Idaho: 6th-Grade Standards

Article Body

(Note: Between grades 6–9, Idaho students are expected to cover the following standards.)

  • Geography: Eastern Hemisphere

    • Standard 1: History

      Students in Geography-Eastern Hemisphere build an understanding of the cultural and social development of human civilization.

      Goal 1.8:

      Build an understanding of the cultural and social development of human civilization.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.1.8.1 Describe major aspects of the civilizations of the Eastern Hemisphere prior to European contact.
      • 6-9.GEH.1.8.2 Examine the impact of Europeans on indigenous cultures in the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.1.8.3 Compare various approaches to European colonization in the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.1.8.4 Explain how and why events may be interpreted differently according to the points of view of participants and observers.
      • 6-9.GEH.1.8.5 Describe the historical origins, central beliefs, and spread of major religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

    • Standard 2: Geography

      Students in Geography-Eastern Hemisphere analyze the spatial organizations of people, places, and environment on the earth’s surface, explain how human actions modify the physical environment and how physical systems affect human activity and living conditions, trace the migration and settlement of human populations on the earth’s surface, analyze the human and physical characteristics of different places and regions, and explain how geography enables people to comprehend the relationships between people, places, and environments overtime.

      Goal 2.1:

      Analyze the spatial organizations of people, places, and environment on the earth’s surface.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.2.1.1 Explain and use the components of maps, compare different map projections, and explain the appropriate uses for each. (469.01b)
      • 6-9.GEH.2.1.2 Apply latitude and longitude to locate places on Earth and describe the uses of technology, such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
      • 6-9.GEH.2.1.3 Use mental maps to answer geographic questions. (469.01b)
      • 6-9.GEH.2.1.4 Analyze visual and mathematical data presented in charts, tables, graphs, maps, and other graphic organizers to assist in interpreting a historical event. (473.01a)

      Goal 2.2:

      Explain how human actions modify the physical environment and how physical systems affect human activity and living conditions.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.2.2.1 Explain how Earth/sun relationships, ocean currents, and winds influence climate differences on Earth. (469.03f)
      • 6-9.GEH.2.2.2 Locate, map, and describe the climate regions of the Eastern Hemisphere and their impact on human activity and living conditions.
      • 6-9.GEH.2.2.3 Identify major biomes and explain ways in which the natural environment of places in the Eastern Hemisphere relates to their climate. (469.03a)
      • 6-9.GEH.2.2.4 Explain how physical processes have shaped Earth’s surface. Classify these processes according to those that have built up Earth’s surface (mountain-building and alluvial deposition) and those that wear away at Earth’s surface (erosion). (469.03c)
      • 6-9.GEH.2.2.5 Analyze and give examples of the consequences of human impact on the physical environment and evaluate ways in which technology influences human capacity to modify the physical environment. (469.05a)

      Goal 2.3:

      Trace the migration and settlement of human populations on the earth’s surface.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.2.3.1 Identify the names and locations of countries and major cities in the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.2.3.2 Describe major physical characteristics of regions in the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.2.3.3 Identify patterns of population distribution and growth in the Eastern Hemisphere and explain changes in these patterns, which have occurred over time. (469.04b)

      Goal 2.4:

      Analyze the human and physical characteristics of different places and regions.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.2.4.1 Use maps, charts, and graphs to compare rural and urban populations in selected countries in the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.2.4.2 Compare and contrast cultural patterns in the Eastern Hemisphere, such as language, religion, and ethnicity. (469.04c)
      • 6-9.GEH.2.4.3 Analyze the locations of the major manufacturing and agricultural regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

      Goal 2.5:

      Explain how geography enables people to comprehend the relationships between people, places, and environments over time.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.2.5.1 Analyze the distribution of natural resources in the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.2.5.2 Give examples of how both natural and technological hazards have impacted the physical environment and human populations in specific areas of the Eastern Hemisphere. (469.05c)
      • 6-9.GEH.2.5.3 Give examples of how land forms and water, climate, and natural vegetation have influenced historical trends and developments in the Eastern Hemisphere. (469.06c)
      • 6-9.GEH.2.5.4 Identify contrasting perspectives of environmental issues that affect the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.2.5.5 Explain how human-induced changes in the physical environment in one place can cause changes in another place, such as acid rain, air and water pollution, deforestation. (469.05b)

    • Standard 3: Economics

      Students in Geography-Eastern Hemisphere explain basic economic concepts and identify different influences on economic systems.

      Goal 3.1:

      Explain basic economic concepts.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.3.1.1 Define scarcity and its impact on decision making such as trade and settlement.

      Goal 3.2:

      Identify different influences on economic systems.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.3.2.1 Describe how different economic systems in the Eastern Hemisphere answer the basic economic questions on what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce.
      • 6-9.GEH.3.2.2 Compare the standard of living of various countries of the Eastern Hemisphere today using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita as an indicator.
      • 6-9.GEH.3.2.3 Analyze current economic issues in the countries of the Eastern Hemisphere using a variety of information resources.
      • 6-9.GEH.3.2.4 Identify economic connections between a local community and the countries of the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.3.2.5 Identify specific areas of the Eastern Hemisphere with important natural resource deposits.
      • 6-9.GEH.3.2.6 Investigate how physical geography, productive resources, specialization, and trade have influenced the way people earn income.

    • Standard 4: Civics and Government

      Students in Geography-Eastern Hemisphere build an understanding of comparative government.

      Goal 4.5:

      Build an understanding of comparative government.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.4.5.1 Identify the major forms of government in the Eastern Hemisphere and compare them with the United States.
      • 6-9.GEH.4.5.2 Give examples of the different routes to independence from colonial rule taken by countries.

    • Standard 5: Global Perspectives

      Students in Geography-Eastern Hemisphere build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence.

      Goal 5.1:

      Build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Eastern Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GEH.5.1.1 Discuss how social institutions, including the family, religion, and education, influence behavior in different societies in the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.5.1.2 Give examples of how language, literature, and the arts shaped the development and transmission of culture in the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.5.1.3 Define ethnocentrism and give examples of how this attitude can lead to cultural misunderstandings.
      • 6-9.GEH.5.1.4 Discuss present conflicts between cultural groups and nation-states in the Eastern Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GEH.5.1.5 Give examples of the benefits of global connections, such as developing opportunities for trade, cooperating in seeking solutions to mutual problems, learning for technological advances, acquiring new perspectives, and benefiting from developments in architecture, music, and the arts.
      • 6-9.GEH.5.1.6 Give examples of the causes and consequences of current global issues, such as the expansion of global markets, the urbanization of the developing world, the consumption of natural resources, and the extinction of species, and speculate possible responses by various individuals, groups, and nations.

  • Geography: Western Hemisphere

    • Standard 1: History

      Students in Geography-Western Hemisphere build an understanding of the cultural and social development of human civilization.

      Goal 1.8:

      Build an understanding of the cultural and social development of human civilization.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.1.8.1 Describe major aspects of the civilizations of the Western Hemisphere prior to European contact, such as Mesoamerica.
      • 6-9.GWH.1.8.2 Examine the impact of Europeans on indigenous cultures in the Western Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GWH.1.8.3 Compare various approaches to European colonization in the Western Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GWH.1.8.4 Explain how and why events may be interpreted differently according to the points of view of participants and observers.

    • Standard 2: Geography

      Students in Geography-Western Hemisphere analyze the spatial organizations of people, places, and environment on the earth’s surface, explain how human actions modify the physical environment and how physical systems affect human activity and living conditions, trace the migration and settlement of human populations on the earth’s surface, analyze the human and physical characteristics of different places and regions, and explain how geography enables people to comprehend the relationships between people, places, and environments over time.

      Goal 2.1:

      Analyze the spatial organizations of people, places, and environment on the earth’s surface.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.2.1.1 Explain and use the components of maps, compare different map projections, and explain the appropriate uses for each. (469.01b)
      • 6-9.GWH.2.1.2 Apply latitude and longitude to locate places on Earth and describe the uses of technology, such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
      • 6-9.GWH.2.1.3 Use mental maps to answer geographic questions. (469.01b)
      • 6-9.GWH.2.1.4 Analyze visual and mathematical data presented in charts, tables, graphs, maps, and other graphic organizers to assist in interpreting a historical event. (473.01a)

      Goal 2.2:

      Explain how human actions modify the physical environment and how physical systems affect human activity and living conditions.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.2.2.1 Explain how Earth/sun relationships, ocean currents, and winds influence climate differences on Earth. (469.03f)
      • 6-9.GWH.2.2.2 Locate, map, and describe the climate regions of the Western Hemisphere and their impact on human activity and living conditions.
      • 6-9.GWH.2.2.3 Identify major biomes and explain ways in which the natural environment of places in the Western Hemisphere relates to their climate. (469.03a)
      • 6-9.GWH.2.2.4 Analyze and give examples of the consequences of human impact on the physical environment and evaluate ways in which technology influences human capacity to modify the physical environment. (469.05a)

      Goal 2.3:

      Trace the migration and settlement of human populations on the earth’s surface.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.2.3.1 Identify the names and locations of countries and major cities in the Western Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GWH.2.3.2 Describe major physical characteristics of regions in the Western Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GWH.2.3.3 Identify patterns of population distribution and growth in the Western Hemisphere and explain changes in these patterns which have occurred over time. (469.04b)

      Goal 2.4:

      Analyze the human and physical characteristics of different places and regions.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.2.4.1 Describe major cultural characteristics of regions in the Western Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GWH.2.4.2 Compare and contrast cultural patterns in the Western Hemisphere, such as language, religion, and ethnicity. (469.04c)
      • 6-9.GWH.2.4.3 Analyze the locations of the major manufacturing and agricultural regions of the Western Hemisphere.

      Goal 2.5:

      Explain how geography enables people to comprehend the relationships between people, places, and environments over time.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.2.5.1 Analyze the distribution of natural resources in the Western Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GWH.2.5.2 Give examples of how both natural and technological hazards have impacted the physical environment and human populations in specific areas of the Western Hemisphere. (469.05c)
      • 6-9.GWH.2.5.3 Give examples of how land forms and water, climate, and natural vegetation have influenced historical trends and developments in the Western Hemisphere. (469.06c)
      • 6-9.GWH.2.5.4 Identify contrasting perspectives of environmental issues that affect the Western Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GWH.2.5.5 Explain how human-induced changes in the physical environment in one place can cause changes in another place such as acid rain, air and water pollution, deforestation. (469.05b)

    • Standard 3: Economics

      Students in Geography-Western Hemisphere explain basic economic concepts and identify different influences on economic systems.

      Goal 3.1:

      Explain basic economic concepts.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.3.1.1 Define scarcity and its impact on decision making such as trade and settlement.

      Goal 3.2:

      Identify different influences on economic systems.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.3.2.1 Describe how different economic systems in the Western Hemisphere answer the basic economic questions on what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce.
      • 6-9.GWH.3.2.2 Compare the standard of living of various countries of the Western Hemisphere today using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita as an indicator.
      • 6-9.GWH.3.2.3 Analyze current economic issues in the countries of the Western Hemisphere using a variety of information resources.
      • 6-9.GWH.3.2.4 Identify economic connections between a local community and the countries of the Western Hemisphere.

