would social studies be capitalized in this sentence: I don't understand how he did the social studies problem.
No. It wouldn't be capitalized.
check
Yes, in that sentence, "Social Studies" should be capitalized.
To determine whether or not to capitalize "Social Studies," you need to consider if it is being used as a proper noun or a common noun. Generally, if "Social Studies" is being used as the official name of a subject or course of study, it should be capitalized. However, if it is used as a general descriptor, it would not be capitalized.
In the example sentence you provided, "Social Studies" is being used to refer to a specific academic subject, and therefore should be capitalized.