Social Studies Core Courses

WORLD HISTORY 

Grade: 9

Credits: 5

Prerequisite: None

This course traces the rise of the modern world, starting with the end of the Middle Ages, the beginning of the Renaissance, and continuing to the present day. Students will be introduced to these time periods within the context of the larger social structures, political movements, and economic processes that have changed the world. Students will apply these broad themes in evaluating current events. Students will develop an understanding of the influences upon the world, the cultures of other nations, and the people who have helped to shape those nations in the past in order to be an effective influence for good in our globalized society. This course also seeks to prepare students with the foundational skills necessary to be a historian, answering the “what” and “why” questions of historical events as well as the “how to” of historical craft through research, primary source readings, and historical writing. 

AP WORLD HISTORY: Modern

Grades: 9

Credits: 5

Prerequisite: Grade 8 Teacher Recommendation Only

AP World History: Modern is an introductory college-level modern world history course. Students cultivate their understanding of world history from c. 1200 CE to the present through analyzing historical sources and learning to make connections and craft historical arguments as they explore concepts like humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation. The course has students investigate the content of world history for significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in six historical periods, 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 when they study the past. The course also provides five themes (interaction between humans and the environment; development and interaction of cultures; state building, expansion, and conflict; creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems; and development and transformation of social structures) that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places encompassing the five major geographical regions of the globe: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.  

Due to the pacing of the course, students will be expected to be motivated to read for understanding on their own, to recall historical facts and themes and apply them as part of their historical analysis over time.  All students are expected to take the National College Board AP Examination in May.  Significant independent preparation is needed for success on the AP Exam and in the course. Summer work is required for this course.

UNITED STATES HISTORY I 

Grade: 10

Credits: 5

Prerequisites: World History

This course is a chronological study of the American experience from the Colonial Era through the Age of Industrialization and the emergence of the Progressive era. Students will have an opportunity to develop an in-depth understanding of the evolution of the United States through an examination and analysis of primary and secondary sources.  Students will be expected to create original arguments supported by evidence and to utilize historical thinking skills in writing and discussions.  In addition to the historical content, the course will also explore the tenants of democracy, civic responsibilities, and the structure and role of the American government and its continued influence on nations and current global challenges.  

AP US HISTORY I

Grade: 10

Credits: 5

Prerequisites:  Successful completion of US I and teacher recommendation

This course is modeled after the first portion of the AP US history exam, which focuses on the cultural, economic, political, and social development side of shaping the United States from 1491 until 1877. This will analyze text, visual sources, and other historical evidence, writing essays and expressing historical arguments. The focus will start in pre-Columbian America with a focus on Native American societies, as well as how Europeans first explored and then colonized the Americas. You need to focus on the development of colonies as settled in the New World by the Spanish, French, Dutch, and British. Period three will focus on information from the American Revolution and the formation of the United States government in the republic's early years. Next students will examine how the young nation developed politically, culturally, and economically. And the development leading up to, and during the Civil War with an emphasis on the reconstruction era.In order to earn AP credit, students must take the National College Board AP Examination in May.  Summer work is required for this course.

UNITED STATES HISTORY II 

Grade: 11

Credits: 5

Prerequisites: United States History I

U.S. History II represents the culmination of a student’s mandatory three-year social studies instruction at PTHS. While U.S. History I established the U.S. as a burgeoning economic power, U.S. History II witnesses America convert that economic strength into military power bringing it to the present day where the U.S. is the world’s sole remaining superpower. Students will examine primary and secondary sources, create original arguments supported by evidence, and utilize historical thinking skills as they examine American history.

AP US HISTORY II

Grade: 11, 12

Credits: 5

Prerequisite: Successful completion of U.S. History I and teacher recommendation

This U.S. History course focuses on the development of historical thinking skills (chronological reasoning, comparing and contextualizing, crafting historical arguments using historical evidence, and interpreting and synthesizing historical narrative) and the development of students’ abilities to think conceptually about U.S. history from approximately 1865 to the present. Seven themes of equal importance — American and National Identity; Migration and Settlement; Politics and Power; Work, Exchange, and Technology; America in the World; Geography and the Environment; and Culture and Society — 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. The course also allows teachers flexibility across nine different periods of U.S. history to teach topics of their choice in depth. 

Students will be expected to be motivated to read for understanding on their own, to recall historical facts and themes and apply them as part of their historical analysis over time.  Those choosing to take the AP exam will need to dedicate time outside of the classroom in preparation for that exam. In order to earn AP credit, students must take the National College Board AP Examination in May.  Summer work is required for this course.