1. The document provides an overview of the emergence and key concepts of the social sciences. It differentiates social sciences from natural sciences and humanities. 2. The main disciplines of social sciences discussed are anthropology, economics, geography, history, linguistics, political science, psychology, and sociology. Brief descriptions of each discipline are given. 3. Anthropology is defined as the study of ancient cultures and traditions. It has two broad fields - physical anthropology which studies biological evolution, and cultural anthropology which investigates cultural features of societies.

1. WEEKLY LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEETS
DISCIPLINES AND IDEAS IN THE
SOCIAL SCIENCES Grade 11, Quarter 3,
Week 1, Activity 1-3
EMERGENCE OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Name: ___________________________________ Section: ______________
LEARNING COMPETENCY:
A. Differentiate the nature and functions of Social Science
disciplines with the natural sciences and humanities.
B. Explain the major events and its contribution that led to
the emergence of the social science disciplines.
Note: Do not write any unnecessary marks on these activity sheets.
Use another sheet of papers in answering all the activities.
KEY CONCEPTS:
1. NATURAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES
Social Science is different from natural science and
Humanities because its primary interest lies in predicting and
explaining human behavior. Natural science, on the other hand,
aims to predict all natural phenomena and its studies are based
on experimentally controlled condition of material entities.
Humanism seeks to understand “human reactions to events and
the meanings humans impose on experience as a function of
culture, historical era, and life history.” (Kagan 2009,4)
The Use of the Scientific method unites these three fields of
study although it is more commonly used in the social sciences
and natural sciences than in humanism. The Scientific Method is
a systematic and logical approach in acquiring and explaining
knowledge. It involves a step-by-step procedure of identifying the
problem, formulating a hypothesis and testing this hypothesis by
gathering and analyzing relevant data. This method requires
critical thinking skills in solving problems. The scientific method
is very important in the field of social sciences since it is the
instrument by which issues and problems are examined and
recommendations for policy-making are offered depending on the
findings of the study conducted.

2. 2. DISCPLINES OR BRANCHES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Social Science studies the historical, cultural, sociological,
psychological and the political forces that shape the actions of
individuals and their impact on society. The different disciplines
under the social sciences all help in providing a better
understanding and appreciation of the complex issues that face
society. These disciplines are Anthropology, Demography,
Economics, Geography, Linguistics, History, Political Science,
Psychology, and Sociology.
3. ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology is the study of ancient studies and their cultural
traditions. Anthropology came from the Greek Word Anthropos
meaning “humankind” and Logos meaning the “study” (Bonstingl
1996, 206). In Studying culture, anthropologists investigate the
people’s language, their values, technologies, and even how they
group themselves. Anthropologists also study the way the cultural
traditions of different groups of people have changed over the
years.
Anthropology has two broad fields, physical and cultural.
According to Ember (2002,3-4), physical anthropology, which is
also called biological anthropology, studies the biological evolution
of man. It also provides explanation on the reason behind the
biological variations among contemporary human population.
Cultural anthropology, on the other hand, investigates and seeks
to understand the cultural features of societies. Cultural
anthropology is further divided into three sub branches:
archaeology, anthropological linguistics, and ethnology.
Archaeology seeks to reconstruct the past life of ancient societies,
trace the cultural changes that took place and the reason behind
the changes. While it may appear that Archaeology is similar with
history, it is different in the sense that history can only study
societies that have left written records. Archaeologists reconstruct
the past using the fossil remains of human culture.
Anthropological linguistics involves the study of language in
societies or communities where language may or may not be
written. It is also concerned with the emergence of languages, the
divergence of languages, and the changes in the language across
time. While archaeology and anthropological linguistics mostly use
fragmentary remains of the past culture, ethnology use data
gathered through observations and interviews with living people.
Ethnologists study marriage custom, kinship patterns, economic

