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Social Studies Drawing Ideas for a School Project

One picture for a social studies project with the term or fact it shows, from maps to daily life.

Social Studies Drawing Ideas for a School Project

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  1. A petition roll so long it crosses a chamber floorIn 1893 New Zealand suffragists sent Parliament a petition of nearly 32,000 signatures.

Next step Lay it out as a whole poster, with where the words go

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Maps and geography 14

  • A compass rose with eight points for a classroom map It shows the four main directions and the points between. North at the top, the main four longest.
  • A crossroads signpost with north, south, east and west The four cardinal directions. One post, four arms at right angles, a letter on each.
  • A globe peeled flat like an orange A map projection flattens the globe. Mercator's world map dates from 1569. Draw the gores side by side.
  • A globe with the equator and the prime meridian in bold The equator is a circle of latitude; the prime meridian is where longitude is 0 degrees. Two bold lines.
  • A page of contour lines showing a ridge and a valley A contour line runs along equal elevation. Rings close together mean a steep side; wide apart, a gentle one.
  • A peninsula, an isthmus and an archipelago on one coast Land mostly surrounded by water; a narrow strip joining two larger lands; a chain of islands. Label all three.
  • A river's course labeled source, tributary, meander, mouth A drainage basin is the land whose water runs to one outlet. Four labels along one line.
  • A sheet of six map symbols in boxes Map symbols stand for real features. Try a bridge, a campsite, a school, a railroad, a well and a hill.
  • A tree of streams joining into one trunk river Every stream in a drainage basin converges on a common outlet. Twigs at the hills, the trunk at the coast.
  • An island map with a scale bar and a north arrow Scale is map distance divided by ground distance. A short ruled bar, two labels.
  • Four clocks in a row, each an hour ahead of the last Time zones are set as offsets, usually of whole hours. Four round faces over a strip of map.
  • Landmarks from home to the school gate, strung on one line Mark each turn with something you pass: a bakery, a big tree, a crossing. Home at one end, school at the other.
  • Parallels of latitude numbered up one side of a globe The equator divides the Earth into northern and southern hemispheres. Number the lines away from it.
  • Your town mapped with a legend box of five symbols A legend explains what each map symbol stands for. Invent five: school, park, bridge, library, home.

Civics and government 14

  • A bill's path drawn as a board game with a veto square A veto is the lawful power to block an official act. Add one square that sends the piece back.
  • A campaign poster for a class pet running for mascot Invent the candidate, the slogan and one promise. A portrait, big letters, a border of stars.
  • A cartoon mayor cutting a ribbon on a very small bridge Exaggeration in reverse: a grand ceremony for a tiny thing. Label the bridge and the giant scissors.
  • A cartoon of a town council arguing over a pothole A political cartoon comments by exaggerating. Make the pothole enormous and label it with one word.
  • A cartoon scale weighing a playground against a parking lot A cartoon turns one local choice into one picture. Label both pans and show which way it tips.
  • A census taker at a front door with a clipboard The United States census was first taken in 1790. A door, a clipboard, a family counting on fingers.
  • A city council chamber seen from the public seats A municipal council makes the laws of a town or city. A curved desk, name cards, microphones.
  • A folded paper going into a ballot box A ballot box is the container for completed votes. A slot on top, a seal across the lid.
  • A gavel resting on its round block A gavel is a small mallet used to keep order. A barrel head, a turned handle, a block beneath.
  • A made-up town seal with three symbols Choose three things an invented town is proud of and ring them with its name and founding year.
  • A town meeting with a show of hands Town meetings have been held in New England since colonial times. Rows of chairs, raised arms, a moderator.
  • Legislative, executive, judicial: three boughs of one oak Under the US Constitution the three branches of government are kept distinct. One trunk, three boughs.
  • Three figures in a ring, each holding the next one's balloon Checks and balances: each branch can limit another. Nobody's balloon floats away alone.
  • Two shoes showing under a polling-booth curtain The secret ballot keeps each vote anonymous. A frame, a curtain, feet below the hem.

Economics and trade 14

  • A chart of goods and services: a loaf and a haircut A good is a thing you can hold; a service is work done for you. One drawing in each column.
  • A factory, a truck and a shop joined by arrows Where a thing is made, how it travels and where it is sold. Three boxes, two arrows, one product.
  • A piggy bank looking at two price tags Opportunity cost is what the best choice you gave up was worth. Two tags, one coin.
  • A sidewalk table of handmade bookmarks with a price card A seller, a buyer, a good and a price: a whole market in one drawing. A table, a card, a jar of coins.
  • A trade route map with goods drawn along the road The Silk Road was many linked trade routes across Eurasia. Dots for cities, small icons for the goods.
  • An assembly line of five workers building one bicycle The unfinished product goes from one workstation to the next, gaining parts in order.
  • Barter at a market stall: eggs for a clay pot Barter is trading goods or services directly, with no money. Two hands, two things, no coins.
  • Land, labor and capital as three icons Three of the basic factors of production: a field, a pair of hands, a set of tools. Same size each.
  • One coin passing from baker to miller to farmer Money as a medium of exchange: the same coin pays three people in turn. Arrows in a ring.
  • One pie, four slices and six waiting plates Scarcity: limited resources against larger wants. Count the plates so two are left empty.
  • Shells, salt and beads laid out as money Commodity money has value in itself. Much of the world once used shell money.
  • Supply and demand as a seesaw with a price tag Supply and demand is a model of how a market sets a price. Two riders, one plank, a tag at the pivot.
  • Three bakers at three tables: mix, shape, bake Division of labor separates the tasks so each worker can specialize. One job at each table.
  • Two shipping crates stenciled export and import Exports are sold abroad and imports are bought from abroad. Two crates, two arrows, one dock.