    • Standard 4: Civics and Government

      Students in Geography-Western Hemisphere build an understanding of comparative government.

      Goal 4.5:

      Build an understanding of comparative government.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.4.5.1 Identify the major forms of government in the Western Hemisphere and compare them with the United States.

    • Standard 5: Global Perspectives

      Students in Geography-Western Hemisphere build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence.

      Goal 5.1:

      Build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence.
      Objective(s): By the end of Geography-Western Hemisphere, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.GWH.5.1.1 Discuss how social institutions, including family, religion, and education, influence behavior in different societies in the Western Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GWH.5.1.2 Give examples of how language, literature, and the arts shaped the development and transmission of culture in the Western Hemisphere.
      • 6-9.GWH.5.1.3 Define ethnocentrism and give examples of how this attitude can lead to cultural misunderstandings.
      • 6-9.GWH.5.1.4 Discuss present conflicts between cultural groups and nation-states in the Western Hemisphere.

  • World History and Civilization

    • Standard 1: History

      Students in World History and Civilization explain the rise of human civilization, trace how natural resources and technological advances have shaped human civilization, build an understanding of the cultural and social development of human civilization, and identify the role of religion in the development of human civilization.

      Goal 1.6:

      Explain the rise of human civilization.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.1.6.1 Describe types of evidence used by anthropologists, archaeologists, and other scholars to reconstruct early human and cultural development. (462.01a)
      • 6-9.WHC.1.6.2 Describe the characteristics of early hunter-gatherer communities. (462.01b)
      • 6-9.WHC.1.6.3 Analyze the characteristics of early civilizations.

      Goal 1.7:

      Trace how natural resources and technological advances have shaped human civilization.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.1.7.1 Explain how man adapted the environment for civilization to develop. (462.04a)
      • 6-9.WHC.1.7.2 Identify the technological advances developed by Ancient, Greco Roman, Middle Ages, Early-Modern, and Modern European societies and civilizations. (462.04b)

      Goal 1.8:

      Build an understanding of the cultural and social development of human civilization.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.1.8.1 Find examples of how writing, art, architecture, mathematics, and science have evolved in western civilization over time. (462.05b)
      • 6-9.WHC.1.8.2 Identify the origins and characteristics of different social classes.
      • 6-9.WHC.1.8.3 Describe how the structure of family changes in relation to socioeconomic conditions.

      Goal 1.9:

      Identify the role of religion in the development of human civilization.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.1.9.1 Explain the relationship between religion and the peoples understanding of the natural world. (462.07c)
      • 6-9.WHC.1.9.2 Explain how religion shaped the development of western civilization. (462.07a)
      • 6-9.WHC.1.9.3 Discuss how religion influenced social behavior and created social order. (462.07b)
      • 6-9.WHC.1.9.4 Describe why different religious beliefs were sources of conflict.

    • Standard 2: Geography

      Students in World History and Civilization analyze the spatial organizations of people, places, and environment on the earth’s surface, trace the migration and settlement of human populations on the earth’s surface, analyze the human and physical characteristics of different places and regions, and explain how geography enables people to comprehend the relationships between people, places, and environments over time.

      Goal 2.1:

      Analyze the spatial organizations of people, places, and environment on the earth’s surface.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.2.1.1 Develop and interpret different kinds of maps, globes, graphs, charts, databases and models.

      Goal 2.3:

      Trace the migration and settlement of human populations on the earth’s surface.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.2.3.1 Identify main reasons for major migrations of people. (463.03a)
      • 6-9.WHC.2.3.2 Explain how climate affects human migration and settlement. (463.03b)
      • 6-9.WHC.2.3.3 Describe how physical features such as mountain ranges, fertile plains, and rivers led to the development of cultural regions. (463.03c)
      • 6-9.WHC.2.3.4 Explain how transportation routes stimulate growth of cities and the exchange of goods, knowledge, and technology. (463.03d)

      Goal 2.4:

      Analyze the human and physical characteristics of different places and regions.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.2.4.1 Explain the impact of waterways on civilizations. (463.02b)

      Goal 2.5:

      Explain how geography enables people to comprehend the relationships between people, places, and environments over time.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.2.5.1 Explain how the resources of an area can be the source of conflict between competing groups. (463.04a)
      • 6-9.WHC.2.5.2 Illustrate how the population growth rate impacts a nation's resources. (463.04b)
      • 6-9.WHC.2.5.3 Explain how rapid growth of cities can lead to economic, social, and political problems. (463.04c)
      • 6-9.WHC.2.5.4 Describe how the conservation of resources is necessary to maintain a healthy environment. (463.04d)

    • Standard 3: Economics

      Students in World History and Civilization explain basic economic concepts and identify different influences on economic systems

      Goal 3.1:

      Explain basic economic concepts.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.3.1.1 Explain how historically people have relied on their natural resources to meet their needs. (465.01b)
      • 6-9.WHC.3.1.2 List examples that show how economic opportunity and a higher standard of living are important factors in the migration of people. (465.01c)
      • 6-9.WHC.3.1.3 Analyze the role of money as a means of exchange. (465.02a)
      • 6-9.WHC.3.1.4 Describe alternative means of exchange. (465.02b)

      Goal 3.2:

      Identify different influences on economic systems.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.3.2.1 Analyze the impact of economic growth on European society. (465.03a)
      • 6-9.WHC.3.2.2 Trace the evolution of hunting-gathering, agrarian, industrial and technological economic systems.
      • 6-9.WHC.3.2.3 Identify influential economic thinkers and the impact of their philosophies.
      • 6-9.WHC.3.2.4 Identify important economic organizations that have influenced economic growth.

    • Standard 4: Civics and Government

      Students in World History and Civilization build an understanding of the evolution of democracy.

      Goal 4.4:

      Build an understanding of the evolution of democracy.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.4.4.1 Describe the role of government in population movements throughout western civilization. (462.05d)
      • 6-9.WHC.4.4.2 Analyze the various political influences which shaped western civilization including the City-State, Monarchy, Republic, Nation-State, and Democracy.
      • 6-9.WHC.4.4.3 Analyze and evaluate the global expansion of liberty and democracy through revolution and reform movements in challenging authoritarian or despotic regimes. (464.02a)

    • Standard 5: Global Perspectives

      Students in World History and Civilization build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence.

      Goal 5.1:

      Build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence.
      Objective(s): By the end of World History and Civilization, the student will be able to:

      • 6-9.WHC.5.1.1 Explain common reasons and consequences for the breakdown of order among nation-states, such as conflicts about national interests, ethnicity, and religion; competition for resources and territory; the absence of effective means to enforce international law.
      • 6-9.WHC.5.1.2 Explain the global consequences of major conflicts in the 20th century, such as World War I; World War II, including the Holocaust; and the Cold War.
      • 6-9.WHC.5.1.3 Evaluate why peoples unite for political, economic, and humanitarian reasons.

  • U.S. History I

    • Standard 1: History

      Students in U.S. History I build an understanding of the cultural and social development of the United States, trace the role of migration and immigration of people in the development of the United States, identify the role of American Indians in the development of the United States, analyze the political, social, and economic responses to industrialization and technological innovations in the development of the United States, and trace the role of exploration and expansion in the development of the United States.

      Goal 1.1:

      Build an understanding of the cultural and social development of the United States.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.1.1.1 Compare and contrast the different cultural and social influences that emerged in the North American colonies. (479.01a)
      • 6-12.USH1.1.1.2 Describe the experiences of culturally, ethnically, and racially different groups existing as part of American society prior to the Civil War. (479.01b)
      • 6-12.USH1.1.1.3 Analyze the common traits, beliefs, and characteristics that unite the United States as a nation and a society. (479.01c)
      • 6-12.USH1.1.1.4 Discuss the causes and effects of various compromises and conflicts in American history such as the American Revolution, Civil War and Reconstruction.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.1.5 Compare and contrast early cultures and settlements that existed in North America prior to European contact.

      Goal 1.2:

      Trace the role of migration and immigration of people in the development of the United States.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.1.2.1 Analyze the religious, political, and economic motives of European immigrants who came to North America.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.2.2 Explain the motives and consequences for slavery and other forms of involuntary immigration to North America.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.2.3 Analyze the concept of Manifest Destiny and its impact on American Indians and the development of the United States.

      Goal 1.3:

      Identify the role of American Indians in the development of the United States.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.1.3.1 Trace federal policies and treaties such as removal, reservations, and allotment throughout history that have impacted contemporary American Indians.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.3.2 Explain how and why events may be interpreted differently according to the points of view of participants and observers.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.3.3 Discuss the resistance of American Indians to assimilation.

      Goal 1.4:

      Analyze the political, social, and economic responses to industrialization and technological innovations in the development of the United States.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.1.4.1 Explain the consequences of scientific and technological inventions and changes on the social and economic lives of the people in the development the United States.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.4.2 Explain how the development of various modes of transportation increased economic prosperity and promoted national unity.

      Goal 1.5:

      Trace the role of exploration and expansion in the development of the United States.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.1.5.1 Examine the development of diverse cultures in what is now the United States.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.5.2 Identify significant countries and their roles and motives in the European exploration of the Americas.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.5.3 Describe and analyze the interactions between native peoples and the European explorers.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.5.4 Summarize the major events in the European settlement of North America from Jamestown to the end of the 18th century.
      • 6-12.USH1.1.5.5 Identify the United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861 and explain internal and external conflicts.

    • Standard 2: Geography

      Students in U.S. History I analyze the spatial organizations of people, places, and environment on the earth’s surface, explain how human actions modify the physical environment and how physical systems affect human activity and living conditions, and trace the migration and settlement of human populations on the earth’s surface.

      Goal 2.1:

      Analyze the spatial organizations of people, places, and environment on the earth’s surface.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.2.1.1 Develop and interpret different kinds of maps, globes, graphs, charts, databases and models.

      Goal 2.2:

      Explain how human actions modify the physical environment and how physical systems affect human activity and living conditions.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.2.2.1 Analyze ways in which the physical environment affected political and economic development.

      Goal 2.3:

      Trace the migration and settlement of human populations on the earth’s surface.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.2.3.1 Describe Pre-Columbian migration to the Americas.
      • 6-12.USH1.2.3.2 Illustrate westward migration across North America.

    • Standard 3: Economics

      Students in U.S. History I explain basic economic concepts, identify different influences on economic systems, and analyze the different types of economic institutions.

      Goal 3.1:

      Explain basic economic concepts.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.3.1.1 Describe the economic characteristics of mercantilism.
      • 6-12.USH1.3.1.2 Compare the economic development of the North with the South.

      Goal 3.2:

      Identify different influences on economic systems.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.3.2.1 Describe the emergence and evolution of a market economy.
      • 6-12.USH1.3.2.2 Analyze the role of government policy in the early economic development of the United States.

      Goal 3.3:

      Analyze the different types of economic institutions.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.3.3.1 Evaluate the role of financial institutions in the economic development of the United States.

    • Standard 4: Civics and Government

      Students in U.S. History I build an understanding of the foundational principles of the American political system, the organization and formation of the American system of government, that all people in the United States have rights and assume responsibilities, and the evolution of democracy.

