Syllabus

The Social Science course will introduce students to the "big ideas" from the social science disciplines of political science, public policy, sociology, and economics.

Essential Questions

Throughout the course, students will explore the following questions:

• What does justice look like? Think: What's fair and unfair? Who deserves what?
• What is the role of government? Think: What should government do and not do?
• What are our rights and responsibilities? Think: Where does freedom come from? Who gets it? When, if at all, can it be limited?
• What determines human behavior? Think: Why do people behave like they do? Can we predict what people will do or not do?
• What are the patterns of social change? Think: What causes communities and societies to change or stay the same?
• What is my place in the world? Think: What are my priorities? How will I contribute to my community and to society?

Essential Skills

Students will develop the skills necessary for meaningful participation in a democratic society. In particular, students will learn how to effectively:

• Examine the values and assumptions embedded in the choices we make as individuals and as a society
• Ask meaningful questions relevant to social, economic, and political policy
• Seek, analyze, and evaluate information and ideas from varied sources and perspectives
• Develop informed opinions and creative solutions
• Collaborate and communicate effectively as members of diverse groups
• Critically evaluate and produce social science research
• Advocate for social, economic, and political change

Unit 1: Foundations of Government

Topics: Government and Society, Origins of the United States and Pennsylvania Governments

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• 5.1.12.A. Analyze the sources, purposes, functions of law, and how the rule of law protects individual rights and promotes the common good.
• 5.1.12.B. Employ historical examples and political philosophy to evaluate the major arguments advanced for the necessity of Government.
• 5.1.12.C. Evaluate the application of the principles and ideals in contemporary civic life: Liberty / Freedom; Democracy; Justice; Equality
• 5.1.12.D. Evaluate state and federal powers based on significant documents and other critical sources: Declaration of Independence; United States Constitution; Bill of Rights; Pennsylvania Constitution

Unit 2: The U.S. Political System

Topics: The National Government (Legislative Branch, Executive Branch, Judicial Branch), State Government (Pennsylvania), Local Government (Philadelphia), Government Revenue, The Electoral Process, Political Parties, Interest Groups, The Media and Public Opinion

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• 5.3.12.I. Evaluate tax policies of various states and countries.
• 5.3.12.A. Analyze the changes in power and authority among the three branches of government over time.
• 5.3.12.C. Evaluate how government agencies create, amend, and enforce regulations.
• 5.3.12.D. Evaluate the roles of political parties, interest groups, and mass media in politics and public policy.
• 5.3.12.E. Evaluate the fairness and effectiveness of the United States electoral processes, including the electoral college.

Unit 3: Rights and Responsibilities

Topics: Fundamental Freedoms in Different Types of Government, Individual Rights and Responsibilities, Protecting Civil Rights

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• 5.1.12.E. Analyze and assess the rights of people as written in the PA Constitution and the US Constitution.
• 5.2.12.A. Evaluate an individual's civil rights, responsibilities and obligations in various contemporary governments.
• 5.2.12.C. Evaluate political leadership and public service in a republican form of government.
• 5.2.12.D. Evaluate and demonstrate what makes competent and responsible citizens.
• 5.3.12.F. Analyze landmark United States Supreme Court interpretations of the Constitution and its Amendments.

Unit 4: Current Challenges facing American Democracy

Topics: Political Polarization, Gerrymandering, Community Violence, Residential Segregation, Immigration Policy

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• 5.2.12.B. Examine the causes of conflicts in society and evaluate techniques to address those conflicts.
• 5.3.12.J. Evaluate critical issues in various contemporary governments.
• 5.1.12.F. Evaluate the role of nationalism in uniting and dividing citizens.
• 5.3.12.H. Evaluate the role of mass media in setting public agenda and influencing political life.
• 5.3.12.G. Evaluate the impact of interest groups in developing public policy.
• 5.3.12.B. Compare and contrast policymaking in various contemporary world governments.

