Indiana Social Studies 5.G.10
The Standard
Explain the economic organization of each region (i.e., New England, Middle, Southern) that comprised the 13 British colonies.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how people earned a living in New England, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern Colonies. They connect farming, trade, and other work to each region’s land and waterways. They describe the role of enslaved labor, especially on Southern plantations.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can explain why New England had fishing and shipbuilding, the Middle Colonies grew grain, and Southern plantations grew crops such as tobacco and rice. They can explain that enslaved people did much of the labor on Southern plantations.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think every colony depended on the same kind of farming. They may also treat plantation crops as ordinary farm work and leave out the forced labor of enslaved people.
How to Assess It
- On an exit ticket, ask: “Name one way people earned money in each colonial region. Explain why one of those jobs fit its region, and identify who did the work on Southern plantations.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a colonial map and cards labeled cod, wheat, tobacco, ships, and enslaved labor; have them place each card and explain their choices.
Ask: “Why might a New England port ship fish while a Southern plantation shipped tobacco? How did land, water, and labor shape each?”
Play three rounds of region riddles using clues about cod, wheat, and rice; students name the region and explain how people earned money.
Pass around rice and flour packages; students locate Southern rice and Middle Colony wheat on a map and discuss who grew each crop.
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Related Standards
- 5.G.8
Identify and locate the 13 British colonies by region (i.e., New England, Middle, Southern).
- 5.G.9
Describe the political and social organization of each region (i.e., New England, Middle, Southern) that comprised the 13 British colonies.
- 8.H.4
Identify and explain the reasons and actions for the resistance and rebellion against British imperial rule by the 13 colonies in North America (1761–1775).
- 8.H.2
Compare and contrast reasons for British, French, Spanish, and Dutch colonization in the New World.
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