      Goal 4.1:

      Build an understanding of the foundational principles of the American political system.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.4.1.1 Trace the development of constitutional democracy in the United States, such as the Mayflower Compact, colonial assemblies, Bacon’s Rebellion.
      • 6-12.USH1.4.1.2 Identify fundamental values and principles as expressed in basic documents such as the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and the United States Constitution.
      • 6-12.USH1.4.1.3 Evaluate issues in which fundamental values and principles are in conflict, such as between liberty and equality, individual interests and the common good, and majority rule and minority protections.

      Goal 4.2:

      Build an understanding of the organization and formation of the American system of government.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.4.2.1 Explain how the executive, legislative, and judicial powers are distributed and shared among the three branches of national government.
      • 6-12.USH1.4.2.2 Explain how and why powers are distributed and shared between national and state governments in a federal system.

      Goal 4.3:

      Build an understanding that all people in the United States have rights and assume responsibilities.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.4.3.1 Provide and evaluate examples of social and political leadership in early American history.
      • 6-12.USH1.4.3.2 Describe ways in which citizens participated in early American public life.

      Goal 4.4:

      Build an understanding of the evolution of democracy.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.4.4.1 Describe the role of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and national origin on the development of individual/political rights.

    • Standard 5: Global Perspectives

      Students in U.S. History I build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence.

      Goal 5.1:

      Build an understanding of multiple perspectives and global interdependence.
      Objective(s): By the end of U.S. History I, the student will be able to:

      • 6-12.USH1.5.1.1 Explain the significance of principle policies and events in the United States’ relations with the world, such as the War of 1812, Monroe Doctrine, and Mexican and Spanish American Wars.
      • 6-12.USH1.5.1.2 Evaluate the major foreign policy positions that have characterized the United States’ relations with the world, such as isolationism and imperialism.
      • 6-12.USH1.5.1.3 Analyze how national interest shapes foreign policy.

Indiana: 6th-Grade Standards

Article Body
  • IN.1. Standard: History Students will explore the key historic movements, events and figures that contributed to the development of modern Europe and America from early civilizations through modern times by examining religious institutions, trade and cultural interactions, political institutions, and technological developments.
    • 6.1.1. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Early and Classical Civilizations: 1900 B.C. /B.C.E to 700 A.D. /C.E.: Describe the rise; the political, technological and cultural achievements; and the decline of ancient civilizations in Europe and Mesoamerica. Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.2. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Early and Classical Civilizations: 1900 B.C. /B.C.E to 700 A.D. /C.E.: Describe and compare the beliefs, the spread and the influence of religions
    • 6.1.3. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Medieval Period: 400 A.D. /C.E. - 1500 A.D. /C.E.: Explain the continuation and contributions of the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
    • 6.1.4. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Medieval Period: 400 A.D. /C.E. - 1500 A.D. /C.E.: Describe and explain the development and organization of political, cultural, social and economic systems in Europe and the Americas. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.5. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Medieval Period: 400 A.D. /C.E. - 1500 A.D. /C.E.: Analyze the diverse points of view and interests of those involved in the Crusades and give examples of the changes brought about by the Crusades.
    • 6.1.6. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Medieval Period: 400 A.D. /C.E. - 1500 A.D. /C.E.: Examine the importance of trade routes and trace the rise of cultural centers and trade cities in Europe and Mesoamerica.
    • 6.1.7. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Medieval Period: 400 A.D. /C.E. - 1500 A.D. /C.E.: Explain the effects of the Black Death, or bubonic plague, along with economic, environmental and social factors that led to the decline of medieval society.
    • 6.1.8. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Medieval Period: 400 A.D. /C.E. - 1500 A.D. /C.E.: Compare the diverse perspectives, ideas, interests and people that brought about the Renaissance in Europe. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.9. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Medieval Period: 400 A.D. /C.E. - 1500 A.D. /C.E.: Analyze the interconnections of people, places and events in the economic, scientific and cultural exchanges of the European Renaissance that led to the Scientific Revolution, voyages of discovery and imperial conquest. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.10. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Early Modern Era: 1500 to 1800: Examine and explain the outcomes of European colonization on the Americas and the rest of the world. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.11. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Early Modern Era: 1500 to 1800: Compare Spanish and Portuguese colonies in Mexico and South America with French and British colonies in North America.
    • 6.1.12. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Early Modern Era: 1500 to 1800: Describe the Reformations and their effects on European and American society. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.13. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Early Modern Era: 1500 to 1800: Explain the origin and spread of scientific, political, and social ideals associated with the Age of Enlightenment. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.14. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Early Modern Era: 1500 to 1800: Describe the origins, developments and innovations of the Industrial Revolution and explain the changes it brought about. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.15. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Modern Era: 1700 to the present: Describe the impact of industrialization and urbanization on the lives of individuals and on trade and cultural exchange between Europe and the Americas and the rest of the world. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.16. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Modern Era: 1700 to the present: Trace the individuals, beliefs and events that represent various political ideologies during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.17. Proficiency Statement: Historical Knowledge Modern Era: 1700 to the present: Compare the opportunities and dangers related to the development of a highly technological society.
    • 6.1.18. Proficiency Statement: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Analysis and Interpretation, Research Create and compare timelines that identify major people, events and developments in the history of individual civilizations and/or countries that comprise Europe and the Americas. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.19. Proficiency Statement: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Analysis and Interpretation, Research Define and use the terms decade, century, and millennium, and compare alternative ways that historical periods and eras are designated by identifying the organizing principles upon which each is based.
    • 6.1.20. Proficiency Statement: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Analysis and Interpretation, Research Recognize historical perspectives in fiction and nonfiction by identifying the historical context in which events unfolded and by avoiding evaluation of the past solely in terms of present-day norms.
    • 6.1.21. Proficiency Statement: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Analysis and Interpretation, Research Analyze cause-and-effect relationships, keeping in mind multiple causations, including the importance of individuals, ideas, human interests, beliefs and chance in history. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.22. Proficiency Statement: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Analysis and Interpretation, Research Differentiate between fact and interpretation in historical accounts and explain the meaning of historical passages by identifying who was involved, what happened, where it happened, and relating them to outcomes that followed and gaps in the historical record.
    • 6.1.23. Proficiency Statement: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Analysis and Interpretation, Research Form research questions and use a variety of information resources to obtain, evaluate and present data on people, cultures and developments in Europe and the Americas. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.1.24. Proficiency Statement: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Analysis and Interpretation, Research Identify issues related to an historical event in Europe or the Americas and give basic arguments for and against that issue utilizing the perspectives, interests and values of those involved.
  • IN.2. Standard: Civics and Government Students will compare and contrast forms of government in different historical periods with contemporary political structures of Europe and the Americas and examine the rights and responsibilities of individuals in different political systems.
    • 6.2.1. Proficiency Statement: Foundations of Government Identify and compare major forms of historical and contemporary governments in Europe and the Americas.
    • 6.2.2. Proficiency Statement: Foundations of Government Explain how elements of Greek direct democracy and Roman representative democracy are present in modern systems of government.
    • 6.2.3. Proficiency Statement: Foundations of Government Examine key ideas of Magna Carta (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), and the English Bill of Rights (1689) as documents to place limits on the English monarchy.
    • 6.2.4. Proficiency Statement: Foundations of Government Define the term nation-state and describe the rise of nation-states headed by monarchs in Europe from 1500 to 1700.
    • 6.2.5. Proficiency Statement: Functions of Government Describe how major forms of government in Europe and the Americas protect or protected citizens and their civil and human rights.
    • 6.2.6. Proficiency Statement: Functions of Government Identify the functions of international political organizations in the world today.
    • 6.2.7. Proficiency Statement: Roles of Citizens Define and compare citizenship and the citizen's role in selected countries of Europe and the Americas.
  • IN.3. Standard: Geography Students will identify the characteristics of climate regions in Europe and the Americas and describe major physical features, countries and cities of Europe and the Western Hemisphere.
    • 6.3.1. Proficiency Statement: The World in Spatial Terms Identify and locate on maps the countries and capitals of Europe and the Americas such as Great Britain, Russia, Mexico, Canada and Brazil.
    • 6.3.2. Proficiency Statement: The World in Spatial Terms Use latitude and longitude to locate the capital cities of Europe and the Americas and describe the uses of locational technology, such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to distinguish absolute and relative location and to describe Earth's surfaces.
    • 6.3.3. Proficiency Statement: Places and Regions Describe and compare major physical characteristics of regions in Europe and the Americas.
    • 6.3.4. Proficiency Statement: Physical Systems Places and Regions: Describe and compare major cultural characteristics of regions in Europe and the Western Hemisphere.
    • 6.3.5. Proficiency Statement: Physical Systems Give examples and describe the formation of important river deltas, mountains and bodies of water in Europe and the Americas.
    • 6.3.6. Proficiency Statement: Physical Systems Explain how ocean currents and winds influence climate differences on Europe and the Americas.
    • 6.3.7. Proficiency Statement: Physical Systems Locate and describe the climate regions of Europe and the Americas and explain how and why they differ.
    • 6.3.8. Proficiency Statement: Physical Systems Identify major biomes of Europe and the Americas and explain how these are influenced by climate.
    • 6.3.9. Proficiency Statement: Human Systems Identify current patterns of population distribution and growth in Europe and the Americas using a variety of geographic representations such as maps, charts, graphs, and satellite images and aerial photography.
    • 6.3.10. Proficiency Statement: Human Systems Explain that cultures change in three ways: cultural diffusion, invention and innovation. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.3.11. Proficiency Statement: Human Systems Define the terms anthropology and archeology and explain how these fields contribute to our understanding of societies in the present and the past. (Individuals, Society and Culture)
    • 6.3.12. Proficiency Statement: Environment and Society Compare the distribution of natural gas, oil, forests, uranium, minerals, coal, seafood and water in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Great Britain and Russia.
    • 6.3.13. Proficiency Statement: Environment and Society Explain the impact of humans on the physical environment in Europe and the Americas.
    • 6.3.14. Proficiency Statement: Environment and Society Explain and give examples of how nature has impacted the physical environment and human populations in specific areas of Europe and the Americas.
  • IN.4. Standard: Economics Students will examine the influence of physical and cultural factors upon the economic systems of countries in Europe and the Americas.
    • 6.4.1. Proficiency Statement: Give examples of how trade related to key developments in the history of Europe and the Americas.
    • 6.4.2. Proficiency Statement: Analyze how countries of Europe and the Americas have been influenced by trade in different historical periods.
    • 6.4.3. Proficiency Statement: Explain why international trade requires a system for exchanging currency between various countries.
    • 6.4.4. Proficiency Statement: Describe how different economic systems (traditional, command, market and mixed) in Europe and the Americas answer the basic economic questions on what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce.
    • 6.4.5. Proficiency Statement: Explain how financial institutions (banks, credit unions and stocks-and-bonds markets) channel funds from savers to borrowers and investors.
    • 6.4.6. Proficiency Statement: Compare the standard of living of various countries of Europe and the Americas today using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita as an indicator.
    • 6.4.7. Proficiency Statement: Analyze current economic issues in the countries of Europe or the Americas using a variety of information resources.
    • 6.4.8. Proficiency Statement: Identify economic connections between the local community and the countries of Europe or the Americas and identify job skills needed to be successful in the workplace.
    • 6.4.9. Proficiency Statement: Identify situations in which the actions of consumers and producers in Europe or the Americas create helpful spillovers or harmful spillovers to people inside a country who are not directly involved in the consumption or production of a product.
    • 6.4.10. Proficiency Statement: Explain how saving and investing help increase productivity and economic growth and compare and contrast individual saving and investing options.

