Social Studies Lesson Plans

Our social studies lesson plans cover history, different cultures and ancient civilizations, geography, major US holidays, and other topics of social or interpersonal interest. These make up only a small part of our Library, which is made up of standards-aligned and interactive lessons that students can use at school or remotely. 

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Learning About Other Cultures

When we study ancient societies and cultures from around the world, we broaden our perspectives by learning about other ways of life which may not be familiar to us.

In our Library we offer lessons about Ancient Egypt, including on Ancient Egyptian Culture, the Geography & Daily Life of Ancient Egypt, the Old Kingdom, and the Middle and New Kingdoms. We also offer a lesson that examines the life of Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt. 

Our lessons cover Ancient Rome in similar depth, including lessons on the Roman Republic and the Society and Government of the Roman Republic. We also cover The Early Emperors of the Roman Empire as well as the cultural and scientific contributions they made. We also have a lesson about the fall of the Roman Empire. 

Other ancient civilizations covered in our lessons are:

• Maya Civilization (and daily life for the Mayans)
• The Aztec Empire (and the Fall of the Aztec Empire)
• The Incan Empire (and the Fall of the Incan Empire)
• The Byzantine Empire (and the Fall of the Byzantine Empire & Rise of the Ottoman Empire)
• Ghana Empire
• Mali Empire
• Yellow River Civilization
• Indus River Civilizations

All of our lessons are integrated with activities and images to keep students engaged. Journey into the past with social studies lessons from Gynzy!

Civics/Citizenship

Our lessons also cover topics about the US government and, more broadly, what it means to be a good member of your community: 

• Rules and responsibilities in the classroom
• Conflict Resolution
• Explain the 3 Branches of Government
• Traits of Responsible Citizens
• What are laws?
• How to provide service to the community
• Character traits of role models
• Why do we have taxes
• Why do we have rules
• How a bill becomes a law
• Local, state, and national levels of the government
• Purpose of the Bill of Rights
• Purpose of the Constitution
• What are individual rights
• Elections and voting for adults
• How the government uses taxes
• Physical characteristics of a community

These lessons all attempt to make important concepts approachable and interesting for K-8 students. Also remember that you can customize these lessons however you want. Change them slightly and present them that way or take one activity you like in particular and add it to lessons of your own. With Gynzy, the only limit is your creativity!

Major Historical Events

For slightly older students interested in history, our social studies lessons cover these major historical events:

• The Black Death during The Middle Ages
• Causes of the Great Depression
• Effects of the Great Depression
• California Gold Rush
• Louisiana Purchase
• Transcontinental Railroad
• The Holocaust
• People who helped abolish slavery

Remember that to filter the Gynzy Library by grade, click the dropdown menu on the top-right of your screen.

Geography & Spatial Awareness

Our most popular geography-based lesson is our Photo of the Day activity, which includes more than 50 photos of amazing landmarks and landscapes from around the world and includes additional information about each location. We also have lessons that cover:

• Geography of the Thirteen Colonies
• Match legend symbols to map features
• Parts of a map
• Intermediate directions
• Counties, cities, towns, and villages
• Residential, industrial, commercial, and recreational land
• Identify continents and oceans
• Purposes of maps
• Read, construct, and use maps
• What are maps?
• Locate familiar places on a map
• Locate U.S. states on a map

Social Studies Lessons from Gynzy

Gynzy is an online whiteboard with thousands of standards-aligned, pre-made activities that you can customize to your liking, making it easy for you to create engaging online lesson plans that students can engage with no matter where they are located. Get started today!