Social studies lessons work well with a substitute when students read a short passage and then do something with it: answer questions, build a timeline or analyze a table. Many of the lessons below follow that pattern, so students get what they need on the page. The teacher PDF includes an answer key.
What is in the social studies library
There are 62 free social studies lessons for middle and high school: Social Studies 6-8, U.S. History, World History, Geography, Government and Civics, Economics, Psychology, and Sociology and Criminal Justice.
How to use these as social studies sub plans
- Pick a lesson that includes the reading. Check the goal and prep list so the sub does not need background in the topic.
- Use skills lessons for emergencies. A lesson built around reading a timeline or analyzing data works with any unit.
- Use the sub directions. Each plan includes a short script for starting class and a run of show.
- Print student pages only. Answer keys and substitute directions are on separate pages.
All social studies lessons
Economics
- Comparative Advantage: Why Verdia and Lorand Should Trade
- GDP Basics: Measuring the Economy of Zandria
- Global Trade: Exchange Rates, Comparative Advantage and Tariffs
- Inflation and Purchasing Power: A Five-Item Price Basket
- Money and Banking: Interest, Loans and Saving
- Scarcity and Opportunity Cost: The Corner Bakery
- Supply and Demand: Finding Equilibrium and Predicting Price Changes
- Two Job Offers: Pay, Costs and Opportunity Cost
Geography
- Climate Zones: Classifying Seven Weather Stations
- Latitude and Longitude: Finding Cities by Coordinates
- Map Scale and Legend: Reading the Pinecrest County Map
- Migration and Urbanization: Push and Pull Factors in Brightwater
- Physical and Human Geography: Features, Resources and Regions
- Population Density: Calculating and Comparing Six Countries
Government and Civics
- Be the Justice: Reasoning Through Made-Up Supreme Court Cases
- Bill of Rights Scenarios: Which Right Is at Stake?
- Checks and Balances: Who Can Stop Whom?
- Civic Duties vs. Civic Responsibilities: Case Studies
- Federalism Sort: National, State, or Shared Power?
- How a Bill Becomes a Law: Follow the Path
- How Elections Work: From Registration to Inauguration
- Spot the Technique: Media Literacy and Propaganda
- The Constitution Blueprint: Preamble and Seven Articles
- Who Do You Call? Local, State and Federal Help Desk
Psychology
- A Tour of the Brain: Regions and Their Jobs
- Classical Conditioning Case Files: Pavlov in Everyday Life
- Growing Up: Piaget’s Stages and Erikson’s Challenges
- How Memory Works: Reading the Forgetting Curve
- Operant Conditioning: Reinforcement, Punishment and Schedules
- Psychology Then and Now: Perspectives and Branches
- Research Methods: Correlation, Experiments and Ethics
- Sensation vs. Perception: How the Brain Fills In the Picture
- Stress and Coping: Build a Personal Toolkit
- Thinking Traps: Spotting Cognitive Biases in Everyday Choices
Social Studies 6-8
- From Idea to Law: How a Bill Becomes a Law
- Is It Reliable? Sorting News and Online Sources
- Mapping Marlow Island: Directions, Grid Squares, and Scale
- Price Detectives: Supply and Demand Scenarios
- Read Like a Historian: An Invented Letter to the Editor
- Rights and Responsibilities: Two Sides of Citizenship
- The Culture Iceberg: Customs, Values, and Misunderstandings
- Who Fixes It? Local Government and a Town Budget Choice
Sociology and Criminal Justice
- Groups, Norms, and Sanctions: How Society Shapes Behavior
- Inside the Court System: Roles, Criminal vs. Civil, and Levels of Court
- Rights of the Accused: Four Amendments and Three Landmark Cases
- The Case of the Missing Trophy: A Forensic Reasoning Puzzle
U.S. History
- Coming to America, 1880–1920: Push, Pull and Two Fictional Letters
- Reconstruction After the Civil War: Fact-Check the Notes
- Road to Independence: A Timeline from 1763 to 1783
- The Civil Rights Movement, 1954–1965: Cause-and-Effect Chain
- The Columbian Exchange: What Crossed the Ocean?
- The Great Depression and the New Deal: Alphabet Agencies
- Three Colonial Regions: Land, Work and People
- Westward Expansion: From Louisiana to California
World History
- Age of Exploration Timeline: Five Voyages That Changed the World
- Decolonization After 1945: Paths to Independence
- Four River Valley Civilizations: Read and Compare
- Industrial Revolution Case Study: A Family Moves to the Mill Town
- Mali Empire and Mansa Musa: Gold, Salt and Sources
- Maya, Aztec and Inca: Three Societies of the Americas
- The Islamic Golden Age: Scholars of Baghdad and Beyond
- The Silk Road: Han China and Rome Trade Across Asia
More help
Search the full lesson library by grade and class time, or see our guides on emergency sub plans and substitute teacher activities.
Sub plans for other subjects
Covering more than one prep? Try these related collections:
- Science sub plans
- Math sub plans
- ELA sub plans
- Art, music and theater sub plans
- PE and health sub plans
- Spanish, French and German sub plans
- Technology and computer science sub plans
- Business and personal finance sub plans
- CTE sub plans
- Speech, journalism and media sub plans
- Advisory and study hall sub plans
Teachers can turn any of these into a backup packet with our guides to free printable emergency sub plans and sub tub ideas. Substitutes can read what to do as a substitute teacher and classroom management for substitutes before the first bell.