Oregon: 6th-Grade Standards

Article Body

(Note: By the completion of eighth grade, Oregon students are expected to master the following standards.)

Benchmark 3 students expand their study to U.S. and World History, including early world civilizations and the development of nations and the United States post-Revolution to approximately 1900. Students increase their understanding of the U.S. Constitution, rule of law, and the powers and limitations of government. They apply their geography skills to identify physical features, population distribution, and to make predictions. Students also examine markets and types of economies, with emphasis on the U.S. economy. They also study basic investment and savings concepts and practices. Students continue to use Social Science Analysis skills, examining evidence more completely, viewing issues from more than one perspective, and making judgments about alternative responses or solutions to problems.

Civics and Government

  • Understand the origins, purposes, and functions of U.S. government, including the structure and meaning of the U.S. Constitution.
    • SS.08.CG.01 Understand the purposes of government as stated in the Constitution and the specific provisions that limit the power of government in order to protect the rights of individuals.
      • SS.08.CG.01.01 Distinguish the purposes of government as stated in the Preamble.
      • SS.08.CG.01.02 Understand how the power of government is limited in the United States.
      • SS.08.CG.01.03 Recognize the provisions of the Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10) that protect individual rights.
  • Understand the organization, responsibilities, and interrelationships of local, state, and federal governments in the United States.
    • SS.08.CG.02 Identify and distinguish how powers and responsibilities are distributed and balanced among the federal, state, and local levels.
      • SS.08.CG.02.01 Identify the power or responsibility of each level of government.
      • SS.08.CG.02.02 Understand how laws are made and enforced at the federal, state, and local levels.
  • Understand the roles of the three branches of government and explain how their powers are distributed and shared.
    • SS.08.CG.03 Understand the powers of each branch of government as stated in the Constitution.
      • SS.08.CG.03.01 Understand the basic idea of checks and balances of each branch of the federal government.
      • SS.08.CG.03.02 Identify the legislative, executive, and judicial institutions at each level of government.
      • SS.08.CG.03.03 Understand the powers and responsibilities of the executive branch of government.
      • SS.08.CG.03.04 Understand how courts are organized by level and jurisdiction, and that law is divided into Constitutional Law, criminal law, and civil law.
  • Understand personal and political rights of citizens in the United States.
    • SS.08.CG.04 Understand citizens' rights and how the Constitution protects those rights.
      • SS.08.CG.04.01 Identify and understand the rights of citizens guaranteed under the Bill of Rights.
  • Understand participatory responsibilities of citizens in the community (voluntarism) and in the political process (becoming informed about public issues and candidates, joining political parties/interest groups/associations, communicating with public officials, voting, influencing lawmaking through such processes as petitions/initiatives).
    • SS.08.CG.05 Understand how citizens can make their voices heard in the political process.
      • SS.08.CG.05.01 Identify and give examples of ways that citizens can let their opinions be known in the political process.
  • Understand how government is influenced and changed by support and dissent of individuals, groups, and international organizations.
    • SS.08.CG.06 Identify and give examples of how groups and organizations can influence the actions of government.
      • SS.08.CG.06.01 Identify and give examples of how groups and organizations can influence government policy or decisions and describe how these actions can lead to such influence.
  • Understand how nations interact with each other, how events and issues in other countries can affect citizens in the United States, and how actions and concepts of democracy and individual rights of the United States can affect other peoples and nations.
    • SS.08.CG.07 Understand how actions of the U.S. government affect citizens of both the United States and other countries.
      • SS.08.CG.07.01 Know how the U.S. government affects citizens of other countries.
      • SS.08.CG.07.02 Know how U.S. government actions with other nations affect citizens of the United States.
  • Analyze major political systems of the world.
    • SS.08.CG.08 Understand various forms of government.
      • SS.08.CG.08.01 Compare and contrast various forms of government to the United States' government.

Economics

  • Understand that resources are limited (e.g., scarcity).
    • SS.08.EC.01 Understand incentives in a market economy that influence individuals and businesses in allocating resources (time, money, labor, and natural resources).
      • SS.08.EC.01.01 Know that people respond predictably to positive and negative incentives.
  • Understand economic trade-offs and how choices result in both costs and benefits to individuals and society.
    • SS.08.EC.02 Understand how trade-offs and opportunity costs can be identified and measured.
      • SS.08.EC.02.01 Know and give examples of how changes in the economy impose costs on some and benefits on others because they arbitrarily redistribute purchasing power.
      • SS.08.EC.02.02 Distinguish between "needs" and "wants" in the U.S. and other countries of the world, and the impact of the media.
  • Understand how conditions in an economy influence and are influenced by the decisions of consumers, producers, economic institutions, and government.
    • SS.08.EC.03 Understand how price is an incentive for both buyers and producers/sellers in the marketplace.
      • SS.08.EC.03.01 Understand how supply and demand respond predictably to changes in economic circumstances.
  • Understand economic concepts, principles, and factors affecting the allocation of available resources in an economy.
    • SS.08.EC.04 Understand how decisions regarding what to produce, how to produce, and for whom to produce are answered in various economic systems.
      • SS.08.EC.04.01 Understand how decisions about production are made in traditional, capitalist, and command economies.
  • Understand the role of government and institutions (i.e., banks, labor unions) in various economic systems in an economy.
    • SS.08.EC.05 Understand how banks function within the economy.
      • SS.08.EC.05.01 Identify and give examples of the services of a bank, and know the role of banks in the economy.
  • Understand the interdependence of the global economy and the role played by the United States.
    • SS.08.EC.06 Identify and give examples of how the United States economy affects citizens of both the United States and other countries.
      • SS.08.EC.06.01 Give examples of how the United States economy affects citizens of the United States.
      • SS.08.EC.06.02 Give examples of how the United States economy affects citizens of other countries.
  • Understand how money makes it easier to trade, borrow, save, invest, and compare the value of goods and services.
    • SS.08.EC.07 Understand the function of money.
      • SS.08.EC.07.01 Understand how money functions as a means of exchange, a store of value, and a measure of value.
  • Apply economic concepts and principles to issues of personal finance.
    • SS.08.EC.08 Understand factors that determine personal income and predict future earnings, based on plans for education and training.
      • SS.08.EC.08.01 Understand how a wage or salary is the price of labor, and is usually determined by the supply and demand for labor.
      • SS.08.EC.08.02 Understand that people's incomes, in part, reflect choices they have made about education, training, skill development, and careers.
      • SS.08.EC.08.03 Understand how workers can increase their productivity by improving their skills or by using tools and machinery.
    • SS.08.EC.09 Understand different ways that people invest and save.
      • SS.08.EC.09.01 Understand that banks and credit unions are institutions where people save money and earn interest, and where other people borrow money and pay interest.
      • SS.08.EC.09.02 Understand that stocks, bonds, and other investments are ways people earn money.

Geography

  • Understand the spatial concepts of location, distance, direction, scale, movement, and region.
    • SS.08.GE.01 Understand fundamental geography vocabulary such as concepts of distance, latitude, longitude, interdependence, accessibility, and connections.
      • SS.08.GE.01.01 Use maps, charts, and graphs to understand patterns of movement over time and space.
  • Use maps and other geographic tools and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
    • SS.08.GE.02 Read, interpret, and understand how to construct geographic representations to analyze information, understand spatial relationships, and compare places.
      • SS.08.GE.02.01 Use maps, charts, graphs, and photographs to analyze spatial distributions and patterns.
  • Locate major physical and human (cultural) features of the Earth.
    • SS.08.GE.03 Locate and identify on maps and globes the regions of the world and their prominent physical features.
      • SS.08.GE.03.01 Identify the location of major mountain ranges, deserts, rivers, cultural regions and countries in the world.
  • Compare and analyze physical (e.g., landforms, vegetation, wildlife, climate, and natural hazards) and human (e.g., population, land use, language, and religion) characteristics of places and regions.
    • SS.08.GE.04 Identify and compare physical and human characteristics of major regions and significant places in the world.
      • SS.08.GE.04.01 Locate and identify population centers and geographic reasons for their locations.
      • SS.08.GE.04.02 Identify, locate, and compare the cultural characteristics of places and regions.
      • SS.08.GE.04.03 Recognize relationships between the physical and cultural characteristics of a place or region.
  • Analyze the causes of human migration (e.g., density, food and water supply, transportation and communication systems) and it effects (e.g., impact on physical and human systems).
    • SS.08.GE.05 Identify and understand worldwide patterns of population distribution, migration, and cultural diffusion and interactions.
      • SS.08.GE.05.01 Identify patterns of population distribution and infer causes.
      • SS.08.GE.05.02 Recognize and identify patterns of migration streams in U.S. history.
      • SS.08.GE.05.03 Understand how migration streams affect the spread of cultural traits.
  • Understand economic, cultural, and environmental factors that influence changes in population, and evaluate the consequences of the resulting increases or decreases in population.
    • SS.08.GE.06 Identify economic, cultural, and environmental factors that affect population, and predict how the population would change as a result.
      • SS.08.GE.06.01 Identify and give examples of economic, cultural, and environmental factors that influence population.
      • SS.08.GE.06.02 Predict the effect of a given economic, cultural, or environmental change on a population.
  • Understand how people and the environment are interrelated.
    • SS.08.GE.07 Understand how human modification of the physical environment in a place affects both that place and other places.
      • SS.08.GE.07.01 Understand how the process of urbanization affects the physical environment of a place, the cultural characteristics of a place, and the physical and human characteristics of the surrounding region.
      • SS.08.GE.07.02 Understand how clearing vegetation affects the physical environment of a place and other places.
    • SS.08.GE.08 Understand how changes in a physical environment affect human activity.
      • SS.08.GE.08.01 Understand how changes in the physical environment can increase or diminish capacity to support human activity.
      • SS.08.GE.08.02 Understand how climatic events or climate change affect human activity.
      • SS.08.GE.08.03 Predict how changes in an ecosystem (not caused by human activity) might influence human activity.

