Home | Back
to top of page | Teacher
Resources | Video
& CD-ROM | Links
Tracks: Impressions of America
& The Virginia Standards of Learning for Social Studies
Tracks: Impressions of America is a 12-part video series available from PBS stations across the country. Rights to record off-air, duplicate, distribute and utilize this series for education are renewed annually. Teacher guides and a CD-ROM are available by contacting your local public TV station or by calling the Agency for Instructional Technology customer services at 1-800-457-4509 or by visiting visiting the AIT website at www.ait.net.
Tracks: Impressions of America aligns well to some content standards in grade 4 and all content standards in grades 5 and 6. In addition, the instructional design of the series promotes an investigative approach to learning and shows young people keeping journals, and experiencing history through travel to historic sites. The series is augmented with a student-centered CD-ROM that directly supports all of the skill standards in grades 4-6 including: map skills, using timelines, accessing and evaluating various historical resources, including primary resources.
| National Social Studies Strands | Time, Continuity & Change | Culture; Individual Development & Identity | People, Places & Environments; Global Connections | Production, Distribution & Consumption; Science, Technology & Society | Power, Authority & Governance; Individuals, Groups & Institutions | Civic Ideals & Practices |
| Virginia Standards of Learning | Students will understand
chrono-logical thinking, the connection between causes and effects and between continuity
and change. HISTORY |
History enables students …
to understand that ideas have real conse-quences, and to realize that events are shaped
both by ideas and the actions of individuals. HISTORY |
Geographic themes include
location, place, human environment, movement, and region. GEOGRAPHY |
…understand how our own
economic system works, as well as how other systems work. ECONOMICS |
History enables students to see
how people in other times and places have grappled with the fundamental questions of
truth, justice, and personal responsibility,… HISTORY |
The goal of civics instruction is
to develop in all students the requisite know-ledge and skills for informed, responsible
participation in public life. CIVICS |
| Tracks #1 Trekking Across Our Land 5.1 |
-Development of diverse Native American cultures | -Migration and immigration patterns as dynamic, positive forces. | -Pre-Columbian migration of humans from Asia to North America | -Agriculture as the driving force in determining settlement patterns of Native Americans | -Settlements led to evolution of early Native American societies | -Contributions of Native Americans to modern American lifestyles |
| Tracks #2 Spain Comes to America 5.2 |
-European explorers sought to exploit and control North America | -The conflict between European nations in North America | -Impact of European settlers on Timucuan people of Florida | -Early Atlantic trade routes | -Spain & England battle for control of America | -The role of the soldier in European expansion. |
| Tracks #3 Early Europea Settlements 4.1, 4.2 & 4.3 |
-Interactions between Europeans and Powhatans | -The motivation and goals of Jamestown, VA settlers | -Selection of location for the Jamestown settlement | -Evolution of a plantation economy dependent
on slavery -The economic boom of tobacco |
-How indentured servants were eventually replaced by African slaves | -Early examples of racism |
| Tracks #4 Seeds of Revolution 5.3 |
-How New England settlements differ from other regions | -New England Pilgrims and Puritans promote concepts of religious freedom | -Religious persecution in Europe drives ideologies of New England settlers | -Trade an important factor even in earliest settlements | -The Boston Tea Party | -Revolutionaries organize in Faneuil Hall |
| Tracks # 5 Independence! 5.4 |
-The Declaration of Independence | -Loyalists views conflict with revolutionary colonists | -Taxation without representation | -Economic forces fuel revolutionary fervor | -The Continental Congress and creation of a Continental Army | -The ideals of personal liberty as presented in the Declaration of Independence |
| Tracks # 6 A New Nation 4.4 &5.5 |
-U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights -Jefferson’s contributions |
-The War of 1812 | -The selection of Washington D.C. as the nation's capitol | -Jefferson's passion for science and technology | -The Connecticut Compromise establishes the bicameral legislature | -Patriotism & the new Nationalism |
| Tracks # 7 Westward Ho! 5.6 |
-Settlement moves westward | -Contrasting views of Europeans and Native Americans. | -Mexican-American War and Louisiana Purchase | -Entrenchment of slavery -The establishment of trans-portation routes to the west |
-The Trail of Tears and the establishment of Indian reservations | -19th Century Federal policy toward Native Americans |
| Tracks # 8 Divided & United 5.7 |
-The American Civil War | -Southern values and politics vs. the industrialized North | -Racial discrimination | -The role of the cotton gin on southern agricultural economy | -Abolitionism | - The modern Civil Rights movement |
| Tracks # 9 The Urbanization of America 6.1 & 6.2 |
-The Industrial Revolution | -Increased immigration brings cultural diversity | -Shift from rural to urban societies | -Mechanization -Evolution of labor from agricultural to manufacturing-based |
-Organized labor | -Pluralism and cultural diversity become key characteristics of national identity. |
| Tracks # 10 The Road to Mt. Rushmore 6.1 |
-Westward expansion | -Spanish influence in the West | -Devastation of buffalo & other environmental damage. | -Railroads encouraged development -Gold Rush |
-Homestead Act | -Mt. Rushmore monument epitomizes expansionist values |
| Tracks # 11 America at War 6.3 |
-Manifest Destiny | -America as a world military power WWI & WWII |
-The Great Depression | -The Atomic Age | -The New Deal | -Military patriotism |
| Tracks # 12 Changing Times & Modern Industries 6.4, 6.5 & 6.6 |
-The Cold War -20th Century industrial diversification |
-NATO -Asian immigration -The break-up of the Soviet Union |
-The Marshall Plan -Modern advances toward racial and gender equality |
-Emergence of global economy -Cold War technology -Sustainable resources |
-Cuban Missile Crisis -Civil Rights legislation |
-The U.S. role in promoting the spread of democracy |
©1999 Agency for Instructional Technology
For permission to use this document, contact: AIT Broadcast Services, 1-800-457-4509, Box
A, Bloomington, IN 47402-0120.
To print this document, set printer for landscape mode.
Home | Back
to top of page | Teacher
Resources | Video
& CD-ROM | Links