What is Social Studies?

What is Social Studies? 

Today, during class, we listened to a presentation of the origins of Social Studies. Social Studies has many integrated subjects; economics, civics, citizenship, geography, and even social behaviors. I believe social studies should be taught as crucial as Mathematics and English. The subject social studies have elements of; meaningful (engaging, connects students with real-world situations), integrative ( draws on more than one discipline, subject or skill set), value-based (strengths students' sense of democratic values and social responsibilities), challenging (incorporates different perspectives and draws on student's critical thinking skills) and lastly active. The lesson was value based. As future teachers, we should want to make Social Studies active and engage students with hands-on activities, models and explorations, not a test-based classroom. As a future social studies teacher incorporating social studies into real-life events and breaking them down. What is knowledge? It's the concepts and facts you know. As a social studies teacher, you should be teaching knowledge.