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I. Historical Perspective

Content Standard 1 Time & Chronology:

1. Construct and interpret timelines of people and events from the history of Michigan and the United States through the era of Reconstruction and from the history of other regions of the world.

2. Describe major factors that characterize the following eras in United States history: The Meeting of Three Worlds (beginnings to 1620), Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763), Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1815), Expansion and Reform (1801-1861) and Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877).

3. Select a contemporary condition in Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe and Latin America and trace some of the major historical origins of each.

Content Standard 2 Comprehending The Past:

1. Use narratives and graphic data to describe the settings of significant events that shaped the development of Michigan as a state and the United States as a nation during the eras prior to Reconstruction.

2. Identify and explain how individuals in history demonstrated good character and personal virtue.

3. Select conditions in various parts of the world and describe how they have been shaped by events from the past.

4. Use historical biographies to explain how events from the past affected the lives of individuals and how some individuals influenced the course of history.

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 prior to the end of the era of Reconstruction.

2. Analyze interpretations of major events selected from African, Asian, Canadian, European and Latin American history to reveal the perspectives of the authors.

3. Show that historical knowledge is tentative and subject to change by describing interpretations of the past that have been revised when new information was uncovered.

4. Compose narratives of events from the history of Michigan and of the United States prior to the era of Reconstruction.

Content Standard 4 Judging Decisions from the Past:

1. Identify major decisions in Michigan and the United States history prior to the end of the era of Reconstruction, analyze contemporary factors contributing to the decisions and consider alternative courses of action.

2. Identify major decisions in the history of Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe and Latin America, analyze contemporary factors contributing to the decisions and consider alternative courses of action.

3. Identify the responses of individuals to historic violations of human dignity involving discrimination, persecution and crimes against humanity.

4. Select historic decisions 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. Locate and describe the diverse places, cultures, and communities of major world regions.

2. Describe and compare characteristics of major world cultures including language, religion, belief systems, gender roles, and traditions.

3. Explain why people live and work as they do in different regions.

Content Standard 2 Human/Environment Interaction:

1. Locate, describe, and compare the ecosystems, resources, and human environment interactions of major world regions.

2. Locate major ecosystems, describe their characteristics, and explain the process that created them.

3. Explain the importance of different kinds of ecosystems to people.

4. Explain how humans modify the environment and describe some of the possible consequences of those modifications.

5. Describe the consequences of human/environment interactions in several different types of environment.

Content Standard 3 Location, Movement and Connections:

1. Locate and describe major economic activities and occupations of major world regions and explain the reasons for their locations.

2. Explain how governments have divided land and sea areas into different regions.

3. Describe how and why people, goods and services, and information move within world regions and between regions.

4. Describe the major economic and political connections between the United States and different world regions and explain their causes and consequences.

Content Standard 4 Regions, Patterns and Processes:

1. Draw a sketch map of the world from memory.

2. Locate and describe major cultural, economic, political and environmental features of Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and North and South America and the processes that created them.

3. Describe major patterns of world population, physical features, ecosystems, cultures and explain some of the factors causing the patterns.

4. Compare major world regions with respect to cultures, economy, governmental systems, environment, and communications.

Content Standard 5 Global Issues and Events:

1. Describe how social and scientific changes in regions may have global consequences.

2. Describe the geographic aspects of events taking place in different world regions.

3. Explain how elements of the physical geography, culture, and history of the region may be influencing current events.

III. Civic Perspective

Content Standard 1 Purposes of Government:

1. Describe how the federal government in the United States serves the purposes set forth in the Preamble to the Constitution.

2. Distinguish between representative democracy in the United States and other forms of government.

3. Explain how the rule of law protects individual rights and serves the common good.

4. Explain the importance of limited government to protect political and economic freedom.

Content Standard 2 Ideals of American Democracy:

1. Identify the essential ideas expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the origins of those ideas, and explain how they set the foundation for civic life, politics and government in the United States.

2. Interpret the meaning of specific rights guaranteed by the Constitution including religious liberty, free expression, privacy, property, due process of law and equal protection of the law.

3. Explain responsibilities citizens have to uphold constitutional rights.

Content Standard 3 Democracy in Action:

1. Distinguish between civil and criminal procedure.

2. Identify disparities between American ideals and realities and propose ways to reduce them.

Content Standard 4 American Government and Politics:

1. Evaluate information and arguments from various sources in order to evaluate candidates for public office.

2. Explain how the Constitution is maintained as the supreme law of the land.

Content Standard 5 American Government and World Affairs:

1. Describe the purposes and functions of major international, governmental organizations.

2. Describe means used by the United States to resolve international conflicts.

IV. Economic Perspective

Content Standard 1 Individual and Household Choices:

1. Use economic reasoning when comparing price, quality and features of goods and services.

2. Evaluate employment and career opportunities in light of economic trends.

3. Analyze the reliability of information when making economic decisions.

Content Standard 2 Business Choices:

1. Using a real example, describe how business practices, profit, and a willingness to take risks, enabled an entrepreneur to operate.

2. Compare various methods for the production and distribution of goods and services.

3. Describe the effects of a current public policy on businesses.

4. Examine the historical and contemporary role an industry has played and continues to play in a community.

Content Standard 3 Role of Government:

1. Distinguish between public and private goods using contemporary examples.

2. Identify and describe different forms of economic measurement.

3. Use case studies to assess the role of government in the economy.

4. Distinguish different forms of taxation and describe their effects.

Content Standard 4 Economic Systems:

1. Compare the historical record of market economies in solving the problem of scarcity.

2. Describe the roles of the various economic institutions which comprise the American economic system such as governments, business firms, labor unions, banks, and households.

3. Use case studies to exemplify how supply and demand, prices, incentives, and profits determine what is produced and distributed in the American economy.

4. Analyze how purchasers obtain information about goods and services from advertising and other sources.

Content Standard 5 Trade:

1. Identify the current and potential contributions of national and world regions to trade.

2. Examine the role of the United States government in regulating commerce as stated in the United States Constitution.

3. Describe the historical development of the different means of payment such as barter, precious metals, or currency to facilitate exchange.

V. Inquiry

Content Standard 1 Information Processing:

1. Locate and interpret information about the natural environments and cultures of countries using a variety of primary and secondary sources and electronic technologies, including computers and telecommunications where appropriate.

2. Use traditional and electronic means to organize social science information and to make maps, graphs, and tables.

3. Interpret social science information about the natural environment and cultures of countries from a variety of primary and secondary sources.

Content Standard 2 Conducting Investigations:

1. Pose a social science question about a culture, world region, or international problem.

2. Gather and analyze information using appropriate information technologies to answer the question posed.

3. Construct an answer to the question posed and support their answer with evidence.

4. Report the results of their investigation including procedures followed and possible alternative conclusions.

VI. Public Discourse and Decision Making

Content Standard 1 Identifying and Analyzing Issues:

1. State public policy issues and their related ethical, definitional, and factual issues as questions.

2. Trace the origins of a public issue.

3. Explain how culture and experiences shape positions that people take on an issue.

Content Standard 2 Group Discussion:

1. Engage each other in conversations which attempt to clarify and resolve national and international policy issues.

Content Standard 3 Persuasive Writing Benchmark:

1. Compose essays expressing decisions on national and international policy issues.

VII. Citizen Involvement

Content Standard 1 Responsible Personal Conduct:

1. Use laws and other ethical rules to evaluate their own conduct and the conduct of others.

2. Engage in activities intended to contribute to solving a national or international problem they have studied.