History

  • Historical Skills: Interpret and reconstruct chronological relationships.
    • SS.08.HS.01 Represent and interpret data and chronological relationships from history, using timelines and narratives.
      • SS.08.HS.01.01 Identify and create chronologies of events.
      • SS.08.HS.01.02 Compare and contrast historical interpretations.
  • Historical Skills: Analyze cause and effect relationships, including multiple causalities.
    • SS.08.HS.02 Distinguish between cause and effect relationships and events that happen or occur concurrently or sequentially.
  • Historical Skills: Understand, recognize, and interpret change and continuity over time.
    • SS.08.HS.03 Identify and give examples of chronological patterns and recognize them in related events over time.
  • Historical Skills: Identify and analyze diverse perspectives on and historical interpretation of historical issues and events.
    • SS.08.HS.04 Evaluate data within the context in which it was created, testing its reliability, credibility, and bias.
  • World History: Understand and interpret events, issues, and developments within and across eras of world history.
    • SS.08.HS.05 Understand the political, economic, and cultural impact, and lasting influence of early civilizations on world development.
      • SS.08.HS.05.01 Understand the major characteristics and historical influence of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Indus River Valley, Egypt, the Americas, Greece.
      • SS.08.HS.05.02 Identify and give examples of the political, economic, and social characteristics of the Roman Republic and Empire, and how they are reflected in the law, government, economy and society of the United States.
      • SS.08.HS.05.03 Understand the importance of the rise of Islam and its interaction with Europe.
      • SS.08.HS.05.04 Understand the development of the empires and kingdoms of sub-Saharan Africa, Imperial China, and feudal Japan.
      • SS.08.HS.05.05 Understand the major developments and societal impact of feudalism, the church, and the rise of cities in the European Middle Ages.
      • SS.08.HS.05.06 Understand the characteristics and impact of Renaissance thinking, art, and learning.
  • U.S. History: Understand and interpret events, issues, and developments within and across eras of U.S. history.
    • SS.08.HS.06 Understand how individuals, issues, and events changed or significantly influenced the course of U.S. history post-American Revolution through 1900.
      • SS.08.HS.06.01 Identify and understand the issues and events that were addressed at the Constitutional Convention.
      • SS.08.HS.06.02 Trace the route and understand the significance of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
      • SS.08.HS.06.03 Understand the effects of 19th century westward migration, the idea of Manifest Destiny, European immigration, and rural to urban migration on indigenous populations and newcomers in the United States.
      • SS.08.HS.06.04 Understand the effects of Jacksonian Democracy on political practices.
      • SS.08.HS.06.05 Recognize and understand conditions of the African slave trade and experiences of enslaved African-Americans and "free Blacks" in the United States.
      • SS.08.HS.06.06 Understand how the abolitionists advocated for the end of slavery and the impact of their activities.
      • SS.08.HS.06.07 Understand how African-Americans dealt with the conditions of their enslavement and used religion and family to create a viable culture to cope with the effects of slavery.
      • SS.08.HS.06.08 Identify and understand the events that led to the Civil War.
      • SS.08.HS.06.09 Understand the political, economic, and social causes, course, and impact of the Civil War.
      • SS.08.HS.06.10 Understand how Reconstruction affected the country.
      • SS.08.HS.06.11 Identify and understand constitutional changes that resulted from the Civil War and Reconstruction.
      • SS.08.HS.06.12 Understand the effects of Indian Wars and the opening of the West on Native American tribes.
      • SS.08.HS.06.13 Understand the effects of the Irish potato famine in the mid-1800s on the U.S. society.
      • SS.08.HS.06.14 Understand the motivations for territorial expansion to the Pacific Ocean/Hawaii ("Manifest Destiny").
      • SS.08.HS.06.15 Understand the effect of territorial expansion on other nations and their people.
  • State & Local History: Understand and interpret the history of the state of Oregon.
    • SS.08.HS.07 Understand how various groups of people were affected by events and developments in Oregon state history.
      • SS.08.HS.07.01 Identify and understand significant events, developments, groups, and people in the history of Oregon from post-American Revolution until 1900.
      • SS.08.HS.07.02 Understand the interactions and contributions of the various people and cultures that have lived in or migrated to the area that is now Oregon from post-American Revolution until 1900.
  • State & Local History: Understand and interpret events, issues, and developments in the history of one’s family, local community, and culture.
    • SS.08.HS.08 Understand the lasting influence of events and developments in local history.

Social Science Analysis

  • Define and clarify an issue so that its dimensions are well understood.
    • SS.08.SA.01 Clarify key aspects of an event, issue, or problem through inquiry and research.
  • Acquire and organize materials from primary and secondary sources.
    • SS.08.SA.02 Gather, interpret, use, and document information from multiple sources, distinguishing facts from opinions and recognizing points of view.
  • Explain various perspectives on an event or issue and the reasoning behind them.
    • SS.08.SA.03 Examine a controversial event, issue, or problem from more than one perspective.
  • Identify and analyze an issue.
    • SS.08.SA.04 Examine the various characteristics, causes, and effects of an event, issue, or problem.
  • Select a course of action to resolve an issue.
    • SS.08.SA.05 Consider two or more outcomes, responses, or solutions; identify their strengths and weaknesses; then conclude and justify which is the best.

New Mexico: 6th-Grade Standards

Article Body

  • Strand: History

    Content Standard I: Students are able to identify important people and events in order to analyze significant patterns, relationships, themes, ideas, beliefs, and turning points in New Mexico, United States, and world history in order to understand the complexity of the human experience. Students will:

    • Grade 6 Benchmark I-A—New Mexico:

      Explore and explain how people and events have influenced the development of New Mexico up to the present day.

      Performance Standards

      1. Describe the relationships among ancient civilizations of the world (e.g., scientific discoveries, architecture, politics, cultures and religious systems) and their connection to the early development of New Mexico.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark I-B—United States:

      Analyze and interpret major eras, events and individuals from the periods of exploration and colonization through the civil war and reconstruction in United States history.

      Performance Standards

      1. Explain and describe the origins, obstacles and impact of the age of exploration, to include: improvements in technology (e.g., the clock, the sextant, work of Prince Henry the navigator), voyages of Columbus to the new world and the later searches for the northwest passage, introduction of disease and the resulting population decline (especially among indigenous peoples), exchanges of technology, ideas, agricultural products and practices.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark I-C—World:

      Compare and contrast major historical eras, events and figures from ancient civilizations to the age of exploration.

      Performance Standards

      1. Describe and compare the characteristics of the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia and China and explain the importance of their contributions to later civilizations, to include:
        • a. significance of river valleys; early irrigation and its impact on agriculture;
        • b. forms of government (e.g., the theocracies in Egypt, dynasties in China);
        • c. effect on world economies and trade;
        • d. key historical figures;
        • e. religious traditions, cultural, and scientific contributions (e.g., writing systems, calendars, building of monuments such as the pyramids);
      2. Describe and analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of early civilizations of India, to include:
        • a. location and description of the river systems and other topographical features that supported the rise of this civilization;
        • b. significance of the Aryan invasions;
        • c. structure and function of the caste system;
        • d. important aesthetic and intellectual traditions (e.g., Sanskrit literature, medicine, metallurgy, mathematics including Hindu-Arabic numerals and the number zero);
      3. Describe and analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the early civilizations in China, to include:
        • a. location and description of the origins of Chinese civilization in the Huang-He valley, Shang dynasty, geographical features of China that made governance and movement of ideas and goods difficult and served to isolate the country;
        • b. life of Confucius and the fundamental teachings of Confucianism and Taoism;
        • c. rule by dynasties (e.g., Shang, Qin, Han, Tang, and Ming);
        • d. historical influence of China on other parts of the world (e.g., tea, paper, wood-block printing, compass, gunpowder);
      4. Describe major religions of the world to include Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam (e.g., founding leaders, traditions, customs, beliefs).
      5. Compare and contrast the geographic, political, economic, and social characteristics of the ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Ottoman, Indian, Arabic, African and middle eastern civilizations and their enduring impacts on later civilizations, to include:
        • a. influence of Mediterranean geography on the development and expansion of the civilizations;
        • b. development of concepts of government and citizenship (e.g., democracy, republic, codification of laws, Code of Hammurabi);
        • c. scientific and cultural advancements (e.g., networks of roads, aqueducts, art, architecture, literature, theater, philosophy);
        • d. contributions and roles of key figures (e.g., Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Augustus).
      6. Compare and contrast the political and economic events and the social and geographic characteristics of medieval European life and their enduring impacts on later civilizations, to include:
        • a. creation and expansion of the Byzantine empire;
        • b. reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire;
        • c. new forms of government, feudalism and the beginning of limited government with the Magna Carta;
        • d. role of the roman catholic church and its monasteries;
        • e. causes, course and effects of the Crusades; impact of the black plague; contributions and roles of key figures (e.g., Charlemagne, Joan of Arc, Marco Polo).

    • Grade 6 Benchmark I-D—Skills:

      Research historical events and people from a variety of perspectives.

      Performance Standards

      1. Organize information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing and contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, drawing inferences and conclusions.
      2. Identify different points of view about an issue or topic.
      3. Use a decision-making process to identify a situation that requires a solution; gather information, identify options, predict consequences and take action to implement that solution.

  • Strand: Geography

    Content Standard II: Students understand how physical, natural, and cultural processes influence where people live, the ways in which people live, and how societies interact with one another and their environments.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark II-A:

      Analyze and evaluate the characteristics and purposes of geographic tools, knowledge, skills and perspectives and apply them to explain the past, present and future in terms of patterns, events and issues.

      Performance Standards

      1. Identify the location of places using latitude and longitude.
      2. Draw complex and accurate maps from memory and interpret them to answer questions about the location of physical features.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark II-B:

      Explain the physical and human characteristics of places and use this knowledge to define regions, their relationships with other regions, and their patterns of change.

      Performance Standards

      1. Explain how places change due to human activity.
      2. Explain how places and regions serve as cultural symbols and explore the influences and effects of regional symbols.
      3. Identify a region by its formal, functional or perceived characteristics.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark II-C:

      Understand how human behavior impacts man-made and natural environments, recognize past and present results and predict potential changes.

      Performance Standards

      1. Compare and contrast the influences of man-made and natural environments upon ancient civilizations.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark II-D:

      Explain how physical processes shape the earthís surface patterns and biosystems.

      Performance Standards

      1. Describe how physical processes shape the environmental patterns of air, land, water, plants and animals.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark II-E:

      Explain how economic, political, cultural and social processes interact to shape patterns of human populations and their interdependence, cooperation and conflict.

      Performance Standards

      1. Explain how human migration impacts places, societies and civilizations.
      2. Describe, locate and compare different settlement patterns throughout the world.
      3. Explain how cultures create a cultural landscape, locally and throughout the world, and how these landscapes change over time.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark II-F:

      Describe how natural and man-made changes affect the meaning, use, distribution, and value of resources.

      Performance Standards

      1. Understand how resources impact daily life.

  • Strand: Civics and Government

    Content Standard III: Students understand the ideals, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship and understand the content and history of the founding documents of the United States with particular emphasis on the United States and New Mexico constitutions and how governments function at local, state, tribal, and national levels.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark III-A:

      Demonstrate understanding of the structure, functions and powers of government (local, state, tribal and national).

      Performance Standards

      1. Describe the concept of democracy as developed by the Greeks and compare the evolution of democracies throughout the world.
      2. Describe the concept of republic as developed by the Romans and compare to other republican governments.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark III-B:

      Explain the significance of symbols, icons, songs, traditions and leaders of New Mexico and the United States that exemplify ideals and provide continuity and a sense of unity.

      Performance Standards

      1. Describe the significance of leadership in democratic societies and provide examples of local, national and international leadership, to include: qualities of leadership; names and contributions of New Mexico leaders; names and contributions of national leaders.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark III-C:

      Compare political philosophies and concepts of government that became the foundation for the American revolution and the United States government.

