While some students struggle with relating to history, no teacher wants to bore students or make them dislike coming to class. However, teachers have to teach specific standards, and students may only enjoy some of these topics. At the same time, making classes fun and exciting takes a lot of creativity and planning. Since teachers have so much to do, it is impossible to make all lessons hands-on. Thankfully, the fun history projects for 5th graders below are here to help! Students will quickly see how exciting history is with the US History STEM Challenges & PBL Activities!
Bringing History to Life
Sadly, many students feel that history is irrelevant to their daily lives. They do not realize that history shapes current events and the future. This causes them not to pay attention, which means they miss out on discovering how much the world has evolved. However, history is essential to learn. These social studies projects help add excitement to history. Lessons will come to life for 5th graders as they gain a deep understanding of United States History!
US History STEM Challenges & PBL Activities
Students will love all these exciting activities while teachers will love how much they enhance student learning. They combine science, technology, engineering, and measurement to ensure there are hands-on lessons for 5th-graders.
Specifically, there are 14 activities to bring STEM and Project Based Learning to the classroom. Best of all, the projects can even go home to increase parent-to-school connections. Students will learn everything from Early Native Americans to The Constitution.
U.S. History STEM Challenges
STEM activities can take a lot of time to prepare. Thankfully, that will not be the case with these fun history projects for 5th graders. Every STEM Challenge has detailed directions, photo examples, and a list of materials needed. Additionally, there are worksheets for students to track their predictions, brainstorming, trials, results, drawings, and reflections.
Specifically, there are 7 STEM challenges. For instance, students will learn about the wampum created by the Iroquois. They will use string and beads to create a coded message. Each bead represents a letter of the alphabet or a space between words. Furthermore, STEM groups must decide what colors they will use for each letter in their message. After everyone finishes, STEM groups will try to decipher their code. Students will have a blast learning about Native American communication!
There are so many fun history projects included for 5th graders. As students progress through the STEM challenges, they will learn how Cherokee Native Americans designed winter and summer homes with limited resources. Students will even create a sailing ship to learn about early explorers.
Since organization is essential for teachers, check out the FREE United States History Curriculum Binders! This will help keep your activities and units in one easy-to-find place. There is even a sample pacing guide.
Project-Based Learning Activities
Students learn best when they engage with the material. Often, this requires them to apply critical thinking and real-world problem-solving strategies. The fun history projects for 5th graders include 7 PBL activities for students to create a detailed booklet.
For instance, students will travel back to 500 AD to research and engage in activities about the Cliff Dwellers. Then, they will travel to 1820-1840 where they see the rising tension between the colonists and Native American people. Students will learn how explorers traveled the world to discover new places and understand how the 13 colonies formed. As the PBL activities continue, students will learn about The Revolutionary War, The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution. Students will even create their own Constitution! Everyone will love traveling throughout the years to learn all about the world!
As a helpful resource, you can even download the Age of Exploration PBL FREEBIE! This will help show how incredible these fun history projects for 5th graders are!
Honestly, the US History STEM Challenges & PBL Activities create incredible ways to spice up your lesson plans! All the fun history projects for 5th graders will allow students to travel back in time as they learn about US History.
If you do not want to miss any of the upcoming lessons, join my email list to be notified of all the interactive lessons coming up! By joining the email list, you will also receive Age of Exploration PBL FREEBIE for blog exclusive subscribers!
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