History & Social Science Electives

AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY: The goal for the course is for students to become more geoliterate, more engaged in contemporary global issues, and more informed about multicultural viewpoints.” (College Board, 2019)

S025 - 1 History Credit - Full Year

Grades 9-12

AP® Human Geography is a yearlong course that contains seven units of study as outlined in the 2019 Course and Exam Description (CED) published by the College Board. The units in the CED focus on topics including thinking geographically, population and migration, culture, political geography, agriculture, urban geography, and development and industrialization. Students will have multiple opportunities to apply the information addressed in each unit in activities including note-taking, current events, projects, and formative and summative assessments.  As students progress through the course they develop skills to help them think geographically and make connections between content in the seven units of study. There are 5 skill categories addressed in the course: Concepts and Processes, Spatial Relationships, Data Analysis, Source Analysis, and Scale Analysis. (College Board, 2019) ƒ The big ideas for the course are: 1. Patterns and Spatial Organization (PSO), 2. Impacts and Interactions (IMP), and 3. Spatial Process and Societal Change (SPS). (College Board, 2019)  This course satisfies one of the three required years of History/Social Science classes. All students enrolled are required to take the AP exam in May for which there is a fee of $98.00.

ART HISTORY: Are you ugly or beautiful? Which would you prefer? Humans have always created art, but our definitions of beauty always change.  What is your definition?

SO90 – AP Level 1 History Credit - Full Year 

SO90A – A Level 1/2 History Credit - Half Year

This class will include a full survey of Western art with a significant component devoted to non-Western styles and themes.  Focused on visual understanding and analysis, this class is intended for seniors who are both first time and experienced AP students.  The required coursework will demand significant work outside of class, while in-class work will focus on discussion, student presentations,  and comparative writing and analysis.   This course satisfies one of the three required years of History/Social Science classes.  All students enrolled are required to take the AP exam in May for which there is a fee of $98.00.

AP MICROECONOMICS: Scarcity leads to choices.  Essential Question: How do individuals and businesses make decisions in the world of economics? How do individuals and firms make rational choices, how do markets function and how can government policies impact economic outcomes?

SO61 – 1 History Credit - Full Year

Enrollment is limited to students who have achieved a B or better in US History.

This course offers a broad examination of the principles of micro-economic theory. After introducing opportunity costs, the concepts of scarcity and the law of comparative advantage, the course focuses on marginal utility analysis, the laws of supply and demand, the law of diminishing return, the costs of production, profit maximization, the theory of the firm in perfect and imperfect competition, the factor markets, and finally international trade. Selected topics in macroeconomics will also be covered.  This college level course prepares students to take the Advanced Placement examination in microeconomics. This course satisfies one of the three required years of History/Social Science classes. All students enrolled are required to take the AP exam in May for which there is a fee of $98.00. 

AP UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT and POLITICS: Critically analyze the (dis)functions of the American government! Essential Question: To what extent can American citizens influence their government?

Grades 10 - 12

SO99 - 1 History Credit - Full Year

This course offers an intensive study of the formal and informal structures of government and the processes of the American political system. The objectives of the course go beyond a basic understanding of how our government works by exploring five AP required topics: Students develop a critical understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the American political system as well as their rights and responsibilities as citizens.

I. Foundations of American Democracy

II. Interaction among the Branches of Government

III. Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

IV. Political ideologies and beliefs

V. Political Participation

This is a college-level course that requires a substantial amount of daily reading and preparation. There is a heavy emphasis on writing, debate, and discussion.  This course satisfies one of the three required years of History/Social Science classes. All students enrolled are required to take the AP exam in May for which there is a fee of $98.00.

INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE: Theory of Knowledge (TOK)

*For the Full Diploma, TOK must be taken Junior Year*

IBTOKSL Full Year  -  Grades 10-12

Theory of Knowledge (TOK) is a course about critical thinking and inquiring into the process of knowing, rather than about learning a specific body of knowledge. It provides an opportunity for students to reflect on the nature of knowledge, to make connections between areas of knowledge and to become aware of their own perspectives and those of the various groups whose knowledge they share. The overall aim of TOK is to encourage students to formulate answers to the question “how do you know?” in a variety of contexts, and to see the value of that question. This allows students to develop an enduring fascination with the richness of knowledge. The interdisciplinary theory of knowledge course is designed to develop a coherent approach to learning that transcends and unifies the academic areas and encourages appreciation of other cultural perspectives. The theory of knowledge course is in part intended to encourage students to reflect on the huge cultural shifts worldwide around the digital revolution and the information economy. The extent and impact of the changes vary greatly in different parts of the world, but everywhere their implications for knowledge are profound.

The aims of the TOK course are to:

• make connections between a critical approach to the construction of knowledge, the academic 

disciplines and the wider world

• develop an awareness of how individuals and communities construct knowledge and how this is

 critically examined

• develop an interest in the diversity and richness of cultural perspectives and an awareness of

 personal and ideological assumptions

• critically reflect on their own beliefs and assumptions, leading to more thoughtful, responsible

 and purposeful lives

• understand that knowledge brings responsibility which leads to commitment and actions