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I. Historical Perspective
Content Standard 1:
Time & Chronology
1. Construct and interpret timelines of people and events in the history of Michigan and the United States since the era of Reconstruction.
2. Describe major factors that characterize the following eras in United States history: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900), The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930), The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945), Post War United States (1945-1970) and Contemporary United States (1968-present).
3. Identify some of the major eras in world history and describe their defining characteristics.
Content Standard 2:
Comprehending The Past
1. Draw upon narratives and graphic data to explain significant events that shaped the development of Michigan as a state and the United States as a nation during the eras since Reconstruction.
2. Identify and explain how individuals in history demonstrated good character and personal virtue.
3. Select events and individuals from the past that have had global impact on the modern world and describe their impact.
Content Standard 3:
Analyzing and Interpreting the Past
1. Use primary and secondary records to analyze significant events that shaped the development of Michigan as a state and the United States as a nation since the era of Reconstruction.
2. Challenge arguments of historical inevitability by formulating examples of how different choices could have led to different consequences.
3. Select contemporary problems in the world and compose historical narratives that explain their antecedents.
Content Standard 4:
Judging Decisions from the Past
1. Identify major decisions in the history of Michigan and the United States since the era of Reconstruction, analyze contemporary factors contributing to the decisions and consider alternative courses of action.
2. Evaluate the responses of individuals to historic violations of human dignity involving discrimination, persecution and crimes against humanity.
3. Analyze key decisions by drawing appropriate historical analogies.
4. Select pivotal decisions in United States history and evaluate them in light of core democratic values and resulting costs and benefits as viewed from a variety of perspectives.
II. Geographic Perspective
Content Standard 1:
People, Places and Cultures
1. Describe how major world issues and events affect various people, societies, places, and cultures in different ways.
2. Explain how culture might affect women's and men's perceptions.
Content Standard 2:
Human/Environment Interaction
1. Describe the environmental consequences of major world processes and events.
2. Assess the relationship between property ownership and the management of natural resources.
Content Standard 3:
Location, Movement and Connections
1. Describe major world patterns of economic activity and explain the reasons for the patterns.
2. Explain how events have causes and consequences in different parts of the world.
Content Standard 4:
Regions, Patterns and Processes
1. Explain how major world processes affect different world regions.
2. Explain how major world regions are changing.
3. Explain how processes like population growth, economic development, urbanization resource use, international trade, global communication, and environmental impact are affecting different world regions.
4. Describe major patterns of economic development and political systems and explain some of the factors causing them.
Content Standard 5:
Global Issues and Events
1. Explain how geography and major world processes influence major world events.
2. Explain the causes and importance of global issues involving cultural stability and change, economic development and international trade, resource use, environmental impact, conflict and cooperation, and explain how they may affect the future.
III. Civic Perspective
Content Standard 1:
Purposes of Government
1. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a federal system of government.
2. Evaluate how effectively the federal government is serving the purposes for which it was created.
3. Evaluate the relative merits of the American presidential system and parliamentary systems.
Content Standard 2:
Ideals of American Democracy
1. Identify benefits and challenges of diversity in American life.
2. Use the ideas in the Declaration of Independence to evaluate the conduct of citizens, political behavior, and the practices of government.
Content Standard 3:
Democracy in Action
1. Using actual cases, evaluate the effectiveness of civil and criminal courts in the United States.
2. Explain why people may agree on democratic values in the abstract but disagree when they are applied to specific situations.
3. Evaluate possible amendments to the Constitution.
Content Standard 4:
American Government and Politics
1. Evaluate proposals for reform of the political system.
2. Analyze causes of tension between the branches of government.
Content Standard 5:
American Government and World Affairs
1. Describe the influence of the American concept of democracy and individual rights in the world.
2. Evaluate foreign policy positions in light of national interests and American values.
3. Decide what the relationship should be between the United States and international organizations.
IV. Economic Perspective
Content Standard 1:
Individual and Household Choices
1. Design a strategy for earning, spending, saving, and investing their resources.
2. Evaluate the impact on households of alternative solutions to societal problems such as health care, housing, or energy use.
3. Analyze ways individuals can select suppliers of goods and services and protect themselves from deception in the marketplace.
Content Standard 2:
Business Choices
1. Outline the decision making process a business goes through when deciding whether to export to a foreign market.
2. Evaluate ways to resolve conflicts resulting from differences between business interests and community values.
Content Standard 3:
Role of Government
1. Describe the use of economic indicators and assess their accuracy.
2. Distinguish between monetary and fiscal policy and explain how each might be applied to problems such as unemployment and inflation.
3. Compare governmental approaches to economic growth in developing countries.
4. Evaluate a government spending program on the basis of its intended and unintended results.
5. Select criteria to use in evaluating tax policy.
Content Standard 4:
Economic Systems
1. Use case studies to exemplify how supply and demand, prices, incentives, and profits determine what is produced and distributed in a competitive world market.
2. Describe relationships between a domestic economy and the international economic system.
3. Evaluate the United States and other economic systems on their ability to achieve broad social goals such as freedom, efficiency, equity, security, development, and stability.
4. Describe relationships among the various economic institutions that comprise economic systems such as households, business firms, banks, government agencies, and labor unions.
5. Compare and contrast a free market economic system with other economic systems.
Content Standard 5:
Trade
1. Evaluate the benefits and problems of an economic system built on voluntary exchange.
2. Trace the historical development of international trading ties.
3. Explain how specialization, interdependence and economic development are related.
4. Describe the effect of currency exchange, tariffs, quotas, and product standards on world trade and domestic economic activity.
V. Inquiry
Content Standard 1:
Information Processing
1. Locate information pertaining to a specific social science topic in-depth using a variety of sources and electronic technologies.
2. Use traditional and electronic means to organize and interpret information pertaining to a specific social science topic and prepare it for in-depth presentation.
3. Develop generalizations pertaining to a specific social science topic by interpreting information from a variety of sources.
Content Standard 2:
Conducting Investigations
1. Conduct an investigation prompted by a social science question and compare alternative interpretations of their findings.
2. Report the results of their investigation including procedures followed and a rationale for their conclusions.
VI. Public Discourse and Decision Making
Content Standard 1:
Identifying and Analyzing Issues
1. Generate possible alternative resolutions to public issues and evaluate them using criteria that have been identified.
Content Standard 2:
Group Discussion
1. Engage each other in elaborated conversations that deeply examine public policy issues and help make reasoned and informed decisions.
Content Standard 3:
Persuasive Writing
1. Compose extensively elaborated essays expressing and justifying decisions on public policy issues.
VII. Citizen Involvement
Content Standard 1:
 Responsible Personal Conduct
1. Act out of respect for the rule of law and hold others accountable to the same standard.
2. Plan and conduct activities intended to advance their views on matters of public policy, report the results of their efforts and evaluate their effectiveness.