Virginia SOL USI.2

USI.2 is a Standards of Learning history and social science standard. These are the skills expectations under it.

• USI.2.a

  describing how archaeologists have recovered artifacts from ancient settlements including, but not limited to Cactus Hill in Virginia

• USI.2.b

  locating and explaining where Indigenous people lived prior to the arrival of Europeans, with an emphasis on how the various geographic regions they inhabited i...

01

What Students Need to Do

Students use artifacts and settlement evidence to make claims about people who lived long ago. They locate Indigenous cultural regions and connect land, climate, and resources to daily life.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students can examine an artifact from Cactus Hill, separate observation from inference, and support a claim with evidence. They can label major cultural regions and explain how geography shaped food, shelter, clothing, or travel.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may think one artifact tells a complete story or that deeper objects are newer. They may treat Indigenous peoples as one culture or assume geography forced every group to live the same way.

04

How to Assess It

Show a Cactus Hill artifact image and a blank regional map. Ask students for one evidence-based inference and one explanation of how a regional feature shaped daily life.

1. 01

   Give pairs Cactus Hill artifact photos, rulers, and observation cards, then have them record measurements and make one evidence-based inference.

2. 02

   Ask students to write and discuss: How might living near forests differ from living on open grasslands?

3. 03

   Run a card sort matching cultural regions with resources, homes, foods, and transportation, requiring students to justify each match.

4. 04

   Use a local map to identify water, forests, and landforms, then compare how these features affect choices people make today.

• 2.6

  The student will use history and social science skills to identify the geographic location, use of resources, and contributions of European explorers, and their...

• WG.14

  The student will apply history and social science skills to determine cultural patterns and interactions across time and place by

• USI.1

  The student will apply history and social science skills to understand the geography of North America by

• USI.3

  The student will apply history and social science skills to explain European exploration and colonization in North America by