S3 Modern Studies
Units Studied
1. Terrorism and Conflict
· Pupils will study a range of different terrorism conflicts from the last few years, ranging from the birth of modern-day terrorism to the most recent attacks.
· This is one of our international units, meaning cases will cover both national and global examples.
· For each conflict, we will look at the cases, causes and consequences, and complete case studies to deepen our knowledge.
· The Modern Studies-specific skill covered in this unit is Conclusions.
2. Crime and Law
· In this unit, pupils study types, causes and the impact of crime in Scotland and the UK.
· One of our main focuses for this unit is to understand whether crime happens due to nature or nurture, where we analyse biological, economic and social causes to help us understand this debate.
· We also look at the responses to crime and study the role of the police in detail.
· The Modern Studies-specific skill covered in this unit is Options and Decision-making.
3. Democracy in Scotland
· This unit is our S3 politics unit, where pupils learn about the decision-making process of living in a democracy.
· Topics we cover are democracies vs. dictatorships, political parties, electing representatives, role and work of MSPs, the work of the First Minister and Pressure Groups.
· We will invite outside speakers to come into school to talk about their role in the community.
· The Modern Studies-specific skill covered in this unit is Support & Oppose.
For all 3 units, pupils will do formative assessments in the form of quizzes, discussions, debates, research and homework, which will help them build on their literacy, numeracy, source analysis, problem-solving, debating and creative skills. Pupils will also complete summative assessments in the form of timed tests.