Rights and reform 14

  • A banner on two poles held outside tall gates From January 10, 1917 the Silent Sentinels stood with banners in front of the White House.
  • A cartoon ballot box wearing a sash and a wide hat A cartoon for the day the vote widened: the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920.
  • A curb cut with a wheelchair rolling up it A curb cut is a ramp from a raised sidewalk down to the road. One slope, two wheels, a crossing.
  • A lecture poster for a suffrage speaker at a town hall Invent the speaker, the hall and the date, any year from 1848 to 1920. Big type, a border.
  • A pen signing a sheet headed Declaration of Sentiments Read at Seneca Falls in 1848 and modeled on the Declaration of Independence. A sheet, a column of names.
  • A petition roll so long it crosses a chamber floor In 1893 New Zealand suffragists sent Parliament a petition of nearly 32,000 signatures.
  • A stamp design for the right to vote Design a commemorative stamp of your own: a ballot, the year 1920, a perforated edge.
  • A suffrage parade watched from an upper window On March 3, 1913 the Woman Suffrage Procession marched in Washington, D.C. Rows of figures, banners as bars.
  • A suffrage sash in purple, white and gold The pickets of 1917 wore sashes of purple, white and gold. A wide band from shoulder to hip.
  • A timeline strip from 1848 to 1920 with three markers Seneca Falls in 1848, the Washington procession in 1913, ratification in 1920. One strip, three flags.
  • A women's rights convention in a small-town chapel Seneca Falls, New York, July 19 and 20, 1848: the first women's rights convention. Pews and a full room.
  • Hands sewing letters onto a three-color banner The pickets' banners were usually purple, white and gold. A needle, a thimble, one letter half stitched.
  • Thirty small tiles, one for each article of a declaration The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on 10 December 1948 and has 30 articles.
  • Two lecterns in a hall for a debate on the vote The question was argued in public for seventy-two years, from 1848 to 1920. Two speakers, one crowd.

Daily life in the past 14

  • A barn raising with the frame going up A barn raising was building done together by a whole community. Poles, ropes, a timber frame.
  • A farmhouse kitchen lit by lamp, before electricity A wood stove, a kerosene lamp and a hand pump at the sink. Draw those three and the room appears.
  • A general store counter with jars and a scale A general store carried a broad selection of goods in a small space. Shelves to the ceiling.
  • A hand pump over a stone trough A hand pump is worked by a person, not an engine. A long curved handle, a spout, a bucket.
  • A kerosene lamp with a glass chimney The wick burns inside a glass chimney. A round font, a burner with a knob, a tall glass.
  • A one-room school with a bell on its roof In a one-room school a single teacher taught several grade levels together. A gable, a bell, a row of hooks.
  • A plunger butter churn Cream was worked with the plunger until butter formed. A tall narrow tub, a lid with a hole, a pole.
  • A quilting bee around a frame A quilting bee was a social gathering to complete one quilt. A square frame, chairs on four sides.
  • A spinning wheel beside a basket of wool A spinning wheel turns fibers into yarn or thread. One big wheel, a treadle, a spindle.
  • A town crier with a bell and a scroll A town crier was a messenger of public announcements. A handbell, an open mouth, a rolled paper.
  • A washboard standing in a tub A washboard is a tool for washing clothes by hand. A wooden frame, a ridged panel, suds.
  • An icebox with its ice compartment open Before powered refrigerators an icebox was an insulated cabinet kept cold with large chunks of ice.
  • Milk bottles left on a doorstep at dawn Milk delivery brought bottles to customers' homes. Three bottles, one step, long early shadows.
  • Stalls and awnings filling a square on market day A market town was a place given the right to hold markets. Baskets, a crowd, a clock tower.

How it works

These social studies drawing ideas cover the five strands a class meets: maps and geography, civics and government, economics and trade, rights and reform, and daily life in the past. Most hints define the term or give one checked fact.

Read the full guide

Politics drawing ideas with no politicians

The Civics and government group draws how things are decided: a ballot box, a town meeting, the three branches as boughs of one oak. Its political drawing ideas are cartoons on invented local subjects, such as a council arguing over a pothole. No real politician, party or present-day argument is on the list.

Women's rights drawing ideas

Most of the Rights and reform pictures follow the campaign for the vote, from the Seneca Falls convention of 1848 to ratification in 1920: a sash in purple, white and gold, a banner at tall gates, a parade watched from an upper window.

  • A political cartoon needs a symbol, a label and one exaggeration. Without all three it is only a drawing.
  • Label a diagram in capitals outside the drawing, with a ruled line to each part.

Questions and answers

What can I draw for a social studies project?

Pick the strand first. A compass rose or a town map with a legend suits geography, a ballot box suits civics, a barter scene suits economics, and a one-room school suits a unit on daily life in the past.

What makes a drawing a political cartoon?

It comments on a subject by exaggerating it, usually with a symbol and a label so the reader knows what stands for what. The ones here use made-up local subjects, such as a mayor opening a very small bridge.

What colors did the suffragists use?

In the United States the pickets who stood in front of the White House from January 1917 wore sashes of purple, white and gold, and their banners were usually the same three colors.

When was the first women's rights convention?

On July 19 and 20, 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York. The Declaration of Sentiments presented there was modeled on the Declaration of Independence.

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