      Performance Standards

      1. Explain how Greek and Roman societies expanded and advanced the role of citizen.
      2. Identify historical origins of democratic forms of government (e.g., early civilizations, Native American governments).

    • Grade 6 Benchmark III- D:

      Explain how individuals have rights and responsibilities as members of social groups, families, schools, communities, states, tribes and countries.

      Performance Standards

      1. Understand that the nature of citizenship varies among societies.

  • Strand: Economics

    Content Standard IV: Students understand basic economic principles and use economic reasoning skills to analyze the impact of economic systems (including the market economy) on individuals, families, businesses, communities, and governments.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark IV-A:

      Explain and describe how individuals, households, businesses, governments and societies make decisions, are influenced by incentives (economic as well as intrinsic) and the availability and use of scarce resources, and that their choices involve costs and varying ways of allocating.

      Performance Standards

      1. Explain and predict how people respond to economic and intrinsic incentives.

    • Grade 6 Benchmark IV-B:

      Explain how economic systems impact the way individuals, households, businesses, governments and societies make decisions about resources and the production and distribution of goods and services.

      Performance Standards

      1. Describe the characteristics of traditional, command, market and mixed economic systems.
      2. Explain how different economic systems affect the allocation of resources.
      3. Understand the role that ìfactors of productionî play in a societyís economy (e.g., natural resources, labor, capital, entrepreneurs).

    • Grade 6 Benchmark IV-C:

      Describe the patterns of trade and exchange in early societies and civilizations and explore the extent of their continuation in todayís world.

      Performance Standards

      1. Compare and contrast the trade patterns of early civilizations.
      2. Analyze the impact of the Neolithic agricultural revolution on mankind, and the impact of technological changes in the bronze age and the iron age.

Alabama: 6th-Grade Standards

Article Body

AL.6 Standard: United States Studies—Industrial Revolution to the Present

Sixth-grade content standards focus on the history of the United States from the Industrial Revolution to the present. Historical events studied by sixth graders include the rise of the United States as an industrial nation, World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War Era.

6.1

  • 6.1. Students will:

    Explain the impact of industrialization, urbanization, communication, and cultural changes on life in the United States from the late nineteenth century to World War I. (Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government)

6.2

  • 6.2.1 Students will:

    Describe reform movements and changing social conditions during the Progressive Era in the United States. (Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government)

  • 6.2.1 Students will practice:

    • Relating countries of origin and experiences of new immigrants to life in the United States
      • Grade Level Example:

        Mobile, Boston, New York, New Orleans, Savannah

    • Identifying workplace reforms, including the eight-hour workday, child labor laws, and workers’ compensation laws
    • Identifying political reforms of Progressive movement leaders, including Theodore Roosevelt and the establishment of the national park system
    • Identifying social reforms of the Progressive movement, including efforts by Jane Adams, Clara Barton, and Julia
      Tutwiler
    • Recognizing goals of the early civil rights movement and the purpose of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
    • Explaining Progressive movement provisions of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-first Amendments to the Constitution of the United States

6.3

  • 6.3.1 Students will:

    Identify causes and consequences of World War I and reasons for United States’ entry into the war. (Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government)

    • Grade Level Example:

      sinking of the Lusitania, Zimmerman Note, alliances, militarism, imperialism, nationalism

  • 6.3.2 Students will practice:

  • Describing military and civilian roles in the United States during World War I
  • Explaining roles of important persons associated with World War I, including Woodrow Wilson and Archduke Franz Ferdinand
  • Analyzing technological advances of the World War I era for their impact on modern warfare
    • Grade Level Example:

      machine gun, tank, submarine, airplane, poisonous gas, gas mask

  • Locating on a map major countries involved in World War I and boundary changes after the war
  • Explaining the intensification of isolationism in the United States after World War I
    • Grade Level Example:

      reaction of the Congress of the United States to the Treaty of Versailles, League of Nations, and Red Scare

  • Recognizing the strategic placement of military
    bases in Alabama

6.4

  • 6.4.1 Students will:

    Identify cultural and economic developments in the United States from 1900 through the 1930s. (Economics, History, Civics and Government)

  • 6.4.2 Students will practice:

    • Describing the impact of various writers, musicians, and artists on American culture during the Harlem Renaissance and the Jazz Age
      • Grade Level Example:

        Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Andrew Wyeth, Frederic Remington, W. C. Handy, Erskine Hawkins, George Gershwin, Zora Neale Hurston

    • Identifying contributions of turn-of-the-century inventors
      • Grade Level Example:

        George Washington Carver, Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Alva Edison, Wilbur and Orville Wright

    • Describing the emergence of the modern woman during the early 1900s
      • Grade Level Example:

        Amelia Earhart, Zelda Fitzgerald, Helen Keller, suffragettes, suffragists, Susan B. Anthony, flappers, Margaret Washington

    • Identifying notable persons of the early 1900s
      • Grade Level Example:

        Babe Ruth, Charles A. Lindbergh, W. E. B. Du Bois, John T. Scopes

    • Comparing results of the economic policies of the Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover Administrations
      • Grade Level Example:

        higher wages, increase in consumer goods, collapse of farm economy, extension of personal credit, stock market crash, Immigration Act of 1924

6.5

  • 6.5.1 Students will:

    Explain causes and effects of the Great Depression on the people of the United States. (Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government)

    • Grade Level Example:

      economic failure, loss of farms, rising unemployment, building of Hoovervilles

  • 6.5.2 Students will practice:

  • Identifying patterns of migration during the Great Depression
  • Locating on a map the area of the United States known as the Dust Bowl
  • Describing the importance of the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt as President of the United States, including the New Deal alphabet agencies
  • Locating on a map river systems utilized by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

6.6

  • 6.6.1 Students will:

    Identify causes and consequences of World War II and reasons for entry of the United States into the war. (Geography, History, Civics and Government)

  • 6.6.2 Students will practice:

    • Locating on a map Allied countries and Axis Powers
    • Locating on a map key engagements of World War II, including Pearl Harbor; the battles of Normandy, Stalingrad, and Midway; and the Battle of the Bulge
    • Identifying key figures of World War II, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Sir Winston Churchill, Harry S. Truman, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Michinomiya Hirohito, and Hideki Tōjō
    • Describing the development of and the decision to use the atomic bomb
    • Describing human costs associated with World War II
      • Grade Level Example:

        the Holocaust, civilian and military casualties

    • Explaining the importance of the surrender of the Axis Powers ending World War II

6.7

  • 6.7.1 Students will:

    Identify causes and consequences of World War II and reasons for entry of the United States into the war. (Economics, History, Civics and Government)

    • Grade Level Example:

      rationing

  • 6.7.2 Students will practice:

  • Recognizing the retooling of factories from consumer to military production
  • Identifying new roles of women and African Americans in the workforce
  • Describing increased demand on Birmingham steel
    industry and Port of Mobile facilities
  • Describing the experience of African Americans and Japanese Americans in the United States during World War II, including the Tuskegee Airmen and
    occupants of internment camps

6.8

  • 6.8.1 Students will:

    Describe how the United States’ role in the Cold War influenced domestic and international events. (Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government)

  • 6.8.2 Students will practice:

    • Describing the origin and meaning of the Iron Curtain and communism
    • Recognizing how the Cold War conflict manifested itself through sports
      • Grade Level Example:

        Olympic Games, international chess tournaments, Ping-Pong diplomacy

    • Identifying strategic diplomatic initiatives that intensified the Cold War, including the policies of Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and John F. Kennedy
      • Grade Level Example:

        trade embargoes, Marshall Plan, arms race, Berlin blockade and airlift, Berlin Wall, mutually assured destruction, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Warsaw Pact, Cuban missile crisis, Bay of Pigs invasion

    • Identifying how Cold War tensions resulted in armed conflict
      • Grade Level Example:

        Korean Conflict, Vietnam War, proxy wars

    • Describing the impact of the Cold War on technological innovations
      • Grade Level Example:

        Sputnik; space race; weapons of mass destruction; accessibility of microwave ovens, calculators, and computers

    • Recognizing Alabama’s role in the Cold War
      • Grade Level Example:

        rocket production at Redstone Arsenal, helicopter training at Fort Rucker

    • Assessing effects of the end of the Cold War Era
      • Grade Level Example:

        policies of Mikhail Gorbachev; collapse of the Soviet Union; Ronald W. Reagan’s foreign policies, including the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI or Star Wars)

6.9

  • 6.9.1 Students will:

    Critique major social and cultural changes in the United States since World War II. (Economics, History, Civics and Government)

  • 6.9.2 Students will practice:

    • Identifying key persons and events of the modern Civil Rights Movement
      • Grade Level Example:

        persons—Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Fred Shuttlesworth, John Lewis
        events—Brown versus Board of Education, Montgomery Bus Boycott, student protests, Freedom Rides, Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March, political assassinations

    • Describing the changing role of women in United States’ society and how it affected the family unit
      • Grade Level Example:

        women in the workplace, latchkey children

    • Recognizing the impact of music genres and artists on United States’ culture since World War II
      • Grade Level Example:

        genres—protest songs; Motown, rock and roll, rap, folk, and country music
        artists—Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Hank Williams

    • Identifying the impact of media, including newspapers, AM and FM radio, television, twenty-four hour sports and news programming, talk radio, and Internet social networking, on United States’ culture since World War II

6.10

  • 6.10.1 Students will:

    Analyze changing economic priorities and cycles of economic expansion and contraction for their impact on society since World War II.(Economics, History, Civics and Government)

    • Grade Level Example:

      shift from manufacturing to service economy, higher standard of living, globalization, outsourcing, insourcing, ―boom and bust, economic bubbles

  • 6.10.2 Students will practice:

  • Identifying policies and programs that had an economic impact on society since World War II
    • Grade Level Example:

      G. I. Bill of Rights of 1944, Medicare and Medicaid, Head Start programs, space exploration, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), environmental protection issues

  • Analyzing consequences of immigration for their impact on national and Alabama economies since World War II

6.11

  • 6.11. Students will:

    Identify technological advancements on society in the United States since World War II. (Economics, History)

    • Grade Level Example:

      1950s—fashion doll, audio cassette
      1960s—action figure, artificial heart, Internet, calculator
      1970s—word processor, video game, cellular telephone
      1980s—personal computer, Doppler radar, digital cellular telephone
      1990s—World Wide Web, digital video diskette (DVD)
      2000s—digital music player, social networking technology, personal Global Positioning System (GPS) device

6.12

  • 6.12.1 Students will:

    Evaluate significant political issues and policies of presidential administrations since World War II. (Economics, Geography, History, Civics and Government)

  • 6.12.2 Students will practice:

    • Identifying domestic policies that shaped the United States since World War II
      • Grade Level Example:

        desegregation of the military, Interstate Highway System, federal funding for education, Great Society, affirmative action, Americans with Disabilities Act, welfare reform, Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind Act

    • Recognizing domestic issues that shaped the United States since World War II
      • Grade Level Example:

        desegregation of the military, Interstate Highway System, federal funding for education, Great Society, affirmative action, Americans with Disabilities Act, welfare reform, Patriot Act, No Child Left Behind Act

    • Identifying issues of foreign affairs that shaped the United States since World War II
      • Grade Level Example:

        Vietnam Conflict, Richard Nixon’s China initiative, Jimmy Carter’s human rights initiative, emergence of China and India as economic powers

Understanding Civic Republicanism

Image
Photography, Athena at Parliament, 6 April 2009, Alisha Rusher, Flickr CC
Question

Can you provide a few examples of how to teach civic republicanism to California middle-schoolers?

