1570H1/1570H2 Advanced Geography and History of the World

Recommended Grade: 9

Required Prerequisites: Grade of B- or higher in eigth grade social studies.

Recommended Prerequisites: None

Credits: 2 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Counts as a Social Studies requirement for the General Diploma

Course Description: Students will learn how to use a geographic way of looking at the world. Students will be able to source, corroborate and contextualize a variety of primary sources and be asked to make applications to modern day issues. Major themes include the study of world religions and exploration and conquest. Imperialism, innovations, and revo- lutions will also be taught. Geography themes that will be explored include change over time, culture, and locations. Students enrolled in Honors Geography will cover course content at a faster pace and/or in greater depth than regular Geography courses.  In addition, critical thinking and writing skills are crucial for success. Students should anticipate a significant amount of work outside of class including regular reading and writing assignments.

1548S1/1548S2 World History and Civilization

Recommended Grade: 10-12

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: None

Credits: 2 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Counts as an elective for all diplomas

Fulfills the Geography History of the World/World History and Civilization graduation requirement for all diplomas

Course Description: Students will study turning points in history that have affected a large amount of people around the globe. In this college prep class, students will be expected to practice a historical way of thinking such as understanding chronology, critical thinking and cause and effect. Students will source, corroborate, and contextualize a variety of primary sources and be asked to make applications of historical learning to modern day issues. Common topics studied include world religions, types of government, war and peace, and the rise and fall of societies since early times. This course will focus on early civilizations, classical civilizations, and the development of modern nations.  

1612S1/1612S2 AP World History: Modern

Recommended Grade: 10

Required Prerequisites: Students must have successfully completed at least one advanced course during 9th grade.

Recommended Prerequisites: Advanced English 9

Credits: 2 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Counts as an elective for all diplomas

Fulfills the geography history of the world/world history and civilization graduation requirement for the Core 40, Core 40 with Academic Honors and Core 40 with Technical Honors diplomas

Course Description: AP World History Modern students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in historical periods from approximately 1200 CE to the present. Students develop and use the same skills, practices, and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; developing historical arguments; and utilizing reasoning about comparison, causation, and continuity and change over time. The course provides six themes that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places:  humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation. This is a grade weighted course.

Advanced Placement Information: It is expected that students who take this course will also take the Advanced Placement test in May.

1556S1/1556S2 Advanced Placement (AP) European History

Recommended Grade: 10

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: This course is intended for high ability students or English 9 Honors students in good standing.

Credits: 2 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Counts as an elective for all diplomas

Course Description: This sophomore level, year long course surveys European History from 1450 to present. The intent of the course is to provide students an opportunity to investigate the significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in four historical periods in European history and develop and use the same thinking skills and methods (analyzing primary and secondary sources, making historical comparisons, chronological reasoning, and argumentation) employed by historians. This is a grade weighted course.

Advanced Placement Information: It is expected that students who take this course will also take the Advanced Placement test in May.

1542S1/1542S2 United States History

Recommended Grade: 11

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: None

Credits: 2 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Fulfills the US History requirement for all diplomas

Course Description:  United States History is a required two-semester course that builds upon concepts developed in previous studies of U.S. History and emphasizes national development from the late nineteenth   century into the twenty-first century. After reviewing fundamental themes in the early development of the nation, students are expected to identify and review significant events, persons, and movements in the early development of the nation. The course then gives major emphasis to the interaction of key events, people, and political, economic, social, and cultural   influences in national developments from the late nineteenth century through the present as they relate to life in Indiana and the United States. Students  are expected to trace and analyze   chronological periods and examine the significant themes and concepts in U.S. History. Students develop historical thinking and research skills and use primary and secondary sources to explore topical issues and to understand the cause for changes in the nation over time.

1562S1/1562S2 Advanced Placement (AP) United States History

Recommended Grade: 11

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: Students should have earned an A or B in an Honors English and grade 9 and/or 10 social studies courses. Students should be able to read a college level textbook and write grammatically correct, complete sentences.

Credits: 2 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Fulfills the US History requirement for all diplomas

Course Description: AP United States History is a course based on the content established and copyrighted by the College Board. AP United States History focuses on developing students’ abilities to think conceptually about U.S. history from approximately 1491 to the present and apply historical thinking skills as they learn about the past. Seven themes of equal importance — identity; people; politics and power; work, exchange, and technology; America in the world; environment and geography; and ideas, beliefs, and culture — provide areas of historical inquiry for investigation throughout the course. These require students to reason historically about continuity and change over time and make comparisons among various historical developments in different times and places. This is a grade weighted course.