Unit 5: The United States and the World

Topics: U.S. Foreign Policy, The United States and International Institutions, International Economies, Economic Activity in Less-Developed Countries

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• 5.4.12.A. Examine foreign policy perspectives, including realism, idealism, and liberalism.
• 5.4.12.B. Evaluate the effectiveness of foreign policy tools in various current issues confronting the United States (e.g., diplomacy, economic aid, military aid, sanctions, treaties).
• 5.4.12.C. Evaluate the effectiveness of international organizations, both governmental and nongovernmental.
• 5.4.12.D. Evaluate the role of mass media in world politics.
• 5.4.12.E. Compare and contrast the politics of various interest groups and evaluate their impact on foreign policy.
• 6.3.12.D. Evaluate the role that governments play in international trade.
• 6.4.12.B. Assess the growth and impact of international trade around the world.
• 6.4.12.D. Analyze how changes in transportation, communication networks, and technology affect economic interdependence around the world in the 21st century.
• 6.5.12.E. Compare distribution of wealth across nations.

Unit 6: Personal Finance

Topics: Financial Planning, Personal Savings and Debt

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• 6.1.12.C. Analyze the opportunity cost of decisions made by individuals, businesses, communities, and nations.
• 6.1.12.D. Predict how changes in incentives may affect the choices made by individuals, businesses, communities, and nations.
• 6.5.12.G. Analyze the risks and returns of various investments.
• 6.5.12.H. Evaluate benefits and costs of changes in interest rates for individuals and society.

Unit 7: Foundations of Economics

Topics: The Function of an Economy, Economic Systems, Supply and Demand, Prices and Decision Making, Labor and Wages, Market Structures, Economic Performances, Economic Challenges

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• 6.1.12.A. Predict the long-term consequences of decisions made because of scarcity.
• 6.1.12.B. Evaluate the economic reasoning behind a choice. Evaluate effective allocation of resources for the production of goods and services.
• 6.2.12.G. Evaluate various economic systems.
• 6.2.12.A. Evaluate the flow of goods and services in an international economy.
• 6.2.12.D. Predict how changes in supply and demand affect equilibrium price and quantity sold.
• 6.2.12.F. Evaluate the impact of private economic institutions on the individual, the national and the international economy.
• 6.4.12.A. Evaluate the comparative advantage of nations in the production of goods and services.
• 6.5.12.D. Analyze the role of profits and losses in the allocation of resources in a market economy.
• 6.5.12.F. Assess the impact of entrepreneurs on the economy.

Unit 8: The U.S. Government and the Economy

Topics: Role of Government, Money and the Banking System, The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy, Taxes and the Pennsylvania State Budget, Pennsylvania in the Global Economy

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• 6.2.12.B. Analyze the effect of changes in the level of competition in different markets
• 6.2.12.C. Predict and evaluate how media affects markets.
• 6.3.12.A. Evaluate the costs and benefits of government decisions to provide public goods and services.
• 6.3.12.B. Assess the government's role in regulating and stabilizing the state and national economy.
• 6.4.12.C. Evaluate the impact of multinational corporations and other non-government organizations.
• 6.5.12.A. Analyze the factors influencing wages.
• 6.5.12.B. Evaluate how changes in education, incentives, technology, and capital investment alter productivity.
• 6.5.12.C. Analyze the costs and benefits of organizing a business as a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation.

Unit 9: Methods of Social Science Research

Topics: The Scientific Method in the Social Science

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• Identify an appropriate social science research question.
• Conduct a social science research project, including collecting and analyzing data.
• CC.8.6.11-12.A. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
  • Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
  • Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline appropriate form that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.
• CC.8.6.11-12.F. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• CC.8.6.11-12.G. Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the specific task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
• CC.8.6.11-12.H. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Unit 10: Civic Engagement and Advocacy

Topics: Effective Methods of Civic Engagement and Advocacy

By the end of the unit, students will acquire knowledge and skills needed to:

• Identify an appropriate area of civic engagement and/or advocacy.
• Conduct an evidence-based civic engagement or advocacy project.
• CC.8.6.11-12.C. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• CC.8.6.11-12.D. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
• CC.8.6.11-12.E. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.

