Indiana Social Studies S.9.5

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Social Problems

The Standard

Evaluate possible solutions to social problems and the potential consequences.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students compare ways to address a social problem using evidence about who benefits, what each option costs, and what might go wrong. They choose an option and explain why.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student uses school survey results to choose between free breakfast and weekend food bags. They explain who each plan reaches, what it costs, and a possible drawback.
Common Misconceptions: Students may count only how many people get help and ignore who still goes without. They may assume everyone who qualifies can use a program, overlooking pickup hours or stigma.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: A school survey finds 30 students miss breakfast and 12 lack weekend meals. Choose free breakfast or weekend food bags, cite one survey number, and name one benefit and one possible drawback.

Lesson moves

Give pairs 100 budget tokens and cost cards for breakfast (80), weekend bags (60), and vouchers (100); fund one and name who misses out.
Ask: If free breakfast reaches more students but weekend bags reach students with fewer meals, which would you fund and why?
Sort six school pantry cards into benefit, cost, and unintended effect piles; have partners challenge one placement using a reason.
Use a local food bank's posted hours and a bus map to identify one access problem, then propose a fix.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to S.9.5, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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