History Courses

Social Studies 7

Course Description:

This course explores U.S. history from its beginnings through the mid-19th century while integrating foundational concepts from civics, geography, economics, and Arkansas history. Students analyze historical events and primary sources, examine the origins and functions of government, and investigate how geographic and economic factors shape societies. Arkansas history is embedded throughout the course to provide local context and deepen understanding of how national developments connect to the state’s past. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking, historical inquiry, and responsible citizenship. 

Course Description:

Grade 8 Social Studies has an emphasis on United States history from 1801 expansion and reform to 1900 industrial America. The desired outcome of this course is for students to develop an understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between events, recognize patterns of interactions, and understand the impact of events in the United States within an interconnected world. The history of the United States during the nineteenth century includes the integration of social, political, economic, and geographic components. The history strand in Grade 8 is organized chronologically using the eras and time periods from The National Center for History in the Schools. Civics/government, economics, and geography should be embedded into instructional units that correlate with the historic eras under study.

Civics

Course Description:

The course will include the study of the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of citizenship.  In addition, students will study the history and function of the United States system of government.  Students will explore an endless variety of civil and human rights issues, current events, and global issues revolving around politics and economics.

Notes:  ADE Act 478 requires all students to pass the civics portion of the Naturalization Test used by US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Course Description:

ADV Civics will move at a faster pace with more emphasis on writing, research, open discussion, debate, and analyzing.  The course will include the same topics as Civics but will be covered in more detail and will be covered at a faster pace.

Notes: This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.

 ADE Act 478 requires all students to pass the civics portion of the Naturalization Test used by US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Course Description:

World History is a course designed to provide students with an overview of the political, social, economic, cultural, and intellectual heritage of those who have gone before.  At the end of this course, students should be better able to comprehend books, newspapers, magazines, and news reports.  Students should come away from this course with an awareness of the debt all people owe to one another, as well as having a respect for all people, their traditions, beliefs, and opinions.

Course Description:

World History is a course designed to provide students with an overview of the political, social, economic, cultural, and intellectual heritage of those who have gone before.  Students are challenged to examine the history of the world and develop skills and knowledge that will form a useful foundation for their continuing educational endeavors.  At the end of this course, students should be better able to comprehend books, newspapers, magazines, and news reports; interpret graphs, charts, and maps; separate fact from opinion; analyze problems, gather and evaluate evidence, and arrive at conclusions; discuss current issues with a historical prospective; and engage in critical thinking. Students should come away from this course with an awareness of the debt all people owe to one another, as well as having a respect for all peoples, their traditions, beliefs, and opinions.

Notes:  This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.

United States History

Course Description:

American History is offered and required of all juniors at Lakeside High School.  The study of American History starts with a review of the geographic perspective of history.  The course of study continues with the Colonial period through the Civil War.  New curriculum begins with reconstruction and finishes with the Clinton and Bush administrations.  Special interest areas include but are not limited to the Progressive Era, World War I, the Twenties and Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War.  The study continues into the troublesome Sixties and to the present.

ADV United States History

Course Description:

ADV United States History is a social and political history of the United States.   It is a survey of the history of the land area known as North America to its explorers and those who colonized it and the struggles and accomplishments made by our nation through the 21st century.  Students have access to and are required to read the newspaper each day.  Students also are required to do a Power Point presentation on their junior research paper, which is a historical paper.

Notes: This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.

Course Description:

This college course is divided into two parts.  The first portion is a survey of the growth of the United States from early colonial days through the struggle for independence, development of the American mind, and the struggle of nation-making, Jeffersonian politics and Jackson democracy, up through the crisis of Civil War. The second portion of the course discusses overcoming the upheavals of the Civil War, economic growth and industrialism, democracy and empire, and the 20th century issues of world prominence and the struggle for social equality.

 Notes:  *ONLY OFFERED AS A VIRTUAL COURSE*

Course Description:

AP U. S. History is a study of the history of the United States from the pre-colonial period to the Reagan administration.  The course is offered and approved by the College Board through Lakeside High School.  To receive college credit and advanced quality points, the student must take the AP U.S. History exam given by the College Board in May.  A passing grade of a “3, 4, or 5” can earn the student from 3 to 6 hours of college credit in history, depending on the institution.  The curriculum is designed to prepare students to pass the May exam.

Notes:  This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.  College credit may be earned with an acceptable score on the AP exam.  Students must take the AP exam in order to receive the weighted grade points.

