Samoa Year 5 Social Science Curriculum

This curriculum outlines the learning objectives and outcomes for Social Science in Samoa. It is structured around three strands: Society, Culture and Heritage; Place and Environment; and Resources and Economic Activities. Three key processes—Inquiry, Values Exploration, and Social Decision Making—are integrated within these strands. The curriculum aims to develop students' understanding of human society and their ability to participate as informed, responsible citizens.

Society, Culture and Heritage

Specific Aims: Students will understand:

• People's organization in groups.
• The rights, roles, and responsibilities of people as they interact within groups.
• The contribution of culture and heritage to identity.
• The nature and consequences of cultural interactions.

Year 5 Learning Outcomes: Students will demonstrate learning when they can:

• SH5.1: Identify features of different political systems and explain how decisions are made and implemented in a parliamentary democracy and in a contrasting system.
• SH5.2: Describe factors that lead individuals and groups to seek social justice and human rights, and explain the role of governments and institutions in ensuring that people's human rights are respected.
• SH5.3: Describe their own cultural and national identity, explain how national identity is developed, maintained, and expressed, and explain causes of prejudice, discrimination, and inequity, and identify possible solutions.

Place and Environment

Specific Aims: Students will understand:

• People's interaction with places and the environment.
• The ways in which people represent and interpret place and environment.
• Why particular places are important for people.

Year 5 Learning Outcomes: Students will demonstrate learning when they can:

• PE5.1: Identify examples of past and current movements of people and explain common factors that account for these movements.
• PE5.2: Explain how the movement of people affects the people themselves and the places they leave and move to.
• PE5.3: Describe factors that influence the value communities and nations attach to places and environments, give examples of significant places and environments, and explain why particular places and environments become important to individuals.

Resources and Economic Activities

Specific Aims: Students will understand:

• People's allocation and management of resources.
• People's participation in economic activities.

Year 5 Learning Outcomes: Students will demonstrate learning when they can:

• RA5.1: Describe how economic and social factors influence people's access to resources, goods, and services, and explain how resource distribution has consequences for people's lives.
• RA5.2: Explain ways in which access to resources for less advantaged groups can be improved.
• RA5.3: Explain how the nature of work has changed over time, describe ways it may change in the future, and explain consequences of these changes for people's lives.

Social Studies Processes

These processes are integrated within the three strands above.

• Inquiry (PR5.1): Students will develop skills in asking questions, collecting and recording information, sorting information, making generalizations based on findings, and communicating findings.
• Values Exploration (VE5.1): Students will explore and analyze values, explaining their own values positions and giving reasons why people hold particular values.
• Social Decision Making (SM5.1): Students will identify issues and problems, develop solutions, and make choices about possible social action.

Essential Learning about Samoa

In Year 5, students will focus on:

The influence of the knowledge and perspectives of groups of elders in the community, on community activities and events. An example unit could focus on the roles and responsibilities of the pulenu'u* (village mayor).