Grade Level Key Themes

Physical and Human Systems

Students in grade 8 read, interpret, and create maps to locate and describe the physical and political features and climate of different parts of Louisiana and identify how the natural world impacts Louisiana in ways that are different from other regions of the United States (e.g., the geographical and historical influences of the Mississippi River and hurricanes). Students use this information to describe the impact of geography on the history, culture, and economy of various places in Louisiana. They also understand the impact humans have on the environment to explain how levees, agriculture, urbanization, and the oil and gas industry have shaped the geography of Louisiana and its historical development.

Migration and Settlement

Students in grade 8 describe how indigenous and Native American groups, European settlers, Acadian exiles, and African slaves contributed to the development of Louisiana and created cultural diffusion and diversity in early Louisiana. Students also recognize patterns in migration to identify the push-pull factors that led cultural groups to move and settle in and outside of Louisiana during French colonization, the Antebellum period, and Reconstruction.

Economics and Trade

Students in grade 8 examine how Louisiana's systems of trade and resource usage have developed from the pre-colonial period through the modern era. They explain how Louisiana’s economic interdependence with other regions, the concepts of supply, demand, and scarcity, and historical and geographical factors have shaped Louisiana’s economy and resource use (i.e., the plantation economy of the Antebellum period and the effects of Reconstruction, New Orleans’ role as an international port, the impacts of the Great Depression, and the state’s role in the oil and gas industry). They also identify how and why Louisiana’s economy has become increasingly specialized over time (e.g., fluctuations in oil prices can lead to inflation and unemployment) and predict how specialization will continue to impact the economy and different groups. Lastly, students explain how economic concepts relate to their personal economic decisions and research different careers.

Politics and Governance

Students in grade 8 understand how Louisiana’s government has changed and developed over time from the period of relatively decentralized governance by different Native American groups through colonial rule under Spain and France and then statehood. They recognize the influences of those early governments on modern-day Louisiana as they describe the role of various forms of local government in Louisiana and compare the constitutions of Louisiana and the United States. They also describe how Huey Long and the Populist movement, the Progressive era, and the Civil Rights movement affected politics in Louisiana. Lastly, students explain the importance of being an informed citizen, recognizing propaganda, and knowing the voting issues.

Society and Culture

Students in grade 8 describe how various social movements and reforms in Louisiana resulted from groups and individuals who exercised their rights and responsibilities to seek change. They identify the social movements within the Antebellum period, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Populist movement, the Progressive era, the Great Depression, and the Civil Rights Movement and describe the impacts of those social movements on the government, economy, culture, and course of Louisiana history. Students also recognize the patterns for social change that movements follow and find commonalities among the motivations, goals, and effects of various movements.

Conflict and Compromise

Students in grade 8 understand how international conflict and foreign policy played a role in the development of Louisiana over time. They explain how differences and similarities among ethnic groups in colonial Louisiana contributed to cooperation and conflict through statehood. Students understand the importance of the Mississippi River as it relates to the War of 1812 and explain how the conflict directly impacted Louisiana. They also investigate and describe the impacts of Reconstruction and World War II on Louisiana’s social, political, and economic systems.

Continuity and Change

Students in grade 8 use a broad variety of primary and secondary sources with varied points of view to examine how Louisiana’s politics, economy, and culture changed over time through the Antebellum period, the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Populist movement, the Progressive era, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Civil Rights Movement. They explain how inventions and technological advances, resource distribution, geography, migration, and changing social norms contributed to the changes and predict ways in which Louisiana will continue to grow and change in the 21st century.