This book offers teachers problem-solving activities in five areas of the social studies curriculum: geography, politics, economics, culture, and history. The carefully structured activities in the book place students in role simulations so they learn to think and work with purpose and develop skills for problem solving. The book provides teachers with learning activities that prepare students to rely on themselves as well as others for information. It presents students with cross-disciplinary activities to give them the opportunity to reason and determine real-life courses of action via the cooperative problem-solving strategy. In doing so, according to the book, students come to realize individual effort and team success are interrelated, and this concept is critical to being competitive in the workplace. The book is divided into 5 parts: (1) "Geography: Time Zones, Maps, and Population Counts"; (2) "Politics: U.S. Political Processes"; (3) "Economics: My Money, Our Money"; (4) "Cultures: Mystery from History"; and (5) "History: Perspectives on Past Events." (BT)