Global Issues 9

Global Issues 9 is a full year course designed to investigate major issues that the world has faced in the 20th and 21st centuries as well as current events, while gaining a global perspective of the world. The class looks to enhance knowledge of the physical and cultural geography of our global community. The course will also focus on how to participate as global citizens and examine some current global topics such as but not limited to: population, sustainability, global warming, the environment, energy, consumer culture, indigenous cultures, food supply, water, corporations, globalization, and immigration. Students will engage in organized discussions, current events analysis, essay writing, multimedia projects, social and historical analysis, and group activities. The course is designed with current issues introduced first and then traced back through time to see the connections or breaks from history in the region. Students will get the opportunity to practice debating issues in a Model United Nations format. The class aims to teach students how to become proficient in constructing and evaluating arguments, using documents, assessing change and continuity, seeing global and local patterns, and comparing within and among societies. An emphasis is placed on the analysis of historical evidence and the skills of expressing historical understanding in writing. Students are expected to develop their skills in constructing arguments using documents and other primary data to make plausible interpretations and arguments.

World History 10 will cover the modern era; students will be examining issues such as nationalism, revolution, war and peace, and globalization. Students will get the opportunity to practice debating important issues in a Model United Nations format. The class aims to teach students how to become proficient in constructing and evaluating arguments, using documents, assessing change and continuity, seeing global and local patterns, and comparing within and among societies to make plausible interpretations and arguments. An emphasis is placed on the analysis of historical evidence and the skills of expressing historical understanding in writing. Students may apply to replace World History 10 with AP Modern World History.

United States History is a semester elective course designed to investigate the major themes of the United States from the beginnings of America to the Modern American Age. These themes include arts and ideas, belief systems, economic systems, geography and environment, government and citizenship, migration and diffusion, science and technology, and society. Students will become proficient in constructing and evaluating arguments, using documents, assessing change and continuity, and comparing within and among societies. An emphasis is placed on the analysis of historical evidence and the skills of expressing historical understanding in writing to make plausible interpretations and arguments.

AP World History is approved by the College Board as equivalent to an introductory college level course. Students are expected to take the College Board Advanced Placement exam upon completion of the course. This course is based on a global perspective of the world and human interactions from approximately 8000 BCE to the present. The course is organized around the following five themes that connect the key concepts and serve as unifying threads throughout the course: 1. Interaction Between Humans and the Environment; 2. Development & Interaction of Cultures; 3. State-Building, Expansion, and Conflict; 4. Creation, Expansion, and Interaction of Economic Systems; 5. Development & Transformation of Social Structures.

AP Psychology is approved by the College Board as equivalent to an introductory college level course in Psychology. Students are expected to take the College Board Advanced Placement exam upon completion of the course. In AP Psychology students will gain a thorough understanding of the principles of psychology. The emphasis is on the study of behavior and mental processes including brain functions, perception, learning, cognition, developmental psychology, and abnormal psychology.

The AP Human Geography course is equivalent to an introductory college-level course in human geography. The course introduces students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine socioeconomic organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their research and applications. The curriculum reflects the goals of the National Geography Standards (2012).