Social Studies

In the late 1700s to 1800s, the continental U.S. grew in size from only 13 colonies in the East to stretch across the continent to the Pacific Ocean. Join our players in a Pioneer Life adventure game, and follow events and historical figures during the westward expansion. Learn how the Louisiana Purchase and the Gold Rush encouraged the exploration and settlement of the U.S.

Apprentice reporters Sarah and James witness the Boston Tea Party in this animated Liberty's Kids, featuring the voice of Walter Cronkite as Ben Franklin. From Boston, the children travel to Lexington and Concord to cover the "Minutemen" and the first shot of the American Revolution.

Contains 3 episodes: "The First Fourth of July," "New York, New York," and "One Life To lose." Ben Franklin's young reporters, Sarah and James, sneak into Independence Hall on July 4, 1776, to watch the signing of the Declaration of Independence in this animated Liberty's Kids program, featuring the voices of Walter Cronkite, Annette Benning and Michael Douglas.

Join Sarah and James on their amazing journey through the American Revolution as apprentice reporters in Ben Franklin's print shop. Always in the midst of the action, they cover the remarkable battles, debates and individuals that shaped our nation.

Students will explore how society uses the Earth's resources to meet our most basic needs for food, water and shelter, and how those same resources influence how and where we live. Through our use and misuse of technology, students will see how we impact the world around us and conversely, how the forces of the ever-changing Earth shape our lives as well.

Imagine that someone from another country has asked you to describe the United States in a single sentence -- not an easy task! However, dividing America into regions and comparing and contrasting them can help explain our nation's unique natural, physical and cultural features.

Why do people settle where they do? Why do populations move from one place to another? In Human Systems, students will appreciate the role that the physical characteristics of Earth have played in determining where and how people live, and explore the notion that where and how we live has a huge impact on our planet.

Earth is a vast, diverse and complicated place, but breaking it down into regions allows us to simplify the whole. In Places & Regions, students will understand the physical and human characteristics that combine to form the areas we create to interpret our planet's complexity.

In this program, students will learn about cartography and technologies such as GIS, GPS and databases that geographers use to help us see the regular and recurring patterns in Earth's physical and human systems. These tools not only help us see and understand the world's patterns, but also help to make our planet a more comprehensible and fascinating place.

Explore the agricultural practices and technological devices that led to the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia. Meet the nomadic people who became farmers, and see how they established city-states, developed specialized work skills, and advanced organized religion.

In the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Sumerians developed a written language. Examine how they carved cuneiform characters into clay tablets. Then explore Sumerian folktales.

For the Sumerians, the Tigris River served as an important early trade route. They used it to obtain scarce commodities, such as metal and wood, in exchange for their grain. See how they traveled by river and over land to trade with India and Egypt. Then examine how technological advances, such as the cart, facilitated transporting people and goods.

Based on the traditional American folksong, this compelling tale recounts the daring adventures of one family's escape from slavery via the Underground Railroad. This touching story captures all the drama of a perilous flight to freedom.

This program explains that monuments and statues remind us of a community's past. Introduces the history of Native Americans in a survey of the homes built by Indians of the Pacific Northwest, the Woodlands, the Plains and the Southwest. Reviews the changes brought by the Pilgrims, how colonists established Williamsburg and how settlers advanced into the West.

This program distinguishes between the rules made by institutions such as schools and laws made for everyone in the community. Provides an introduction to the Bill of Rights and the freedoms it preserves for all Americans. Using women's suffrage as an example, explains that unjust laws can be changed. Stresses that new laws are always necessary, particular with major changes in technology.