Answer

California State History-Social Science Content Standard 8.1.4: Describe the nation’s blend of civic republicanism, classical liberal principles, and English parliamentary traditions.

There is a famous story about the day the Constitutional Convention ended in September 1787. Benjamin Franklin was walking out of Independence Hall, and a woman ran to him and asked, “Dr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us?” He replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Whether apocryphal or not, this statement shapes the definition of active citizenship in this country. At the heart of Franklin’s challenge is the idea of civic republicanism. The notion that it is imperative for people of this country to remain attentive and devoted to the maintenance of our institutions for their sustainability is still one of America’s cherished ideals.

The idea of civic republicanism is not meant to be a one-shot assignment that can be covered with a worksheet.

The California State History Standards ask that the background of civic republican traditions be covered during students’ 6th, 7th, and 8th grade years. A student begins the middle years with Greek and Roman political contributions, continues with the Enlightenment’s influence on democratic thought and its links to Greek, Roman, and Christian pasts, and then blends those ideas with the evolving republic of the United States. In other words, the idea of civic republicanism is not meant to be a one-shot assignment that can be covered with a worksheet. It is an ongoing theme and discussion throughout the middle school years. While the various ideas that emanate from civic responsibility can certainly be weighty to teach, their density is manageable if presented consistently over the years. Since the traditions of civic republicanism extend back to colonial America, it is fitting that they should be enmeshed in the curriculum throughout the students’ 8th-grade year of study.

What Are Some of the Ideas Related to Civic Republicanism?

Students must understand that while citizenship is a right it is also a responsibility. We all have responsibilities to our families, communities, schools, places of worship, the state, the country, the world, and, especially, our descendents. Many schools now require students to complete a set number of hours for community service. A discussion about why it is important to complete community service is a great place to start when tackling the ideas of civic republicanism with eighth graders. Before moving on to the relationships between our government’s structure and how it is influenced by past traditions, it is useful to conduct a discussion or writing assignment about what students do to make their communities better, why it is important to do so, and what benefits result from such participation.

Resources

Many textbooks have sections regarding the roles of citizenship that can prove quite useful when introducing the concept of civic republicanism. This lesson plan and this plan, both from the Center for Civic Education, can be used to help students explore and identify what it means to play an active role in our republic. This would also be an appropriate time to review ideas from students’ 6th- and 7th-grade classes, such as Pericles’s praise of public service and the Roman Republic’s expectation of its citizens to perform public service, and various Enlightenment ideas from thinkers like Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu.

This handout can be used as part of a class discussion. The first page would be done by students in groups or as an entire class while sharing common ideas. (It may also be helpful to identify pages in your textbook that can help students answer these questions.) The second page includes some of the content that could come out in the discussion of the second question and particular principles.

An Important Idea!

Again, this concept is not an easy one to teach, especially with the limited time our school schedules are allowing year after year. While teaching our subject matter is essential, we must remember that ultimately our responsibility as educators demands that we are constantly guiding our students to be active citizens who are energized by their potential to play a part in achieving a better society. Citizens in a republic must stay engaged in the social fabric of making their institutions better. Our students must be reassured and impressed with the idea that civic participation has benefited civilization since ancient times, as can be seen throughout their studies of history in the middle years.

For more information

Students can learn more about the responsibilities of modern-day citizens and the workings of U.S. government at iCivics. Online games explore the responsibilities of citizens and each of the three branches of government.

What resources can you use to teach about civics and civic republicanism? A previous Ask a Master Teacher shares more suggestions.

Do you teach ELL students? You don't need advanced English comprehension to learn about the rights and responsibilities that are part of living in a republic! Michael Long shares a teaching strategy.

Confronting the "Official Story" of American History

Image
"Washington Crossing the Deleware". Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze. 1851 oil on canvas
Article Body

Keith Barton of Indiana University and Linda Levstik of the University of Kentucky wanted to understand the "official" story of American history so often presented in classrooms and textbooks. What happens to aspects of history that don’t fit the way we usually teach U.S. history? And how do students respond?

Barton and Levstik interviewed 48 children, grades 5–8, to see how middle-schoolers understand the significance of particular events. Students were asked to choose from a number of historical events in order to determine which eight to include on a timeline of the last 500 years.

Many students alighted on a central theme in U.S. history: steadily expanding rights and opportunities. While stories like this help structure students' thinking about American history, traditional themes (such as perpetual progress or expanding freedoms) left them ill-equipped to deal with issues like racial inequality or political dissent.

While stories . . . help structure students' thinking about American history, traditional themes . . . left them ill-equipped to deal with issues like racial inequality or political dissent.

This study suggests that middle-grade students may need help grasping the complexities of the past or finding a place for stories that don’t fit common narratives. The authors proposed that teachers expose students to more complex and diverse perspectives by identifying what such narratives leave out. How has progress not been achieved? Where have freedoms not been expanded? What are the exceptions, the outliers, the cases that don’t fit? The researchers believe that students can learn traditional thematic narratives, while at the same time exploring the richness and complexity of history.

Thematic Trends

When Barton and Levstik interviewed the students, they found a core group of themes emerged from the events students chose as the most significant. Stories of national origin, American exceptionality, expanding freedoms, and technological progress consistently appeared among the students' choices. Such themes represented an "official version" of American history that all students seemed to recognize.

Alternative Stories

Some students viewed events as important despite the fact that their themes did not easily fit into the more popular narratives. Racism and sexism directly contradict themes of progress and expanding freedoms. Other events like the Great Depression and the Vietnam War fly in the face of American exceptionality. In both cases, however, students found it challenging to explain why they found these events significant. While students were convinced of the importance of such events, they struggled to reconcile them with common themes of U.S. history.

Two Ideas in Their Minds

American history presents a wide variety of events and themes. Some, like our nation’s heritage regarding race, class, and gender, pose particular challenges. Accustomed to justifying the importance of events by referencing a few common themes, many students find themselves at a loss when confronted by events they know are important, but which don’t seem to fit the stories they are used to hearing. Lacking an overarching framework to help make sense of such events, they develop overly simplistic explanations to reconcile jarring events with the official story. As the sample application below shows, their explanations may put events together, but at the expense of historical accuracy.

image
Photomechanical print, Progress, Keppler & Schwarzmann, c. 1901, LoC
In the Classroom
  • Have students create a timeline of important events in American history, asking them to explain why they make particular choices.
  • After students create their timeline, discuss the major themes that arise from their picks. Do they seem to represent an "official" history?
  • Once they have identified common historical themes, ask students to pick out events that don’t fit the "official story." What might explain this lack of fit?
Sample Application

When learning about the Great Depression, one group of students demonstrated a characteristic dilemma. As far as they knew, throughout its history the United States had been on a steady march of economic progress. Consequently, students weren't sure how the Great Depression fit into this story:

  • "It wasn't a good part of history."
  • "It was something to learn from."
  • "It was the first time our country had become really poor."
  • "They realized that they weren’t the god of all countries."
  • "It’s not going to be perfect all the time."

As these quotes demonstrate, students had accumulated a wide range of conceptions about the Great Depression. They knew bad things had happened, but thought these occurred uniformly to all Americans. As a result, they concluded that the nation had been punished for being too prosperous or self-satisfied. They entirely missed the fact that the Great Depression occurred for many specific and complex reasons, and affected different Americans in dramatically diverse ways.

Bibliography

Keith C. Barton and Linda S. Levstik, "'It Wasn’t a Good Part of History': National Identity and Students' Explanations of Historical Significance," Teachers College Record 99, no. 3 (Spring 1998): 478–513.

Stories in History: Is Narrative an American Approach?

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An eigth grade teacher reading a childrens book to her class. NHEC
Article Body

In "A Sociocultural Perspective on Children’s Understanding of Historical Change: Comparative Findings From Northern Ireland and the United States," Keith Barton, a professor at Indiana University, looked at how children in different countries learn history, specifically the role played by narrative.

Barton observed that American students learn the "story" of American history, more often than not, as one of perpetual progress. In Northern Ireland, history is seen as relationships among social institutions over time, not a story about progress.

Barton wondered about the effects of such an approach. To that end he interviewed 121 students, ages 6–12, in four schools across Northern Ireland, asking how and why life had changed over time. Along with classroom observations and collecting data from history-related settings like museums, Barton’s interviews demonstrated how students in a non-American cultural context learn about history.

When he compared these to studies done in the United States, Barton found that American students portray historical change as straightforward, linear, and generally beneficial progress, while the Irish students saw history as either random and ambiguous, or cyclical. The American students studied tended to focus on accomplishments of historical figures, whereas students in Northern Ireland often discussed the role of societal and economic forces.

Narrative in American History

The "story" of history taught to American students frequently takes the form of a "quest-for-freedom" narrative in which life slowly but surely gets better for all Americans. This serves to unite a diverse society, such as is found in the U.S. By contrast, in Northern Ireland, where Protestants and Catholics remain divided, the narrative form creates the potential for opposing sides to take aim at each other. Consequently, in Northern Ireland, the primary emphasis in history is on societal relationships—relationships between different groups, as well as between people and institutions.

The "story" of history taught to American students frequently takes the form of a "quest-for-freedom" narrative in which life slowly but surely gets better for all Americans. This serves to unite a diverse society, such as is found in the U.S.
The Individual in American History

History classes in the United States also tend to focus more on the role of exceptional individuals in driving history forward. In this version of history prominent figures initiate a series of events which follow a causal chain to bring about significant change. For example, the American students learned that the civil rights movement was the product of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s genius rather than a broad range of social and institutional forces. In Northern Ireland, the students focused less on individuals and more on issues relating to social and economic structures. Barton suggests this may be because Americans are more comfortable dealing with individuals and their stories than with issues such as social class and prejudice. Conversely, there are few historical figures taught in Northern Ireland classrooms who don't represent a political position of one kind or another. Thus, while the Northern Irish are comfortable discussing social class, for instance, they have less experience examining the influence of particular individuals.

Progress in American History

Barton's study showed that narratives about American history are frequently positive stories about the triumph of progress: as time passes, technology improves, freedoms expand, and life gets better. In Northern Ireland, stories about progress are much less common. Time goes on and life changes, but they do so in unpredictable ways. Barton argues that while a focus on progress may be positive, giving students a feeling of shared identity and inspiring their belief that Americans can learn from their mistakes, relying solely on such a narrative doesn't acquaint students with the effects of societal forces on individual actions or the diversity that exists at any given time in history.

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Poster, Forging Ahead, Harry Herzog, 1936-1941, Library of Congress
In the Classroom

Help students understand that the passage of time doesn't always bring what is commonly viewed as "progress."

