Grade 06: Social science

In this unit, 'History: early humans to ancient civilisations', you learn to describe how early people lived and early cities began. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Place it: find where and when 'History: early humans to ancient civilisations' happens, on a map, a timeline or in a local example.
• Gather: read or listen to two short sources and note who is speaking and why.
• Use it: describe how early people lived and early cities began. Give a reason and one piece of evidence for every point.
• Weigh it: say what another person might think, and why, before you decide.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Describe early people. For most of history, humans were hunter-gatherers in the Old Stone Age. They lived in small groups, in caves or shelters, and moved to follow animals and ripe plants. They made tools from stone, bone and wood, and learned to control fire for warmth, cooking and protection.
2. Step 2, Add more of their lives. They wore animal skins, painted animals on cave walls, and made spears and scrapers. The group shared food and looked after children. We learn this from archaeologists, who study tools, bones and paintings and take care not to disturb a site.
3. Step 3, Describe the farming change. About 10,000 years ago, people in the New Stone Age began to grow wheat and barley and keep sheep and goats. They settled in villages, built houses, made pots, and stored grain. A food surplus meant some people could do other jobs.
4. Step 4, Describe how cities began. Early cities grew beside rivers: the Nile in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia and the Indus in South Asia. Fertile mud, irrigation and surplus food supported thousands of people, along with traders, builders and rulers. The wheel appeared around 3500 BCE.
5. Step 5, Describe city features. Sumerian cities had temples, markets and cuneiform writing pressed into clay from about 3200 BCE. Indus cities around 2600 BCE had planned streets, brick houses and drains. Such a city was founded about 2600 + 2000 = 4,600 years before the year 2000 CE.
6. Step 6, Your turn: how many years before 2000 CE was a city founded in 3000 BCE, and name one reason it grew by a river. Answer: 3000 + 2000 = 5,000 years. A river gave water, fertile soil for crops, and a way to trade.

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Describe how early people lived and early cities began: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Geography: Earth in space', you learn to describe the solar system, latitudes and longitudes. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Place it: find where and when 'Geography: Earth in space' happens, on a map, a timeline or in a local example.
• Gather: read or listen to two short sources and note who is speaking and why.
• Use it: describe the solar system, latitudes and longitudes. Give a reason and one piece of evidence for every point.
• Weigh it: say what another person might think, and why, before you decide.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Describe the solar system. The Sun is a star at the centre. Eight planets travel around it in order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Earth is about 150 million km from the Sun, so light takes about 150,000,000 / 300,000 = 500 s, or 8 minutes, to reach us.
2. Step 2, Describe Earth's motions. Earth spins on its tilted axis once in 24 hours, causing day and night, and this is rotation. It goes around the Sun once in about 365 and a quarter days, which is revolution, so we usually add a leap day every four years. Try it with a globe and a torch, never shining it into eyes.
3. Step 3, Describe latitudes. These are imaginary circles parallel to the Equator, measured in degrees north or south. The Equator is 0 degrees and each pole is 90 degrees. The Tropic of Cancer is 23.5 degrees north, and the Arctic Circle is 66.5 degrees north. One degree of latitude is about 111 km. The UAE lies at about 22 to 26 degrees north.
4. Step 4, Describe longitudes. These are lines from pole to pole, measured east or west of the prime meridian at 0 degrees. There are 360 degrees in a full circle, so the Earth turns 15 degrees every hour (360 / 24 = 15). The UAE lies at about 51 to 56 degrees east.
5. Step 5, Use longitude for time. A place at 75 degrees east is 75 / 15 = 5 hours ahead of the prime meridian. Dubai at about 55 degrees east is 55 / 15, about 3 hours 40 minutes ahead by the Sun. The UAE uses 60 degrees east as its standard line, which is 4 hours ahead.
6. Step 6, Your turn: when it is noon at the prime meridian, what is the local solar time at 75 degrees west? Answer: 75 / 15 = 5 hours behind, so it is 7 a.m.

