Alabama Social Studies SS24.3.6
The Standard
Describe how Alabama’s environment has been positively and negatively affected by human activity over time.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students describe ways people changed Alabama's land and water in the past and today. They explain how one action harmed the environment and how another helped it.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain that clearing trees for cotton fields left soil open to erosion. They can explain how planting trees helps hold soil in place and put the actions in time order.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think clearing trees changes only the number of trees, not the soil or nearby streams. They may think planting one tree fixes erosion right away.
How to Assess It
- Ask students to write two cause-and-effect sentences: How did clearing trees for Alabama cotton fields affect soil long ago? How can planting trees help soil now?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Pour equal cups of water over bare soil and leaf-covered soil in tilted trays, then compare the runoff.
Show drawings of a cleared cotton field and a replanted riverbank, then ask, "What changed for soil and wildlife?"
Sort cards showing forest clearing, tree planting, and stream cleanup into helps or harms, then explain one choice.
Sketch the school parking lot and a storm drain, then explain how picking up litter could protect an Alabama creek.
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Printable SS24.3.6 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- SS24.AS.21a
Describe ways in which Alabama’s geography contributes to the state’s present-day tourism industry.
- SS24.AS.2
Explain how Alabama’s geography contributes to the biodiversity of the state.
- SS24.2.6
Explain how Alabama’s natural resources are utilized in its economy.
- SS24.AS.1a
Summarize how the geography and biodiversity of Alabama formed and evolved during the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic Periods.
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