3. system, and religious rites of cultural groups, and compare it with
the way of life of contemporary societies. (Ember 2002,5-7).
4. ECONOMICS
Economics is the study of the efficient allocation of scarce
resources in order to satisfy unlimited human needs and wants.
The word Economics came from two Greek words, oikos meaning
“home” and nomos meaning “management”. A family faces the
challenge of managing their limited income to satisfy the needs and
wants of its members. The same is true with society as a whole.
Even if we combine all of the resources, it will never be enough to
cover all human kinds desires and needs, which by nature, is
infinite. This is why a careful study on the subject must be done
in order to mitigate the impact of an imbalance and inequity in
resource allocation.
5. GEOGRAPHY
Geography studies the interaction between the natural
environment and the people living in it. It acts as a bridge between
natural science and social science. Geography comes from two
Greek words: geo meaning “Earth” and graphos meaning “charting
or mapping”. This social science discipline studies where things
are on Earth, explains why they are there, and their relationship
to other people, places and things.
Geography is divided into two main branches: physical and
human. Physical geography studies the natural features of the
earth, like climate, water, vegetation and soil. One Approach in
studying physical geography is to look at the physical environment
as the provider of natural resources, like food and water. Another
approach is to look at the physical environment as hazard to
human life. Human Geography studies human population and the
impact of its activities on the planet. Some of these activities
include agriculture, urbanization, and land reclamation. This
branch of geography examines how people use the resources
available to them and how they cultivate their environment to suit
their needs.
6. HISTORY
History is traditionally regarded as the study of the recorded
past. It comes from the Greek word Historia, meaning “learning”.
As used by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, history meant a
systematic account of a set of natural phenomena, whether or not

4. chronological ordering was a factor in the account (Gottschalk
1956,41).
The discipline attempts to reconstruct the past given the
available sources. There are two types of historical sources:
Primary and Secondary. A primary source is a testimony of an
eyewitness or an account of someone who has firsthand
information on the subject. It has to be written or recounted by
someone who is contemporary to the event being narrated. A
primary source does not have to be an original source. It can be a
rewritten, recopied, or a translated version of the original. There is
an acknowledgement that getting the original and unpolished
version of the document is too daunting a task and may even be
close to impossible in some cases. Insistence on getting the original
documents may prevent some subjects from being written because
the sources may be inaccessible. Examples of primary sources
include journal entries, transcripts, video interviews, monuments
or structures, photographs, statistics, and official government
records. A secondary source is a testimony or an account of
someone who is not an eyewitness to the event being narrated. It
is also not contemporary to the event being narrated. A secondary
source simply uses primary materials as the source of information.
Examples of secondary sources include biographies, textbooks,
conference proceedings, and book reviews.
7. LINGUISTICS
Linguistics came from the Latin word lingua, meaning
“language”. The discipline studies the nature of language through
an examination of the formal properties of natural language,
grammar, and the process of language acquisition. Language plays
an important role in both cognition and culture of society. Among
the things that linguist’s studies are phonetics, phonology,
morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics.
8. POLITICAL SCIENCE
Political Science is the study of Politics, power and
government. The word politics comes from the Greek word politea,
or a person who participates in the polis. Engagement in the polis
means taking part in its decision-making, which normally takes
place in the agora, or the market place, where new laws are passed
or disseminated under the scrutiny of the entire community. It has
to be noted though that the engagement in the political decision-
making in the polis is only limited to Greek men. Politics is the

5. process of using power in the government, while power is the
means for the government to rule the people. (Bonstingl,1996,407)
Government is the authority or the bureaucracy that provides the
system of rule over its territory and for its people.
9. PSYCHOLOGY
It is in the interest of society to understand how its people
think and why they behave in a certain way. There is where
psychology comes in. It is the scientific study of behavior and
mental processes. This includes the physical state and the mental
state and how this all relates to the environment of the individual.
It comes from the Greek words, psyche meaning “soul” or “Spirit”
and logos meaning “study”.
10. SOCIOLOGY
It is the systematic study of human society. It comes from the
Latin word socius meaning “friend” or “companion” and the Greek
word logos meaning “study”. Sociology studies how people relate
to each other and how they work as a whole in the larger society.
The sociological perspective sees the general in the particular. “we
begin to think sociologically how the general categories into which
we fall shape our particular life experiences.” (Macionis,2006,2)
Social rules of behavior, societal expectations, and norms guide an
individual’s actions, thoughts, and feelings.
11. DEMOGRAPHY
Demography is the study of human population. It comes from
two ancient Greek words, demos meaning “the people” and
graphos meaning “charting or mapping.” The discipline also
studies how people move from place to place. The main sources of
data are census and other vital statistics. Some basic demographic
concepts include fertility, mortality, migration, and population
growth. “the study of human population begins with how many
people are born. Fertility is the incidence of child bearing in a
country’s population” (Macionis, 2006 418). Fertility is measured
using crude birth rate or the number of live births for every 1000
people in the population. Population is also affected by mortality
or the incidence of death in a country’s population. Mortality is
measured is using crude death rate, or the number of deaths for
every 1,000 in a population. Another factor that affects population
size is migration. This is the movement of people into and out of a