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Describe the solar system, latitudes and longitudes: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Geography: maps and landforms', you learn to read maps and describe major landforms. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Place it: find where and when 'Geography: maps and landforms' happens, on a map, a timeline or in a local example.
• Gather: read or listen to two short sources and note who is speaking and why.
• Use it: read maps and describe major landforms. Give a reason and one piece of evidence for every point.
• Weigh it: say what another person might think, and why, before you decide.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Use latitude and longitude. The Equator is 0 degrees latitude. Dubai is near 25 degrees North and 55 degrees East; Mumbai is near 19 degrees North and 73 degrees East. The Tropic of Cancer, 23.5 degrees North, crosses both India and the UAE.
2. Step 2, Work a scale problem. On a map, 1 cm stands for 25 km. A road measuring 6.4 cm is 6.4 x 25 = 160 km long. A larger scale such as 1:50,000 shows more detail for a small area than 1:5,000,000.
3. Step 3, Compute time from longitude. The Earth turns 15 degrees each hour. The UAE uses UTC+4 and India UTC+5:30, so when it is 10:00 in Dubai it is 11:30 in Mumbai. India's time is 1 hour 30 minutes ahead.
4. Step 4, Read a contour map. Contour lines join points of equal height. If the lines are spaced 20 m apart and packed closely, the slope is steep; if they are wide apart, it is gentle. A closed ring with rising values marks a hill.
5. Step 5, Describe landforms with an example. Mountains: Himalayas, with Everest at about 8,850 m (check the current figure). Plateau: Deccan. Plains: Indo-Gangetic. Desert: Thar. Model answer: 'A plateau is a flat-topped highland with steep sides; the Deccan lies in southern India.'
6. Step 6, Your turn: a map scale is 1 cm = 10 km, and two towns are 7.5 cm apart. Model answer: 'The distance is 7.5 x 10 = 75 km. The towns are 75 km apart on the ground.'

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Read maps and describe major landforms: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Civics: diversity and government', you learn to describe diversity, government and local governance. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Place it: find where and when 'Civics: diversity and government' happens, on a map, a timeline or in a local example.
• Gather: read or listen to two short sources and note who is speaking and why.
• Use it: describe diversity, government and local governance. Give a reason and one piece of evidence for every point.
• Weigh it: say what another person might think, and why, before you decide.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Describe diversity. People differ in language, food, dress, festivals, family customs and ideas. A class of 30 may speak 8 languages at home. India's Constitution lists 22 languages (check the current figure), and the UAE is home to people of a great many nationalities. Diversity gives us more to learn from each other.
2. Step 2, Describe respect. Judging all people of one group as the same is a stereotype, such as 'girls cannot play cricket'. A prejudice can lead to discrimination, when someone is treated unfairly. We judge a person by what they do, not by group. Unity in diversity means different people live together with respect.
3. Step 3, Describe what government does. Government makes laws, runs public services and keeps order. In a democracy, people choose it by voting. It has three parts: the legislature makes laws, the executive carries them out, and the judiciary settles disputes and decides if a law has been broken.
4. Step 4, Describe levels of government. A country has government at the national level, the state or regional level, and the local level for a village or town. Each level has its own tasks. National government looks after defence and foreign matters, while local government looks after the nearest streets, water and lights.
5. Step 5, Describe local governance. In villages, a council called the panchayat is elected by the villagers, with ward members and a head. A town has a municipality with elected councillors. With 10 wards, 10 members are chosen. They manage water, roads, street lights and rubbish, and they meet publicly so people can ask questions.
6. Step 6, Your turn: say whether each is local or national: street-light repair, defence of the country, a law for the whole country. Answer: local, national, national (made by the national lawmaking body).

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Describe diversity, government and local governance: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

On the slide: L1 Basic · Community helpers

Notes: Name three community helpers and say what each does. Notes: use pictures of a nurse, a bus driver and a shopkeeper; learners match each helper to a tool and say one way they help the neighbourhood.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Needs, wants and rules

Notes: Tell needs from wants and say why rules help a group. Notes: sort ten picture cards into needs and wants, then vote on one class rule and count the hands: 14 for and 6 against, so 20 voters took part.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Government and markets

Notes: Describe local, regional and national government and how a simple market works. Notes: follow one pencil from maker to shop; if it costs 4 to make and sells for 6, the margin is 2, which is 50 per cent of cost. Learners name one service each level provides.

This course: Grade 06 Social science is at this level. Its units include History: early humans to ancient civilisations; Geography: Earth in space; Geography: maps and landforms; Civics: diversity and government.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Rights, duties and prices

Notes: Explain how supply and demand affect price and why rights come with duties. Notes: if a bad season cuts mangoes from 100 to 60 crates while buyers stay the same, price tends to rise; learners draw the two lines and predict direction before stating a duty tied to a right.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Reading social data

Notes: Interpret a table of census or survey data and compare how two institutions work. Notes: a population rising from 2.4 to 2.7 million in ten years grew by 12.5 per cent; learners give two possible reasons and one limit of the data.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Theory and research methods

Notes: Apply core social science theories and methods to a social problem. Notes: compare a survey with interviews for one question. Practice: an economy of 600 billion with 50 million people is 12,000 per person, and learners explain what an average hides, such as unequal shares.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Causal research design

Notes: Design and critique a causal study with ethics, consent and clear limits. Notes: in a before-and-after comparison, the treated group rises 8 points and the comparison group 3, so the estimated effect is 5 points if trends would have run parallel. Learners test that assumption.