Course Description:

Economics is a one-semester course that emphasizes personal finance management.  Students will discover the importance of establishing personal financial goals, identify reasons for saving and investing, and compare and contrast methods of saving and investing.  We will evaluate insurance as a risk management strategy to protect against financial loss.  Students will gain insight into the use of Credit Cards and the impact of credit on their personal financial decisions.  Also, other matters will be discussed like theft, scams and credit protection laws.  Students will play the stock market game, become familiar with type of bank accounts and also learn to reconcile a bank statement.  Students will learn to create and use Budgets, learn how to do Amortization schedules in the purchase of cars/houses as well.  Students will become familiar with filling out the FAFSA for financial aid.  We will look at loans for home, car, education and personal.  Students will also be exposed to Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, supply and demand, and the role of scarcity and opportunity as well as economic systems, but the emphasis of this course will be on financial literacy for teens and a guide to the real world of money and other matters.

General Psychology

Course Description:

General Psychology is a semester-long course that introduces students to the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. The course covers major psychological concepts and theories, including learning, cognition, development, personality, motivation, emotion, and social behavior. Students explore research methods, analyze data, and apply psychological principles to everyday life, developing critical thinking and an understanding of how psychology informs individual and societal well-being.

Course Description:

Focus on the scientific study of behavior and its development as a distinct field of study.  A survey course which considers the brain, states of consciousness, motivation, emotion, stress, learning, intelligence, personality, abnormal behavior, therapy, and social psychology.

 Notes: *ONLY OFFERED AS A VIRTUAL COURSE*

 *National Park College Concurrent Credit Class:  Students completing this course with a final grade of “C” or better will be able to earn three credit hours through NPC.

Course Description:

This course is designed to introduce students to various sociological issues and theories.  Sociology is the study of society.  Societal issues include the following:  family, medicine, deviance, education, culture, inequality, and others.  The course will investigate sociological forces from a scientific approach.  Research methods are vital to understanding social behavior.

Notes:  *ONLY OFFERED AS A VIRTUAL COURSE*

 *National Park College Concurrent Credit Class: Students completing this course with a final grade of “C” or better will be able to earn three credit hours through NPC.

Course Description:

This college course is divided into two parts.  The first portion will survey the development of significant civilizations around the globe from the earliest settlements in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, and the Americas until approximately the end of the 16th century. The political, economic, social, intellectual, and artistic developments of those cultures will be examined and compared with particular attention given to cross-cultural exchanges of technology, ideas, disease, and peoples. The course will also compare major religious and philosophical systems, such as, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Confucianism to encourage students to develop a better understanding of global peoples and societies that have shaped our world. This second portion of the course will survey the development of significant civilizations from approximately the end of the 16th century to the modern age with emphasis placed on colonization and imperialism and the resulting consequences on the interconnectivity of the world’s cultures. The effects of industrialization and globalization on the social, political, intellectual, artistic, and economic aspects of the world’s cultures, including the diversification of markets and the creation of class consciousness within labor systems, will be studied. The increasing hemispheric divide and the changing nature of warfare will be examined to encourage students to develop a better understanding of global peoples and societies that have shaped our world.

Notes:  *ONLY OFFERED AS A VIRTUAL COURSE*

 *National Park College Concurrent Credit Class: Students completing this course with a final grade of “C” or better will be able to earn three credit hours through NPC.

Course Description:

AP World History course is a course intended for students who wish to complete studies in secondary school equivalent to college introductory courses in World History.  Those students wishing to receive advanced quality points must take the College Board examination in May.  That examination presumes at least one academic year of college-level preparation.  Performance on the exam can determine a student’s eligibility for up to six hours of college credit (the equivalent of a two semester course).  Course curriculum, material, and expectations are designed to prepare students for success on this three-hour test.  Students taking this course are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the period from approximately 8000 BC to the present.  AP World History offers an approach that guides students through the steps a historian would take in analyzing historical events and evidence worldwide.  The course offers balanced global coverage, with Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania all represented.

Notes:  This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.  College credit may be earned with an acceptable score on the AP exam.  Students must take the AP exam in order to receive the weighted grade points.

AP Comparative Government & Politics

Course Description:

AP Comparative Government and Politics is an introductory college-level course in comparative government and politics. The course uses a comparative approach to examine the political structures; policies; and political, economic, and social challenges of six selected countries: China, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Students cultivate their understanding of comparative government and politics through analysis of data and text-based sources as they explore topics like power and authority, legitimacy and stability, democratization, internal and external forces, and methods of political analysis.