Advanced Placement Information: It is expected that students who take this course will also take the Advanced Placement test in May.

Students enrolling in AP US History are strongly encouraged to take Advanced English 11.

1514 Economics

Recommended Grade: 12

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: None

Credits: 1 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Counts as an elective for all diplomas

Fulfills the Economics requirement for the Core 40, Core 40 with Academic Honors, and  Core 40 with Technical Honors diplomas. 

Qualifies as a quantitative reasoning course (NOTE: Economics will no longer be considered a quantitative reasoning course after the 2021-2022 school year.)

Fulfills a Social Studies requirement for the General Diploma only

Course Description: This course examines the allocation of scarce resources and the economic reasoning used by people as consumers, producers, savers, investors, workers, voters, and as government agencies. Key elements include the study of scarcity, supply and demand, market structures, the role of government, national income determination, money and the role of financial institutions, economic stabilization, and trade.

1540 United States Government

Recommended Grade: 12

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: None

Credits: 1 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Fulfills Government requirement for all diplomas

Course Description: United States Government is a required one semester course that provides a framework for understanding the purposes, principles, and practices of constitutional representative democracy in the United States. Responsible and effective participation of citizens is stressed. Students understand the nature of citizenship, politics, and governments and understand the rights and responsibilities of citizens and how these are part of local, state, and national government. Students examine how the United States Constitution protects rights and provides the structure and functions of various levels of government. Analysis of how the United States interacts with other nations and the government’s role in world affairs is included in this course. Using primary and secondary resources, students will articulate, evaluate, and defend positions on political issues. As a result, they will be able to explain the role of individuals and groups in government, politics, and civic activities and the need for civic and political engagement of citizens in the United States.

1560 Advanced Placement (AP) United States Government

Recommended Grade: 12

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: Students should have earned an A or B in an Honors English and grade 9 and/or 10 social studies courses. Students should be able to read a college level textbook and write grammatically correct, complete sentences.

Credits: 1 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Fulfills Government requirement for all diplomas

Course Description: AP United States Government and Politics is a course based on the content established and copyrighted by the College Board. AP U.S. Government and Politics provides a college-level, nonpartisan introduction to key political concepts, ideas, institutions, policies, interacons, roles, and behaviors that characterize the constitutional system and political culture of the United States. Students study U.S. foundational documents, Supreme Court decisions, and other texts and visuals to gain an understanding of the relationships and interactions among political institutions, processes, and behavior. They also engage in disciplinary practices that require them to read and interpret data, make comparisons and applications, and develop evidence-based arguments. In addition, they complete a political science research or applied civics project. This is a grade weighted course.

Advanced Placement Information: It is expected that students who take this course will also take the Advanced Placement test in May.

1518 Indiana Studies

Recommended Grade: 9-12

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: None

Credits: 1 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Counts as an elective for all diplomas

Fulfills course requirement for General Diploma

Course Description: The course will compare and contrast Indiana and the nation’s development in the areas of politics, economics and history including people and events in Jennings County.

1512S1/1512 S2 Current Events

Recommended Grade: 9-12

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: None

Credits: 2 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Counts as an elective for all diplomas

Course Description: This class will provide opportunities to apply techniques of investigation to the study of current problems or issues in the world. Students should develop competence in recognizing cause and effect relationships, fallacies in reasoning, propaganda devices, stating and testing hypotheses, and generalizing based on evidence.

1538 Topics in History

Recommended Grade: 9-12

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: United States History or World History and Civilization

Credits: 1 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Counts as an elective for all diplomas

Fulfills course requirement for General Diploma

Course Description: This class will provide students with studies of specific historical eras, events, or concepts. The development of historical research skills will be emphasized along with other basic social studies skills. 

1532 Psychology

Recommended Grade: 11-12

Required Prerequisites: None

Recommended Prerequisites: None

Credits: 1 semester course, 1 credit per semester

Counts as an elective for all diplomas

Fulfills course requirement for General Diploma

Course Description: Psychology provides students the opportunity to explore the behaviors of individuals and groups. Areas of study include the scientific method, lifespan development, cognition, personality, assessment and mental health, and socio-cultural and bio- logical bases of behavior. Major psychological theories and their methods will be researched. This course is “project” oriented.