Nystrom Education's Social Studies Expo


Create a Social Studies Expo by setting up several tables or booths in the cafeteria or gym (or in your classroom). Have one or two parents or older students conduct an activity at each booth. Give students attending the expo a card that has each booth named. Award them a sticker or hole punch for each booth they visit. The following are expo booth ideas based on activities in the EWW hands-on programs:
	Graphing Preferences
	Have students vote for some issue of interest to them - a destination for a field trip, sports equipment to buy for the playground, a new lunch menu item to serve, or a movie to watch. Display three or four possible choices. Have each student print his or her name on a name tag and post it under the student's favorite choice, making a bar graph. Periodically announce the number of votes each choice has received.
	Playing Town Bingo
	Give students a Town Bingo card (see EWW Kindergarten, In Town, Lesson 1) and several place markers. Call out a category of place, such as "a place to buy things," and have students cover up an appropriate square on the card. (Note: there are often several correct answers.) The first student to cover up 5 pictures across, down, or diagonally wins.
	Looking at Now and Then
	Place two shoeboxes, one labeled "Now," the other labeled "Past," on a table. Give students a number of pictures and objects, some clearly from the past, some clearly contemporary, to sort and place in the appropriate box.
	Making Cookie Maps
	Have students make (and eat) their own maps using a sugar cookie, frosting, and small candies. For example, green frosting can stand for land, blue frosting for water, and a red candy for a store.
	Staying Safe
	On a bulletin board, post a sign saying "How We Stay Safe." Have students name one important safety rule they follow at school, at home, or elsewhere. Write the rules on an index card and pin or tape them below the sign on the bulletin board. Give each student a safety badge for his or her contribution.
	Making Animal Puppets
	Have students create puppets of animals from around the world. Set up a puppet-making station with two paper plates for each puppet (stapled together, leaving the plate open at the bottom so that students can fit their hands inside), pre-cut construction paper shapes, glue, feathers, and other craft materials. Display photos of a variety of animals for reference.
	Matching Symbols and Places
	On a table or a bulletin board, display or post cards that have photos of places and cards that have symbols of those places. Have students try to match the photos with their symbols.
	Having Holiday Fun
	On a bulletin board, display the names of a few holidays that will occur around the time of the expo. (Check the Celebrating Holidays section on this site.) Have students create a postcard-size picture representing that holiday. Supply drawing paper, construction paper, markers or crayons, and scissors. Display the drawings below the name of the holiday it represents.
	Sorting Clothes By Season
	Display an assortment of clothes, jackets, and various accessories, such as an umbrella, a beach ball, and so on, on a table. Label four large boxes, each with the name of a season. Have students place each item in the box labeled with the season during which the item would be worn or used.
	Identifying Land and Water
	Have a student close his or her eyes and spin a globe. When the globe stops, have the student point to a place on the globe and then open his or her eyes. Have the student decide if he or she is pointing to land or water (or continents or oceans).
	Showing Where Workers Work
	Create labels or small pictures showing various workers or supply dolls or toy figures of workers. Using an EWW neighborhood or community desk map, have students place the label or picture on the location each worker might work.
	Playing a U.S. Symbols Memory Game
	Photocopy or print out pictures of United States Symbols (picture sources include Nystrom atlases, books about symbols, and the Internet). Paste each picture onto an index card. On another set of index cards write what each symbol stands for. Place the cards face down on a table. Have students take turns turning over one card from each set per turn. If a student makes a match he or she gets to keep that pair. The player with the most pairs at the end of the game wins.
	Identifying Near and Far
	Have index cards with each U.S. state's name printed on it face down on a table. Give students a desk map showing the United States. Then have them flip over two index cards. Using the map, have students determine which of the two states on the cards is nearest to their own state.
	Making Choices
	Display a number of small items, such as student-created art, pencils, paper, or books, on a table. Write a price on each item. Give similar items different prices. Then give students a set amount of play money. Have students use the money to "buy" the items they want. Ask them why they chose one item over another.
	Finding a Route
	Play with two students at a time. Give each student an EWW neighborhood or community map and a set of directions that use cardinal directions, landmarks (such as the pizza place), and distance to get from one place to another. Have both students trace the route on their desk map. The first student to complete the route correctly wins.
	Seeing How Water Flows
	Have students use a wide, shallow pan and modeling clay to create a landscape with mountains, hills, and plains. Have them predict where water will flow in their landscape. Then let them pour water over the landscape to create rivers and lakes.
	Naming the Mystery State
	Display a set of cards with outline maps of states on one side and clues about the identity of the state on the other side. Have students choose a card. Read the clues listed on the back until the student guesses the name of the state. You can use the Mystery State activities in the "Know Your State" section of this site for maps and clues.
	Graphing Favorite Places
	On three index cards, write "Places to Play," "Places to Learn," and "Places to Shop." Put the cards on a table or post them on a bulletin board. Have students write down their favorite places to play, learn, and shop on separate cards or sticky notes and place them below the appropriate index cards. If two or more students pick the same place, have them stack the cards or notes on top of each other. Keep a running tally of which places are the most popular.
	Sorting Needs
	Have pictures of food, clothing, and homes from your community and around the world on a table. Tape or pin three cards on a bulletin board: one labeled "Food," another labeled "Clothing," and a third labeled "Homes." Have students pin or tape the pictures from the table below the appropriate heading.
	Running Errands
	Make up an errand list and display it. Have students draw a route on an EWW neighborhood or community desk map to complete all of the errands on the list. Then have them write directions based on the route they drew.
	Identifying Resources
	Post a recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies on a bulletin board. Display pictures of a variety of natural resources on a table (a mixture of resources used and not used in the cookies). Have students identify which resources are used to make the oatmeal cookies. If possible, have samples of the finished products.
	Classifying Continent or Country
	Set up several chairs at a booth. Give students a desk map of the world. Call out a country or a continent and have students stand up if the place is a country or sit down if the place is a continent.