7th Grade Civics/Geography

Grade 7 Advanced Civics/Geography

In seventh grade, geography and civics are each taught as a one-semester course. In the one-semester seventh-grade geography course, students study world geography using a thematic approach. The one-semester seventh-grade civics course addresses content regarding democracy; liberty; law; personal economics; and local, state, and national civic responsibility. At the advanced level, students will use a wide variety of text to increase their use of critical thinking skills. This course is designed to prepare students for the rigorous demands of the High School AP curriculum. Students will be expected to remain up to date and informed on the regional, national and international news forums for in class discussions and include opportunities for students to develop questioning strategies that assist them in organizing and presenting information in oral, visual, and written formats. Portions of the course requisites include accelerated pacing of academic reading and research based writing both in and out of the classroom environment. This course focuses on independent reading, writing, analysis, and problem solving. The primary goals of the course are to foster independent learning and encourage in-depth exploration of the content. In addition, emphasis will be placed on understanding, analyzing and synthesizing current events and primary source documents to develop a global perspective of geographic and political patterns.