Social Studies

More about the Social Studies program

The study of History (Minnesota, U.S., and World) helps students to see how people in other times and places have grappled with the fundamental questions of truth, justice, and personal responsibility, to understand that ideas have real consequences, and to realize that events are shaped both by ideas and the actions of individuals. The global connections in areas such as commerce, politics, migration, and communications, make an understanding of the history of the world’s many cultures especially important in fostering the respect and understanding required in a connected and interdependent world.

The geographically literate person knows where important things are, why they are located in those places, and the significance of the location patterns of the world, as well as comprehending the nature and significance of multiple connections between people and places around the world. Included in Social Studies is the study of economics, which enables students to make reasoned judgments about both personal economic questions and broader questions of economic policy in a complex and changing world. The aim of Social Studies civic education is to ensure the participation of informed and responsible citizens who are skilled in the arts of deliberation and effective action.

Required Courses

Minnesota Studies

6th grade

In 6th grade, students take a year-long, required course exploring the state of Minnesota's history, geography, economics, and civics, from its first inhabitants to the present. Students analyze primary/secondary sources to examine topics like the Dakota/Ojibwe cultures, fur trade, statehood, and industrial growth while developing critical thinking and inquiry skills.

U.S. Studies

7th Grade

U.S. Studies provides students with an overview of the government, geography, economic systems, and history of the United States from 1800 to present. We will cover topics such as the three branches of government, elections, U.S. states and regions, economic systems, westward expansion, the Civil War, Reconstruction, The Gilded Age, the Progressive Era, the Great Depression, World Wars, the Cold War, and modern American issues. Students will strengthen their reading, writing, and research skills through daily class activities and through our year-long research project, National History Day.

Global Studies

8th Grade

This course takes a regional approach to understanding the world and how people interact with their environments. Students will analyze important trends in the modern world, participate in civic discussion, conduct historical inquiry, and study events over the last half century that have shaped the contemporary world. The units that students will study include: Geographic Skills, Overview of the World/Globalization, Australia/Oceania, East and Southeast Asia, Southwest and Central Asia, Africa, Europe/Russia, Central America, the Arctic/Antarctic areas, and the United States/Canada. A research project is required as well as various smaller projects.

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