Why Study History? Our Past Shapes our Present

Why learn Social Studies?

"Why do We Have to Learn History?" Students always ask me this question. My

answer-much of what we have today was because of things developed by people that lived long ago.This reading activity shares many things we have today thanks to previous cultures. I've included several comprehension questions and two extension activities.

This reading is great for those asking,"Why study History?"

Reading Passages:

George Washington and the Camel

Calvin Coolidge and the “Pennsylvania Avenue Zoo”

John Quincy Adams Takes a Swim

Thomas Jefferson and the Mammoth Cheese

Sojourner Truth

Santa Fe Trail: Wind WagonThomas

Revolutionary War Heroine: Catherine “Kate” Moore

Barry(Battle of Cowpens)

Enheduanna, First Known Poet in History

Artemisia(Female Naval Commander during the Battle of Salamis)

Hanno: Phoenician Explorer

Ramses the Great

Hatshpsut

Hammurabi

Alexander the Great

Aesop

Socrates

Hannibal

Hypatia: First Woman Mathematician

Aglaonike(Greek astronomer)

Agnodice(First Female Doctor of Ancient Greece)

Julius Caesar

Archimedes

Sparticus

Diocles

Joan of Arc

Phillis Wheatley

Mary Anning

Caroline Herschel

Sophie Brahe: Astronomer and Horticulturist

Hildegard of Bingen(Middle Ages)

Aida de Acosta(First Woman to Fly a Powered Aircraft)

Women’s Suffrage: The Silent Sentinels

History of Pretzels

History of Marshmallows

History of Tulips

Snowmen in History

History of April Fools’ Day

Great Wall of China

Eiffel Tower

Ayres Rock(Uluru)

Taj Mahal

Travel to Iceland

Travel to Greece

Travel to Japan