 Notes:  This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.  College credit may be earned with an acceptable score on the AP exam.  Students must take the AP exam in order to receive the weighted grade points.

Course Description:

AP United States Government and Politics includes both the study of general concepts used to interpret United States politics and the analysis of specific examples. It also requires familiarity with the various institutions, groups, beliefs, and ideas that constitute US politics. Students will become acquainted with the variety of theoretical perspectives and explanations for various behaviors and outcomes as they study the following topics: constitutional underpinnings of United States government, political beliefs and behaviors, political parties, interest groups, and mass media, institutions of national government, public policy, civil rights and civil liberties, state and local government, and Arkansas laws affecting juveniles. The course is intended to provide the scope and academic challenge expected at the college level. It prepares students to take the AP United States Government and Politics exam. This course stresses critical thinking and applications, textbook readings, projects, and use of performance-based/open-ended assessments with rubrics. Please note that this course will contain substantial reading assignments, which will require advanced planning on the part of the student.

Notes:  This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.  College credit may be earned with an acceptable score on the AP exam.  Students must take the AP exam in order to receive the weighted grade points.

 This course may be taken in grades 11 or 12 in lieu of Civics or Advanced Civics.

AP European History

Course Description:

AP European history course is a course intended for students who wish to complete studies in secondary school equivalent to college introductory courses in European History.  Those students wishing to receive advanced quality points must take the College Board examination in May.  That examination presumes at least one academic year of college-level preparation.  Performance on the exam can determine a student’s eligibility for up to six hours of college credit (the equivalent of a two-semester course).  Course curriculum, materials, and expectations are designed to prepare students for success on this three-hour test.  Students taking this course are expected to demonstrate knowledge of the period from approximately 1450 to the present.  The broad themes of intellectual-cultural, political-diplomatic, and social-economic history from the base of the course within that chronology.

Notes:  This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.  College credit may be earned with an acceptable score on the AP exam.  Students must take the AP exam in order to receive the weighted grade points.

Course Description:

The AP Art History course explores such topics as the nature of art, its uses, its meanings, art making, and responses to art. Through investigation of diverse artistic traditions of cultures from prehistory to the present, the course fosters in-depth and holistic understanding of the history of art from a global perspective. Students learn and apply skills of visual, contextual, and comparative analysis to engage with a variety of art forms, constructing understanding of individual works and interconnections of art-making processes and products throughout history.

 Notes:  This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.  College credit may be earned with an acceptable score on the AP exam.  Students must take the AP exam in order to receive the weighted grade points.

Course Description:

AP African American Studies is an interdisciplinary course that examines the diversity of African American experiences through direct encounters with rich and varied sources. Students explore key topics that extend from early African kingdoms to the ongoing challenges and achievements of the contemporary moment.

Notes:  This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.  College credit may be earned with an acceptable score on the AP exam.  Students must take the AP exam in order to receive the weighted grade points.

AP Psychology

Course Description:

AP Psychology is an introductory college-level course examining the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Students explore major psychological theories, concepts, and research methods used to investigate perception, cognition, emotion, motivation, development, personality, and social behavior, with attention to ethical standards in psychological inquiry. The course emphasizes data analysis, interpretation of research, and application of psychological principles to real-world contexts. Students develop critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills as they prepare for the AP Psychology Exam.

Notes:  This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.  College credit may be earned with an acceptable score on the AP exam.  Students must take the AP exam in order to receive the weighted grade points.

AP Human Geography

Course Description:

AP Human Geography is an introductory college-level course that examines the patterns and processes shaping human populations, cultures, political organization, and land use. Students explore spatial relationships, geographic theories, and data-driven methods used by geographers to analyze population, migration, cultural identity, political boundaries, agriculture, urban development, and economic activity. The course emphasizes the interpretation of maps and data, the application of geographic models, and the analysis of real-world issues at local, national, and global scales. Students develop critical thinking and spatial reasoning skills as they prepare for the AP Human Geography Exam.

Notes: This is a course recommended for the student who has demonstrated a high level of interest, dedication, and aptitude for a subject area.  College credit may be earned with an acceptable score on the AP exam.  Students must take the AP exam in order to receive the weighted grade points.