Social Studies

Mapping Skills & Types of Governments Unit

Learning Targets 

• Students use different geographic tools such as maps, globes, diagrams, charts and data to identify and present solutions to problems around the world

• Students explore regional differences and perspectives in the Western Hemisphere impact human and environmental interactions 

Primary & Secondary Sources Unit

Learning Targets

• Students analyze multiple primary and secondary sources (For example: artifacts, eyewitness accounts, letters and diaries, graphs, diagrams and written texts) for Inuit, and early Native American cultures of North America, major explorers, colonizers of countries in the Western Hemisphere, and the Columbian Exchange

Economics & Financial Literacy Unit

Learning Targets

• Students can define types of Economic Systems, markets, mixed, traditional, and command economies

• Students explain specialization of production and the roles of buyers and sellers in product, labor, markets

• Students understand prices and wages

• Student analyze spending decisions for different individuals (Personal Financial Literacy)

Central & South America Unit

Learning Targets

• Students determine and explain the historical context of Aztec, Maya and Inca including key people, events, and ideas over time including the examination of different perspectives from people involved

Early Man/Hominid Ancestors Unit

Learning Targets

• Students use Critical Thinking to define 'egalitarian'

• Students use Critical Thinking to  examine the behavioral shifts in Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon hominids 

Ancient Civilizations in the Fertile Crescent & Indus Valley Unit

Learning Targets

• Students use Critical Thinking to analyze and examine the Fertile Crescent

• Students use Critical Thinking to compare and contrast hunter/gatherer/nomadic lifestyle to settled societies that practice agriculture

• Students use Critical Thinking to analyze life in the Fertile Crescent as one of the earliest areas of organized human settlement, especially the Assyrian Empire

• Students use Critical Thinking  and Collaboration to examine and define the various peoples of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley

Early Man/Hominid Ancestors Unit

Learning Targets

• Students use Critical Thinking to define 'egalitarian'

• Students use Critical Thinking to  examine the behavioral shifts in Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon hominids 

Ancient Civilizations in the Fertile Crescent & Indus Valley Unit

Learning Targets

• Students use Critical Thinking to analyze and examine the Fertile Crescent

• Students use Critical Thinking to compare and contrast hunter/gatherer/nomadic lifestyle to settled societies that practice agriculture

• Students use Critical Thinking to analyze life in the Fertile Crescent as one of the earliest areas of organized human settlement, especially the Assyrian Empire

• Students use Critical Thinking  and Collaboration to examine and define the various peoples of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley

Ancient Egyptian Civilization and African Kingdoms (Resources, Trade, Culture) Unit

Learning Targets

• Students use Critical Thinking, Global Awareness, Communication, and Perseverance to analyze the agricultural ease of irrigation on the Nile which allowed ancient Egyptians to accomplish incredible agricultural feats, like the Great Pyramids of Giza

• Students use Critical Thinking and Collaboration to analyze and describe various eras of Egyptian dynastic history

• Students use Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Global Awareness to analyze the legacy of the Great Pyramid of Giza and express mastery of how it was built and what it's legacy is

• Students use Critical Thinking and Communication to define the culture of Sub-Saharan African kingdoms in the 1200-1500s

• Students use Critical Thinking and Creativity to make progress on learning about Egyptian religion, mythology, feminism, and geography

Ancient China/Russian Tsars/Mongol Empire Unit

Learning Targets

• Students use Critical Thinking and Creativity to analyze and describe ancient Chinese civilization's social structure, government, and culture throughout its extensive 2000+ year history

• Students use Critical Thinking, Collaboration, and Creativity, to demonstrate mastery about Chinese invention

Ancient Greek City-States/Ancient Roman Republic & Empire Unit

Learning Targets

• Students use Critical Thinking and Creativity to explore topics about the Romans and Byzantines

• Students use Creativity to describe and show what happened in the Punic Wars

• Students use Critical Thinking and Creativity to describe the myths and legacy of Roman gladiators

• Students use Communication and Creativity to describe the differences and similarities between the Romans and Byzantines

• Students use Communication to describe the evidence for why the Roman Empire fell apart

European Discovery & Colonization of the Americas Unit

Learning Targets

• Students interpret maps and other geographic tools as a primary source to analyze a historic issue

• Students describe the nature and spatial distribution of cultural patterns

• Students recognize the patterns and networks of economic interdependence

• Students explain the establishment of human settlements in relationship to physical attributes and important regional connections

• Students calculate and analyze population trends

• Students formulate compelling and supporting questions after evaluating primary sources for point of view and historical context

• Students gather and analyze historical information to address questions from a range of primary and secondary sources containing a variety of perspectives

• Students gather and analyze historical information from a range of qualitative and quantitative sources. For example: demographic, economic, social, and political data

• Students construct and defend a historical argument that evaluates interpretations by analyzing, critiquing, and synthesizing evidence from the full range of relevant historical sources

The American Revolution Unit

Learning Targets

• Students determine and explain the historical context of key people and events from the origins of the American Revolution through Reconstruction including the examination of different perspectives. For example: grievances from the colonists against Parliament, the Constitutional Convention, causes and effects of the Civil War

• Students evaluate continuity and change over the course of United States history by examining various eras and determining major sources of conflict and compromise

• Students examine factors that motivated the military and economic expansion from the American Revolution through Reconstruction.

