Social Studies
REQUIRED SEQUENCE
Civics 9 - Year
U.S. History 10 – Year
or Advanced Placement U.S. History - Year
World History/Physical Geography - Year
or Advanced Placement World History - Year
Human Geography of Global Issues - One semester
or Advanced Placement US Government and Politics - Year
Economics – 11th or 12th grade - One semester
169 - ADVANCED PLACEMENT U.S. GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
1 Credit
Grade 12
This year long course will give students an analytical perspective on government and politics in the United States. This course includes both the study of general concepts used to interpret US politics and the analysis of specific examples. It also requires familiarity with the various institutions, groups, beliefs, and ideas that constitute US politics. As an advanced placement course, this course will model an entry level college government class in both rigor and course work. Students must be successfully capable of careful, technical reading, exact and informative writing, perceptive evaluation of historical and political documents, and critical analysis of divergent thinking and oral defense of controversial issues. Students will be encouraged (but not required) to take the Advanced Placement US Government and Politics exam in the spring, which, when successfully completed, could earn them college credit. In addition, students enrolling in this class will be required to participate in the Minnesota State Showcase: “We the People…The Citizen and the Constitution” competition.
Prerequisite: Instructor approval, prior success in either Advanced Placement US History and/or Advanced Placement World History
170 - ADVANCED PLACEMENT U.S. HISTORY
1 Credit
Grade 10
A year long study of American history, this course requires teacher approval for registration. The basic course outline will include two themes: semester one will examine “The Evolving Nation’ covering 1607 to 1914 and semester two examines “Twentieth Century Challenges” ranging from 1914 to 1996. This Advanced Placement course has a demanding level of rigor that utilizes primary sources document analysis and student based inquiry. Students must be capable of careful, technical reading, exact and informative writing, perceptive evaluation of historical documents, critical analysis of divergent thinking and oral defense of controversial issues. This class is designed to prepare students to take the Advanced Placement American History test, which, when successfully completed, could earn them college credits.
Prerequisite: Instructor Approval
264 - ADVANCED PLACEMENT WORLD HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY
1 Credit
Grade 11
The Advanced Placement World History course places an emphasis on six overarching themes; (1) patterns and impacts of interaction among major societies; (2) relationship of change and continuity; (3) impact of technology and demography; (4) systems of social structure; (5) cultural and intellectual developments; (6) changes in functions and structures of states, and how they are exemplified in each of five periods of history. The periods of history are: c. 8000 BCE to 600 CE; 600 CE to 1450 CE; 1450 CE to 1750 CE; 1750 CE to 1914 CE; 1914 CE to present. The objective of the course is to prepare the students for the Advanced Placement exam by developing necessary skills through rigorous study and activities. Students must be capable of careful, technical reading, exact and informative writing, perceptive evaluation of historical documents, critical analysis of divergent thinking and oral defense of controversial issues. Students are encouraged to take the Advanced Placement World History test, which, when successfully completed, could earn them college credits.
Prerequisite: Instructor’s approval.
65 - CIVICS
1 Credit
Grade 9
This is a year long course which is designed to look at civics. Civics is the study of citizenship and government. It is the ability to understand and function in a democratic society. Students will gain an appreciation for the duties, rights and responsibilities of America citizenship. Students will also be expected to know and comprehend how our three branch system of government works. Students will be exposed to and understand our political heritage, with particular emphasis placed on the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the U.S. Constitution. Other class time will be devoted to learning about the two-party system, campaigns and elections, the voting process, and state government.
68 - U.S. HISTORY
1 Credit
Grade 10
A year long social studies course for the study of modern United States history. This class will cover material from the Civil War to the present. It is designed to primarily use a thematic framework that parallels with Language Arts 10, while concentrating on fundamental themes in United States history.
33 - WORLD HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY
1 Credit
Grade 11
This course takes a topical approach to the study of events that have shaped the world in which we live. Students will learn the techniques of historical study - looking for causes and effects of various events. The first semester, “Themes in World History,” will take a topical approach to the study of world history. Students will investigate how cultural differences, religions, geography, economics and politics have influenced events in history. The second semester is “20th Century World History.” Students will examine the events of the last century from the perspective of the cultures involved in said events. Topics for study include: WWI
and it’s outcomes; increasing nationalism between the wars; rise of fascism and WWII; genocide; the Cold War and the thaw, and globalization and its’ impacts.
20 – HUMAN GEOGRAPHY OF GLOBAL ISSUES
1/2 Credit
Grade 12
Using modern and current events, students will explore the way that humans interact with their physical environment and create political, economic and cultural systems that shape our choices and our interactions within that environment and the world at large. Students will develop an understanding of the impact that these human actions have on local, regional and global issues. Students will examine the cultural geography of our community, state, region and world and will use a variety of demographic and geographic tools in their exploration of these issues. The goal is to encourage students to develop a world view and the understanding that local actions have global connections and personal choices can have global consequences.
38 - ECONOMICS
1/2 Credit
Grade 11 - 12
Economics is the study of the choices that people make to deal with the basic economic problem of scarcity - wants and needs are unlimited and resources to meet those wants and needs are limited. In the first quarter students will explore microeconomics which looks at the choices of individuals. We do this by first exploring historical and philosophical roots of economics and basic themes of supply and demand, prices and market, and personal finance topics like budgets, wealth creation and debt. The second quarter is an examination of macroeconomics which looks at the whole economic system. We use the Great Depression and the modern day recession to explore the role of the government, the role of the banking system including the Federal Reserve Bank, fiscal and monetary policy, national debt, economic indicators and global economic policy.
7 - SOCIOLOGY
1/2 Credit
Grade 11 - 12
This course explores the role that the external world has in shaping who we are. The field of sociology looks at socialization or how you learn your culture. We examine relationships with parents and peers, institutions like education and religion and government and economic systems. We will explore the impact that these have in shaping us, how all human beings share culture similarities as well as the emergence of differences. Topics to be explored are sociological perspectives, an examination of American culture, world cultures, the role of institutions, social and economic class distribution, prejudice and discrimination, changing gender roles, the role of education and social problems in current events. This course can be a personal exploration of the subject as well as preparation for an introductory sociology course in college.
36 - THE CHALLENGE OF POLITICS
1/2 Credit
Grades 11 - 12
In this course we will study the following classic political issues: equality versus inequality; limited versus unlimited government; freedom versus authority in the modern world; and concentration versus dispersion of state power. We will analyze the writings of the world's great political minds on these issues.
Prerequisite: Recommended for college bound students.
37 - PSYCHOLOGY
1/2 Credit
Grades 11 -12
Psychology is the study of mental processes and behavior and primarily explores the internal world and external behavior of individuals. We will examine psychological perspective and theory that shaped the field of psychology through an examination of human development. In our exploration we will look at topics like biological influences on behavior, love and attraction, parenting and child development, learning and intelligence theories, personality development, psychological disorders and various treatments. This course can be a personal exploration of the subject as well as preparation for an introductory psychology course in college.