MrsDarwin mentions having to get the Ohio state history requirements in:
The oldest two are heading into 3rd and 4th this year, and since it works well to have them do things in unison we're leaning towards putting them through two years of US history and kids literature (with enough Ohio specific side-lights to say that we met the state education requirements)...
Although the whole Darwin family is recently transplanted from Texas, MrsD also grew up in Ohio, I think, but just in case I thought I'd help her out.
Everything I Remember From Fourth-Grade Ohio History
1. The glaciers stopped partway across. That is why southern Ohio is so hilly and interesting, while northern Ohio is so flat and boring.
2. The boundary of the glacier-scoured area is called a "moraine."
3. Many trilobite fossils can be found in Ohio, possibly more than in any other part of the world.
(Fun fact: once while hiking in Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas I met an upper-level college geology class from the University of Dayton, who were presumably having a field trip to somewhere less flat, even though comparatively lacking in trilobites. By casually dropping the above information in conversation, I managed to be mistaken for a geologist.)
4. First there were the Mound Builders. They built mounds. The most famous mound is the Serpent Mound. They were a peaceful people, i.e.., they were already gone by the time white settlers got to Ohio.
5. Then there were the Miami people. They were very interesting. They were not already gone when white settlers came to Ohio. They gave Ohio its name.
6. The first capital of Ohio wasn't Columbus, but Chillicothe. There's some story about how it got changed but I forget it.
7. Ohio was an important destination along the Underground Railroad. Some houses had secret rooms for hiding fugitives. Maybe even YOUR house!!!!! That would be SO COOL. Or at least that's how I remember it from being nine years old.
A comparison of the contributions of North Carolina ("First in Flight") and Ohio ("The Buckeye State") to powered flight:
9. Ohio is nicknamed "Birthplace of Presidents" because a bunch of U. S. presidents were born in Ohio, including William Henry Harrison (He died in thirty days).
10. Also the electric automobile starter. You know that crank sticking out of the front of your car that sometimes kicks back and breaks your arm? No? WELL, then. Did North Carolina have anything to do with that? I think not.