  • Begin with contrasting images—a rural village and a large city—and ask students to explain the relationship between the two.
  • Students will likely explain how the village became the city. This is a good jumping-off point to helping them see that the "story of history" is not always simple or straightforward.
  • Next, explain that villages and cities have often existed simultaneously.
  • Spend some time discussing why and how cities first began to emerge. While urban centers may look like signs of "progress," students should be made aware that there is a more complex relationship between villages and cities.
  • Suggest to students that historical development doesn't occur in a simple progressive sequence, and that historical periods can't be boiled down to a single image. While many people in the past lived in villages, there are also cities that date back thousands of years. And even though today many people reside in cities, villages are far from extinct.
Sample Application

In interviewing students in Northern Ireland, Barton gave them a number of exercises. One asked the students to explain why British students were once caned—hit with a reed or branch—by their teachers, and why the practice ceased. In answering, one third of the students attributed the change to inevitable progress:

Because over time they realized that they should be less strict.

They just found out that it’s really, really bad, and they’re thinking of other people’s feelings now.

In explaining how things change, these students didn't mention collective action or how institutional change can bring about social improvements. However, the rest of the students—two-thirds of those interviewed by Barton—pointed to changing social relations, collective action like strikes and protests, and evolving legal and government institutions:

Because if you cane them, you could get sent to jail. . . it’s against the law to hurt somebody that you don’t know.

New people came in. . . and they made new rules like child abuse, like jails, and all that kind of thing.

For these students, caning ended not because of inevitable progress, or even due to a change in attitude; instead, the changing attitudes themselves led to collective action, that in turn produced new laws and regulations.

Bibliography

Keith Barton, "A Sociocultural Perspective on Children’s Understanding of Historical Change: Comparative Findings From Northern Ireland and the United States," American Educational Research Journal 38, no. 4 (Winter 2001), 881-913.

Amy Trenkle's Be the Blogger!

Date Published
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Blog, Lincoln Logs, http://stampslincoln.blogspot.com/, Amy Trenkle
Blog, Lincoln Logs, http://stampslincoln.blogspot.com/, Amy Trenkle
Article Body
Beginning to Blog

During the 2008–2009 school year, in an effort to integrate more technology into my classroom I started blogging with my students about history class. Because I was pretty new to blogging and wasn’t sure how it would go, I did one collective site for the 8th grade. Basically, the students wrote and I uploaded it to the blog. As the year went on, I logged in for students and they took over the maintenance of the site. Sometimes the writing was an assignment and I chose the best ones to post. Other times, I offered extra credit if they posted about a topic provided. And still other times I loved what a student wrote and typed it up for the blog. This site ended up being a wonderful compilation of our year come June. I still use it as a preview site for students, parents, and pre-service teachers I work with, as to what we do during the year. The blog can be viewed at http://shmshistoryclass.blogspot.com/.

That same year, an after-school group that is co-sponsored by myself and a friend from the National Park Service took a cross-country trip for Lincoln’s Bicentennial. I created another blog for the students to document their adventures and for friends and family back home to be able to find us. What was nice was that because I had been working with the blog in history class, my students were aware of how a blog works and were familiar with how to write for it and their audience. Each student was required to write three times for the blog during the course of our week-long adventure. Each night after our full day they would write on either paper or share the two laptops we brought for blogging. Before going to bed each night I would upload any remaining blog entries. The system proved effective for sharing our adventures and for students documenting their days. The site has also become a great way for Jen Epstein, my National Park Service co-organizer, to share what she is doing in schools for outreach. View it here: http://stampslincoln.blogspot.com/.

Blogging Expanded

With two school group blogs under my belt, I decided to ramp it up for the 2009–2010 school year. I wanted students to be able to learn how to blog . . . not just post, but learn the process. I set out the planning of it before school started. Basically, I decided to have students choose their groupmates in the class they were in. I have approximately 100 students each year and about 25 per history class. I asked them to be in groups of three or four students.

I wanted students to be able to learn how to blog . . . not just post, but learn the process.

Once they chose their groups (and we discussed the characteristics of a quality groupmate, both in a group partner and as a group partner—they are 8th grade after all!), I gave them a sheet that asked them to record their group member names, create a name for their blog, and to write a username and a password that they would remember (not one that was already in use by one of the group members!). I created Google accounts for each student using the information provided, noting on their sheet, if a username was taken, the reassigned username.

Generally, I’ve found that it takes about a week for me to set up the 30 or so email accounts and blog sites. I introduce the blog and what it will be about, how it will be used, etc., and then come back to it about a week later once I’ve created the accounts and site. We spend a full double block learning to log in, changing the appearance of the blog, and learning to post. We generally do the first blog post together. We discuss the elements of a quality blog post—what am I looking for? Points I stress are that it is still for class—correct English grammar must be used. For all intents and purposes, I am their audience (so it should remain as formal writing), and the blog is only for history class. I do not want to read about their weekend experiences on this blog.

Usually, after a guest speaker they have a blog update to do. Sometimes they turn in an assignment and then I ask them to cut and paste what they have typed and to post it. Other times I have them work as a group to post a response to something in class.

Points to Consider

I find that they’re pretty excited about the blogs and they like to write on them. I’ve learned that a clear rubric is key to success—for the students but for my grading as well. Just as any teacher would do for a writing assignment, it is important to lay out the criteria for the post in advance. Am I grading on content? Spelling? Grammar? Reflection? When grading 30 blogs, it becomes ultra important to be able to know what I’m looking for, especially because their posts can vary so much.

I find that it is important to be very clear with parents about expectations as well.

Another important note to consider is deadlines. Because students aren’t turning in a physical paper, it’s easy for them to forget deadlines and to overlook them. I find that it’s important to have a final cut-off date for grading blogs . . . along with a lot of reminders. Many parents are not familiar with blogging and so I find that it is important to be very clear with parents about expectations as well. Last year I ran a parent workshop and walked parents through the what, how, and why of blogging so that they could better support their children at home . . . and because I was getting a lot of questions!

I’m fortunate enough to have a classroom set of laptops and a relatively new and working internet system. However, the number of computers is what has dictated my choices for class blog site vs. small group blog sites. When I started in 2008, I had only two laptops and a desktop, with no permanent and/or regular access to a classroom set of computers.

My recommendation would be to start small—either with a classroom blog or with a select group of students. Simultaneously, I was blogging on a personal blog and it helped for me to play around with my own blog. I found the Google help site for Blogger very helpful when teaching my students. Pages can be printed and copied for students and then put in their notebooks to be referenced. (Editor's note: If you're using a different blogging service, look for that service's support documentation.)

The Advantages of Blogging

For me, blogs are really flexible—for both time and content. While I’ve used them for the duration of a school year, they would be great for a unit project or a semester project. And for those students who are really savvy, it’s a great way to engage them by having them add other multimedia objects to their blogs and to embed links to related content material.

Just remember to give yourself a head start and don’t be afraid to play around!

The ideas truly are endless! The winter break and other school breaks really lend themselves to my own exploration time on the blog. It allows me to see what I could implement with my students and to think about how it might further benefit what I am teaching in the classroom. Just remember to give yourself a head start and don’t be afraid to play around! Blogging can be wonderful for both you and the students!

For more information

Curious to learn more about blogs and blogging? Our Tech for Teachers entry on blogs looks at some possible platforms, and, in a Teaching Guide, high-school teacher Kyle Smith details one way of using a blog in class.

Read other ideas from Amy Trenkle in her blog entries on teaching Christopher Columbus with monuments and celebrating the First Amendment.

Left Behind: Academic Segregation and the Expanding History Education Deficit

Article Body

Recently a physical fitness expert came to a local school to work with staff and students on promoting healthy habits. Before leaving he brought forth a pile of prizes to award to students who were able to answer seemingly innocuous questions. One of his questions, “Who can tell me the capital of California?” was met with blank stares. Finally, one brave young man raised his hand, yelling, “I know! Capital C!” Silence resumed until he was awarded the prize for effort and cuteness. After all, technically, he was correct. The scene worsened as adult onlookers audibly groaned, however, when the students were unable to name our nation’s first president.

Amidst the sadness and humor, the history lovers present recognized the poignancy of the moment: our students often do not even know their geographic location, let alone how we came to be a nation. They might decode words, read short passages, and solve for x in simple equations, but fall short when faced with the task of speaking to other content areas. They learn the basics of what we teach them, gaining the ability to critically tackle tests, moving forward through respective grade levels. In the end, many do not learn the basics of geography, the history of our nation, the importance of civic function, or the meaning of constitutional freedom.

I see a critical point often overlooked: American schools segregate subjects instead of allowing the natural overlap between them.

As an educator and teacher trainer I have taught and observed scores of teachers over the years and have witnessed many debates about our national decline in the quality of history education in America. In the past three years, observing in over 300 elementary classrooms, I witnessed little history instruction—but plenty of reading and mathematics and a smattering of science. In time I began informally asking why teachers were not teaching history and received typical answers: no time, too much emphasis on standardized testing, etc. One teacher retorted, “Can I really be expected to teach history when these students can’t speak English and need to pass a reading test at the end of the year?” When it comes to explaining why our students are falling behind in their history education, time-consuming preparation for standardized reading and mathematics testing seemingly reigns supreme on the list of reasons.

But alas, is testing truly the only culprit here? Among the issues, I see a critical point often overlooked: American schools segregate subjects instead of allowing the natural overlap between them. For example, the single subject of reading currently taught as a skill-based activity through anthologies containing short, irrelevant reading passages, could be instead utilized to teach history and prepare students for civic involvement. Classical Education proponent Leigh Bortins notes that “Whether reciting one of Cicero’s addresses . . . or the Mayflower Compact, since the early 1600s schoolchildren in America were expected to memorize and effectively deliver influential political statements in order to ensure they understood the role of a citizen” (1).

Truthfully, there is no subject that exists apart from history, an all-encompassing and constantly growing subject.

We gasp, however, upon encountering the sophisticated language in these classics and primary sources, and for the same reasons we struggle with the language of Shakespeare, we stumble through the documents, speeches, and accounts of history: we simply do not study them, let alone use them to teach reading or serve as models for our own writing. Moreover, if indeed we write the way we speak, one can easily surmise the sharp contrast between our language skills and those of our forefathers, especially in our world of tweeting, texting, and slang. Thus, the chasm widens and we stand little chance of instilling in students the value and skill of using civic language through the characters, plots, and settings of formulaic reading curricula during their daily block of reading instruction. Therein lies a source of major challenge in our schools: American students inherently view reading as an isolated skill rather than a tool invaluable to further learning.

Truthfully, there is no subject that exists apart from history, an all-encompassing and constantly growing subject. Because every new thought, idea, effort, occurrence, and event becomes a part of its realm, it stands to reason that the less we read, instruct, and learn of the history and legacy of our nation and world, the further behind we fall.

Footnotes
(1)L.A. Bortins, The Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).
Teaser

Teachers often blame time-consuming standardized testing for the history education deficit; however, school subjects are segregated because we no longer use teaching methods that allow for natural overlaps in content. Specifically, reading should not be a stand-alone subject, but rather, relayed through historic accounts and primary documents to teach history content and model civic language and values.

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