• Evaluate the impact of gender, age, ethnicity and class during this time period and the impact of these demographic groups on the events of the time period

• Students analyze causes and effects of major conflicts from the origins of the American Revolution through Reconstruction

• Students analyze ideas that are critical to the understanding of American history. For example: ideals involved in major events and movements, such as representative democracy, federalism, capitalism, abolition, temperance, nativism, and expansion

• Students give examples of international and regional differences in resources, productivity, and costs that provide a basis for trade

• Students describe the factors that lead to a nation or a region having a comparative and absolute advantage in trade

• Students explain effects of domestic policies on international trade

• Students explain why nations sometimes restrict trade by using quotas, tariffs, and non-tariff barriers

The Constitution Unit

Learning Targets

• Students discern various types of law
• Students evaluate the strengths of rule of law
• Students describe and engage in various means of conflict management
• Students explain the role and importance of the Constitution
• Students discuss the tensions between individual rights, state law, and national law
• Students explain how the state and federal courts’ power of judicial review is reflected in the United States’ form of constitutional government

Expansion Unit

Learning Targets

• Students interpret maps and other geographic tools as a primary source to analyze a historic issue

• Students describe the nature and spatial distribution of cultural patterns

• Students recognize the patterns and networks of economic interdependence

• Students explain the establishment of human settlements in relationship to physical attributes and important regional connections

• Students calculate and analyze population trends

• Students give examples of international and regional differences in resources, productivity, and costs that provide a basis for trade

• Students describe the factors that lead to a nation or a region having a comparative and absolute advantage in trade

• Students explain effects of domestic policies on international trade

• Students explain why nations sometimes restrict trade by using quotas, tariffs, and non-tariff barriers

Social Reform Movements Unit

Learning Targets

• Students formulate compelling and supporting questions after evaluating primary sources for point of view and historical context

• Students gather and analyze historical information to address questions from a range of primary and secondary sources containing a variety of perspectives

• Students gather and analyze historical information from a range of qualitative and quantitative sources. For example: demographic, economic, social, and political data

• Students construct and defend a historical argument that evaluates interpretations by analyzing, critiquing, and synthesizing evidence from the full range of relevant historical sources

Immigration Unit

Learning Targets

• Students analyze continuity and change in eras over the course of United States history

• Students investigate causes and effects of significant events throughout United States history. For example: world and regional conflicts, urbanization and suburbanization, economic cycles, and popular and countercultures

• Students analyze the complexity of events throughout United States history. For example: the Civil Rights Movement, migration, immigration and displacement 

• Students examine  and evaluate issues of unity and diversity from Reconstruction to present. For example: the systemic impact of racism and nativism, role of patriotism, expansion of rights, and the role of religion. e. Investigate the historical development and impact of major scientific and technological innovations in the Industrial Age, the Space Age, and the Digital Age. For example: Ford’s assembly line, NASA, personal computing

• Students evaluate the historical development and impact of political thought, theory and actions. For example: the development of political parties, suffrage, reform, activist groups, and social movements

• Students analyze the origins of fundamental political debates and how opposing perspectives, compromise, and cooperation have shaped national unity and diversity. For example: suffrage, human and civil rights, and the role of government

The Civil War & Reconstruction Unit

Learning Targets

• Students determine and explain the historical context of key people and events from the origins of the American Revolution through Reconstruction including the examination of different perspectives

• Students use and interpret documents and other relevant primary and secondary sources pertaining to United States history from multiple perspectives

• Students analyze evidence from multiple sources including those with conflicting accounts about specific events in United States history

• Students critique data for point of view, historical context, distortion, or propaganda and relevance to historical inquiry

• Students construct a written historical argument supported by evidence demonstrating the use or understanding of primary and secondary sources

• Students evaluate continuity and change over the course of United States history by examining various eras and determining major sources of conflict and compromise

• Students examine factors that motivated the military and economic expansion from the American Revolution through Reconstruction

• Students evaluate the impact of gender, age, ethnicity and class during this time period and the impact of these demographic groups on the events of the time period

• Students analyze causes and effects of major conflicts from the origins of the American Revolution through Reconstruction