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Grade 4

Social Studies

Due to curriculum changes, content in Social Studies is currently being reviewed and revised to meet the new curriculum expectations.

How to Use These Resources

TVO Learn is designed to meet each student where they are on their learning journey. Learning Activities are comprehensive and require guided instruction from an adult, while Resources for Learning, Apply the Learning prompts and Vocabulary lists work well to reinforce specific skills or to enable independent exploration of a subject. Use these helpful tips to get the most from TVO Learn.

Curriculum Overview

In Grade 4 social studies, students will develop their understanding of how we study the past, as they use various methods to examine social organization, daily life, and the relationship with the environment in different societies including First Nation and Inuit societies. Students will build on what they have learned in earlier grades to investigate a number of early societies from different regions and eras and representing different cultures. Students will also investigate the interrelationship between daily life and the environment in these societies and will compare aspects of it with present-day Canada.  

Students will also be provided with opportunities to develop an understanding of the connections between the past and present and the interactions within and between diverse communities, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities as well as the interactions for a student’s own community

The social studies curriculum is divided into two strands:

  • Heritage and Identity: Early Societies to 1500 CE
  • People and Environment: Political and Physical Regions of Canada

Interested in learning more? View Curriculum PDF
For French resources, please visit idello.org

On this page:

Learning Activities

Learning Activities provide opportunity for deeper exploration of a subject. Organized by grade and topic (or strand), students should be guided through each Learning Activity by an adult. Before clicking on a topic to prepare for or begin this guided instruction, be sure to read these helpful tips about how to get the most out of TVO Learn.

Learning Activities provide opportunity for deeper exploration of a subject. Organized by grade and topic (or strand), students should be guided through each Learning Activity by an adult. Before clicking on a topic to prepare for or begin this guided instruction, be sure to read these helpful tips about how to get the most out of TVO Learn.

Learning Activities
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Heritage and Identity - Early Societies to 1500 CE

Learning Activity 1
What Are Sources?
Learning Activity 2
Connection with the Environment
Learning Activity 3
Social Organization in Early Societies
Learning Activity 4
Roles and Responsibilities
Learning Activity 5
Scientific and Technological Development
Learning Activity 6
Conflict and Cooperation
Learning Activity 7
Mapping Societies
Learning Activity 8
Compare Past and Present

People and Environment - Political and Physical Regions of Canada

Learning Activity 1
Canada’s Provinces and Territories
Learning Activity 2
Physical Regions
Learning Activity 3
Landforms and Natural Resources
Learning Activity 4
Industries and the Environment
Learning Activity 5
Impacts of Industry
Learning Activity 6
Sustainability
Learning Activity 7
Tourism
Learning Activity 8
Environmental Stewardship

Resources for Learning

Chosen by TVO educators, these resources support the curriculum outlined above. Review the below list of options along with the activities. Then, read, watch, listen or play to build understanding and knowledge.

Please be aware by accessing the resources below you will be leaving TVO Learn and entering other TVO domains that are subject to different privacy policies and terms of use.

Complete the suggested activities using these resources and other TVO resources.

Apply the Learning

Choose from the following to consolidate learning across all curriculum strands.

 

  • Create your own definitions for 20 of the words in the vocabulary list. 

  • Take the time to research an ancient civilization. Ask yourself: How did the people meet their needs using the environment? Create a poster showing what you have learned. 

  • Why are the temples at Angkor Wat or mosques at Timbuktu such important archaeological sites? What can they tell us about the societies that built them? 

  • What farming techniques used by the Mayans and the people of ancient India are still practised by Canadian farmers today?

  • What does the Inuksuk tell you about the relationships between Inuit societies, the land, and the environment?

  • Research a mineral and how it is extracted from the earth. How does the mining process benefit a community? What are the negative effects? For more information check out: https://www.tvokids.com/preschool/now-you-know-kindergarten/videos/rocks

  • What impact can human activities have on the natural environment?

  • How do we find the balance between environmental stewardship and human needs/ wants?  

  • Why is it important to consider the long-term impact of human activities?  

Vocabulary

Review this list of vocabulary associated with the curriculum. Practice spelling, research definitions, and find these vocabulary words when engaging with the TVO resources or completing learning activities.

Students should understand and be able to apply these words in context.

1500 CE 

Canada 

community 

culture 

daily life 

environment 

First Nations 

interrelationship 

Inuit society 

indigenous 

national scale 

past 

present-day 

relationship 

social organization 

society 

balance 

beliefs and values 

climatic regions 

citizenship  

digital map 

environmental stewardship 

interactive map 

landform  

mapping skill 

municipal 

physical regions 

political regions 

power 

print map 

provinces  

region 

stewardship  

territories 

vegetation 

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