Using Simulation-based Learning to Enhance Social Studies Instruction

Revolutions: they change the world and they can create and destroy entire nations or societies.

The Holocaust was a genocide perpetrated by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party where over 12 million people (Jewish and non-Jewish) were killed, and millions more were forced into hiding.

As a social studies teacher, I find myself wanting to teach my students anything and everything I can about the many subject areas we cover.

Social studies combines a lot of different topics in a variety of content areas.

World War I is complicated.

As a multidisciplinary subject, social studies classrooms are home to many different topics, from the most gruesome historical conflicts to the most basic principles of government and economics.

In my relatively short time teaching, I have been asked this question numerous times by secondary students: Why are we learning social studies? What’s the point? Why do we need to learn it? Other teachers I have taught with have also been asked this question, which has always fascinated me.

By now, we are all familiar with the Holocaust.

Economics is one of the smaller and less talked about aspects of social studies, but a no less important concept for students.