • Civics)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

Students explore how the United States is part of a global network of countries that trade goods, share ideas, and face common challenges. Using world maps, trade examples, and simple data, they see how movement of products like clothing, food, and electronics connects them to people across the globe. They also learn how interdependence means countries rely on each other—and how governments at the local, state, and federal levels help manage services and decisions related to these global ties.

Essential Questions

• How is the United States connected to other nations through the movement of goods, people, and ideas?
• What does interdependence mean in a global context, and how can it bring both benefits and challenges?
• How does trade (and sometimes taxes or boycotts) link the U.S. economy to other countries’ economies?
• What roles do local, state, and federal governments play in services and decisions that connect the U.S. to the wider world?
• How can understanding the U.S. in the world help students think more carefully about the choices they make as consumers and citizens?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Use world and regional maps to show spatial connections between the United States and other regions (trade routes, product origins, flows of ideas and people).
2. Explain global interdependence by tracing how a few everyday items (food, clothing, technology) depend on resources and workers in multiple countries.
3. Describe how trade, taxes/tariffs, and boycotts can change prices, demand, and relationships between the U.S. and other nations in age-appropriate, simplified scenarios.
4. Compare local, state, and federal government roles in services and decisions that connect to the wider world (e.g., ports, roads, education, national defense, international agreements).
5. Create a “U.S. in the World Interdependence Map & Brief” that shows world connections, examples of trade/interdependence, and explains which level of government is responsible for a selected global-related service or issue.

Standards Alignment — 5th Grade (C3-based custom)

• 5.C3.Geo.5 — Describe spatial connections among places (diffusion, movement, interdependence) across the Atlantic world and beyond.
  • Example: Show how ideas and goods move between the U.S. and other world regions.
• 5.C3.Econ.4 — Explain trade, taxation, and interdependence (including boycotts); model how a boycott or tariff affects prices and demand.
  • Example: Use a simple chart to show how taxes or boycotts can change what people buy.
• 5.C3.Civ.5 — Compare levels of government (local/state/federal) and the services each provides.
  • Example: Match global-related issues (ports, highways, mail, national defense, foreign relations) to the responsible level of government.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can use a world map to show how the U.S. is connected to other places through goods, people, and ideas.
• I can explain what global interdependence means and give at least one example of how the U.S. depends on another country—and how others depend on us.
• I can describe how trade, taxes/tariffs, or boycotts might change prices or demand for a product.
• I can tell the difference between local, state, and federal governments and name at least one global-related service each helps provide.
• I can create a map and short explanation that clearly shows U.S. connections to the world and which level of government is involved in a world-connected issue.