The Social Sciences help students understand how people live together, make decisions, and shape communities so they can participate thoughtfully in society. In Years 4 to 6, students build upon their prior learning as they start to connect important concepts such as migration and democracy.

Teaching is structured around 4 strands that focus on key areas of learning. In Year 5, these include:

• History: historically significant natural events, Chinese dynasties
• Civics and Society: laws and the judicial system
• Geography: tectonic hazards, the Earth’s temperate and rainforest biomes
• Economic Activity: earning and saving money, trade.

History#

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on natural events of historical significance and the process of recovery and regeneration that followed. They will focus on dynasties in ancient and imperial China, c.2100BCE–1912 CE, especially the Shang Dynasty. 

For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

• use primary sources, for example, newspaper articles, first-hand accounts, photographs, historical documents, to tell the story of the Mt Tarawera eruption (1866) and its impact on Māori, trade and settlement, legislation, and town planning
• conduct a case study telling the story and describing the impact of a different natural disaster
• compare key features of Chinese dynasties, such as farming, government, people’s daily life, trade, religion, writing and other inventions
• explain the impact of the Silk Road and the historical significance of dynastic China
• demonstrate how historical documents and artefacts can be studied to learn how and why societies and events change over time.

Civics and Society#

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on laws and the judicial system. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

• understand the purpose of laws, bylaws, and other rules, to prevent harm, protect wellbeing, and maintain order
• understand that New Zealand’s judicial system is underpinned by the ‘rule of law’, the belief that everyone should follow the same laws, no matter who they are
• recognise that:
  • central government sets national laws, for example, traffic rules
  • councils set local bylaws, for example, pet control requirements
  • communities, like schools, also set rules
• understand that courts exist to make decisions based on the law, decide upon punishments, and help sort out disputes
• understand that the police keep people safe, respond to crime, and handle emergencies
• identify the laws and bylaws that apply to them on their way to school, and discuss why these laws are in place and whether they should change
• use examples to respectfully debate different viewpoints about a rule or law.

Geography#

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on the impact of tectonic hazards and on the Earth’s temperate and rainforest biomes. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

• understand that tectonic hazards are natural events caused by movements of the Earth's crust, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis
• use data and diagrams to understand and show how earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis happen
• identify the hazards that result from earthquakes and volcanoes and how to prepare for them
• understand that a biome is a large area of the Earth with a specific climate, plants, and animals that are suited to that environment
• use maps and diagrams to understand and explain the ecosystem within a biome
• compare temperate rainforests like those in New Zealand with tropical rainforests in other parts of the world
• use secondary data, like aerial photographs, to understand how deforestation impacts the environment and the Indigenous people living in rainforests.

Economic Activity#

What the teacher will focus on#

The teacher will focus on how people earn and save money and engage in trade. For example, by the end of the year, your child may be able to:

• understand different ways in which money can be stored or spent
• understand the role of banks and the services they offer
• explain how people can open and use bank accounts
• compare different kinds of work people do to help others and/or to earn money, including making goods and providing services
• identify the factors that influence the type of work people do, for example, their values about sustainability, the need to provide for family
• describe how forms of exchange have changed over time, from barter to the use of physical currency and electronic payments
• describe how trade and exchange have changed over time with the development of physical currency and the expansion of trade routes, like the Silk Road.