6. particular territory. Population growth rate is simply the difference
between the crude birth rate and the crude death rate.
ACTIVITY 1
A. Chart of Completion. Compare and contrast the different
social disciplines by completing the chart below.
Social
Science
Discipline
Definition Aims and
Purpose
Written
works on
the topic or
major
theories
advanced
Anthropology
Economics
Geography
History
Linguistics
Political Science
Psychology
Sociology
Demography
ACTIVITY 2
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
If you have been victim of the following crimes, state whether
or not you will inform the police, and why?
Crime Explain your answer
Child Abuse
Bullying
Sexual Assault
Hazing
ACTIVITY 3
PHOTO ANALYSIS
Examine the photo shown to the student. Each group should
identify key issues or problems in society as reflected in the photo.
Answer the question: how can the social sciences perspective be
used to examine/ address said key issue or problem?

7. Rubric for the Photo Analysis Activity
Criteria Did not
meet
expectation
s (5) Poor
Minimally
meets
expectation
s (10)
Satisfactory
Fully meets
expectation
s (15) Very
Good
Exceeds
Expectatio
n (20)
Excellent
Scor
e
Objective Description
s are not
detailed or
Complete
Provided
some
description
of some of
the subject
matter and
or elements
in the
photograph
Provided a
detailed
description
of most of
the subject
matter and
or elements
in the
photograph
Provided a
complete
and
detailed
descriptio
n of the
subject
matter and
or
elements
of the
photograp
h
Knowledge Did not
identify a
social
science
perspective
to explain
the social
issue
Identified a
social
science
perspective
but
inadequatel
y explained
the social
issue
Identified a
social
science
perspective
and
satisfactoril
y linked it
to the social
issue
Correctly
identified a
social
science
perspectiv
e which
explains
thoroughly
the social
issue
Interpretatio
n
The Social
issue is not
identified or
was
inadequatel
y described
The social
issue was
identified
but was
inadequatel
y described
The social
issue was
identified
and was
adequately
described
The social
issue was
identified
and was
thoroughly
linked to
the
photograp
h and
completely
described

8. EVALUATION
Matching Type. Choose the answer from the choices below.
Write the letter of the correct answer on the blank provided
between each number.
a. Archaeology c. Giambattista Vico
b. Adam Smith d. Geography
e. Homer k. Thomas Malthus
f. Aristotle l. Morphology
g. Eratosthenes m. Syntax
h. Anthropology n. John Locke
i. Economics o. Voltaire
j. Thucydides
______1. Study of cultural traditions.
______2. Reconstructs the past life of ancient societies.
______3. Studies the emergence of language, the divergence of
languages and the changes in the languages across time.
______4. Study the efficient allocation of scarce resources in order
to satisfy the unlimited human needs and wants.
______5. Wrote the Illiad.
______6. It is the study of the interaction between the natural
environment and the people living in it.
______7. The Father of Geography.

9. ______8. According to him, history is a systematic account of a set
of natural phenomenon whether or not written
chronologically.
______9. It is the study of how words are categorized or formed.
______10. Wrote the Two Treatises of Government.
Reference for Learners
Bonstingl, John Jay. Introduction to the Social Sciences.
Massachusetts: Prentice Hall, 1996.
Dela Cruz, Arleigh Ross D. et.al. Disciplines and Ideas in the
Social Sciences. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc. 927 Quezon
Ave., Quezon City
Ember, Carol, et.al. Anthropology. Singapore: Pearson
Education Asia Pte Ltd., 2002.
Gottschalk, Louis. Understanding History: A Primer on
Historical Method. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1956.
Macionis, John. Society: The Basics. New Jersey: Pearson
Education, Inc., 2006.
Answer key
1.H 7.G
2.A 8.F
3.M 9.I
4.I 10.N
5.E
6.D
Writer: JAY MARIEL C. AUTENTICO
Teacher I
Reviewers::
SELMA S. TIBON AMALIA B. RINGOR
HUMSS 11 Group Head Track Head
RUTH A. CASTROMAYOR ISRAEL B. REVECHE, PhD.
Principal IV EPS-Values Ed.
Assistant Principal – SHS Division SHS Coordinator