World History Honors 2

Course Details:

Grades: 9-10

Length: one semester

Prerequisites:

9th grade: Concurrent enrollment in English 9 Honors or teacher recommendation

10th grade: Teacher recommendation

Course Description:

World History Honors 2 will emphasize the use of primary sources and critical thinking to look at cause and effect and analysis of historical interpretation. The focus will be on the global impacts of imperialism and industrialization in the 19th century, and the development of true global society into the 21st century.

This is a reading and writing intensive class that requires a research project component (e.g., National History Day or a research project).

This course is designed for learners who are reading and writing above grade level, capable of in-depth analysis, and motivated to take this challenging course. Studies in this course will focus on greater depth of knowledge/taxonomy based upon the stated literacy standards for social studies already outlined in the World History curriculum: Chronological Thinking, Historical Comprehension, Historical Analysis and Interpretation, Historical Issues-Analysis and Decision-making.

While the grade/course level competencies are required, the content objectives are suggested pathways that move learners toward competency and the achievement of performance indicators.

Graduate - Level Competency:

Historical

GL.3 The learner will understand how historical events impact the modern era by applying historical inquiry skills in order to understand the forces of change and make informed decisions.

Course/Grade Competency:

WS.6 The learner will explain how the industrial revolution impacted the growth of imperialism, and evaluate the major political, economic, and social changes that followed by evaluating the tension from these changes, in order to understand the conflict and the breakup of empires and how it led to World War I.

Content Objectives:

The learner will:

    • Compare and contrast the causes and consequences of agricultural and industrial revolutions.

    • Compare patterns of nationalism and social reform in Europe and the Americas.

    • Analyze the consequences of the European Empire building on colonies and mother countries.

    • Explain the causes, and both short-term and long-term consequences, of World War I.

    • Describe events that represent the search for peace and world stability in the 1920s and 1930s.

    • Compare the rise of Marxism, fascism, and communism, and the impact on the countries where each developed.

Standards:

NCSS

I-III & V-IX

C3

D2.Civ.10.9-12,

D2.Geo.1.9-12,

D2.Geo.3-5.9-12,

D2.Geo.7-8.9-10,

D2.Geo.10.9-12,

D2.Geo.12.9-12,

D2.His.1-2.9-12,

D2.His.4.9-12,

D2.His.14.9-12,

D2.His.16.9-12

Course/Grade Competency:

WS.7 The learner will understand how historical events impact the causes and consequences of World War II by applying historical inquiry skills, in order to understand the forces of change, evaluate global problems, and propose solutions.

Content Objectives:

The learner will:

    • Trace the rise of communism and fascism, as a result of global events.

    • Analyze the causes and consequences of the worldwide depression of the 1920s and 1930s.

    • Describe the role of the Treaty of Versailles in causing World War II.

    • Analyze the causes and consequences of World War II.

    • Trace the role of genocide in world events and compare it to genocide during World War II.

Standards:

NCSS

I-VI & IX

C3

D2.Civ.3.9-12, D2.Civ.5.9-12, D2.Civ.14.9-12,

D2.Geo.3-5.9-12, D2.Geo.7.9-12, D2.His.1-5.9-12, D2.His.7.9-12, D2.His.11.9-12, D2.His.14.9-12, D2.His.16.9-12

AK Cultural

E.1, E.7

Course/Grade Competency:

WS.8 The learner will analyze events in the world and interdependent relationships by using geographic reasoning and thinking skills to analyze the Cold War, in order to understand how these events and conflicts have created global problems and shaped modern history.

Content Objectives:

The learner will:

  • Identify the economic, political, and ideological origins of the Cold War.

  • Analyze the effects of the major events that fueled the Cold War, including the expansion of Soviet power, ideological differences between communism and capitalism, the nuclear arms race, and proxy wars such as Vietnam.

  • Explain how decolonization of Asia and Africa impacted the Cold War and the competition for power between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.

  • Explain the collapse of the Soviet Union and evaluate the consequences, including economic crisis in Eastern Europe, increased nationalism, ethnic tensions, and the spread of democratic principles.

Standards:

NCSS

I-III, V-VII, & IX

C3

D2.Civ.3.9-12, D2.Geo.1-2.9-12, D2.Geo.5.9-12,

D2.Geo.8.9-12, D2.Geo.11-12.9-12, D2.His.1-3.9-12,

D2.His.7.9-12, D2.His.14.9-12, D2.His.16.9-12

AK Cultural

B.1, E.7

Course/Grade Competency:

WS.9 The learner will analyze the consequences of the collapse of imperialism, the evolution of self-determination, and the spread of democratic principles in the 20th century by applying the principles and structures of representative democracy and other political systems, in order to evaluate the relationship between the individual, government, and other groups.

Content Objectives:

The learner will:

    • Identify how political borders created by imperialism and the creation of new nations by post-World War II powers contributed to the development of new conflicts.

    • Identify major independence movements throughout the colonial world of Asia and Africa, and explain the economic, social, and political causes of their success (e.g., India/ Pakistan, Israel, Africa 1960, or Egypt).

    • Analyze how the pursuit of self-determination and independence has led to both conflicts as well as the spread of democratic principles (e.g., South Africa and apartheid, China and Tiananmen Square, Brazil’s transition to democracy in the 1980s, Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge, Rwandan Genocide, Bosnia, and Arab Spring).

Standards:

NCSS

I-III, VI-VII, & IX


C3

D2.Civ.3.9-12, D2.Civ.6.9-12, D2.Geo.1.9-12,

D2.Geo.5.9-12, D2.Geo.7.9-12, D2.His.1.9-12, D2.His.3-5.9-12,

D2.His.7.9-12, D2.His.12.9-12, D2.His.14-15.9-12

AK Cultural

E.1, 7

Course/Grade Competency:

WS.10 The learner will identify how globalization has led to conflict, as well as compromise and cooperation, in the 21st century by assessing personal, national, and global economic decisions, applying financial literacy knowledge to make informed budgetary decisions, and drawing connections between current and historical events.

Content Objectives:

The learner will:

  • Use a case study, based on previous units of study, to extend historical understanding.

Standards:

NCSS

II-III, V-VI, & IX

C3

D2.Civ.14.9-12,

D2.Geo.10-11.9-12,

D2.His.1.9-12,

D2.His.12.9-12,

D2.His.16.9-12


Graduate - Level Competency:

Social Studies Processes, Knowledge, and Skills

GL.4 The learner will develop research skills by selecting, evaluating, and synthesizing information from varied sources in order to effectively communicate using reasoning and sufficient evidence, both orally and in writing.

Course/Grade Competency:

WS.11 The learner will develop research skills by selecting, evaluating, and synthesizing information from varied sources, in order to effectively communicate using reasoning and sufficient evidence, both orally and in writing.

Content Objectives:

The learner will:

    • Complete a historically themed research project (e.g., National History Day project).

    • Complete an annotated bibliography.

Standards:


Suggested Activities, Materials, and Resources:


See the appendix for additional resources.