Behavioral Expectations

All of us are required to follow Philadelphia School District's Code of Conduct. While in the classroom, all students are required to:

• Respect all members of the school community
• Behave in a manner that focuses on academic success
• Be responsible and accountable for following rules

More specifically, the following behaviors are not respectful, are not focused on academic success, and are inconsistent with class rules:

• Using cell phones in a manner that creates noise, flashes, or is distracting to others in the class
• Talking or making loud noises when a person is addressing the whole class or when the whole class is listening to audio or video.
• Repeated interruption of others

Learners who repeatedly engage in behavior described above will be required to meet with Dr. Donnelly for a learner-teacher conference to discuss their behavior.

Intellectual Expectations

We are all expected to commit ourselves to intellectual growth. In particular, we will:

• Think deeply about the essential questions of the class
• Get comfortable with productive intellectual struggle
• Develop and demonstrate intellectual curiosity
• Make connections with our personal experiences
• Critically examine our values, attitudes, beliefs
• Reflect on the process of our learning and discovery

Students will demonstrate that they have met the intellectual expectations described above by completing written classwork, asking and answering questions during class, engaging in class discussions, writing in their journals, and participating in learner-teacher conferences.

Textbooks

Learners will read, analyze, and evaluate informational text from the following textbooks:

• Civics: Government and Economics in Action by Pearson (2009)
• We the People: The Citizen & the Constitution, Level 3 Fourth Edition by Center for Civic Education (2016) - select chapters
• Project Citizen, Level 2 by Center for Civic Education (2010) - select chapters
• Magruders American Government by Pearson (2016) - select chapters
• Economics by Pearson (2016) - select chapters only
• American Government 2e by OpenStax, Rice University (2019)
• Principles of Economics 2e by OpenStax, Rice University (2019)

Homework

• Learners will be assigned two to three homework assignments per week.
• One homework assignment every week will require learners to read and analyze a current events news article. All current events articles will be submitted via Google Classroom.
• One homework assignment every week will require learners to write in an electronic journal (a shared Google Doc). Learners will reflect on their learning during the week and respond to question prompts about recent class content.
• All homework assignments will include a detailed grading rubric.
• Homework assignments that are submitted late will be reduced by one letter grade (10%) for each day the assignment is submitted late.

Classwork

• Classwork grades will include Do-Now/Warm-up activities, Exit tickets, and other in-class learning activities that involve close reading and analysis of text.
• Classwork may include a self-reflection component where students grade their own classwork.
• Grading scales for classwork will be shown on all in-class handouts and online classwork assignments.

Performance (Project)-Based Learning

• Performance (project)-based learning assignments will include graded research projects, collaborative reading and writing activities, student-led presentations, discussion seminars, debates, and role playing activities.
• Most performance (project)-based learning assignments will be completed in class, usually on Thursdays and Fridays.
• A detailed grading rubric will be provided for each Performance-Based Learning assignment. See Google Classroom for more information about each assignment.

Tests and Quizzes

• Once a week, learners will complete an in-class test or quiz. Generally, there will be around 2 tests and 6 quizzes per marking period. Students will have twenty minutes to complete quizzes and the full class period to complete tests.
• If a learner is absent for a test or quiz, the final grade on the test or quiz will be reduced by one letter grade (10%) per school day that the test or quiz is completed late. If the absence from class was excused, there is no grade penalty for learners who complete the test or quiz immediately upon return to school.
• The learner can retake any test or quiz before school, after school, or during lunch/advisory within one week of receiving the grade. If retaken, the learner's test or quiz grade will be reduced by one letter grade (10%). For example, if a learner gets a 60% on a quiz, retakes the quiz and earns 100%, the learner's final quiz grade will be 90% (100% minus 10%).