School Administrative District #4
Unity of purpose
CORE CURRICULUM: SCOPE AND SEQUENCE
Department: Social Studies
CONTENT STANDARD: HISTORY
The study of history acquaints students with human experience through time and helps them to recognize relationships between and among events and people and to identify patterns, themes, and turning points of change, using the chronology of history and major eras. In interpreting current and historical events, students evaluate the credibility and perspectives of information gathered from multiple sources. All students are expected to (1) use the chronology of history and major eras to demonstrate the relationships between and among events and people; (2) develop historical knowledge of major events, people, and enduring themes in Maine, in the United States, and throughout the world; and (3) evaluate source material such as documents, artifacts, maps, artworks, and literature; and to make judgments about the perspectives of the authors and their credibility when interpreting current historical events.
Performance Indicators: The learner will·
|
Grade 12 |
1. Review and extend prior learning
CONTENT STANDARD: GEOGRAPHY
The study of geography involves understanding the relationships among people and environments. Students learn how to construct and interpret maps and how to use globes and other geographic tools to locate and derive information about people, places, regions, and environments. In an integrated way, students study people and the physical characteristics and processes of the earth's surface to understand causes and effects, ecosystems, human behavior, patterns of population, inter-dependence, resources, cooperation and conflict and the process by which these are shaped by economic, political, and cultural systems. All students are expected to (1) know how to construct and interpret maps and use globes and other geographic tools to locate and derive information about people, places, regions, and environments; (2) understand and analyze the relationships between people and their physical environments; (3) develop an under-standing of ethnic, gender, socio-economic, religious, and political differences among people; (4) understand that cultural diversity can be both a boon and a bane to society; and (5) understand that cultural change is evolutionary and somewhat predictable.
Performance Indicators: The learner will·
|
Grade 12 |
1. Review and extend prior learning
CONTENT STANDARD: CIVICS AND GOVERNMENT
The study of civics and government provides students the opportunity to learn about the constitutional principles and the democratic foundations of local, state, and national systems and institutions, as well as the opportunity to learn how to exercise the rights and responsibilities of participation in civic life and how to analyze and evaluate public policies. Political relationships among the United States and other nations are included in this content area. All students are expected to understand (1) the rights and responsibilities of civic life and employ the skills of effective civic participation; (2) the types and purposes of governments, their evolution, and their relationships with the governed; (3) the constitutional principles and the democratic foundations of the political institutions of the United States; and (4) the political relationships among the United States and other nations.
Performance Indicators: The learner will·
|
Grade 12 |
1. Review and extend prior learning
2. Demonstrate an understanding of modern political and economic systems by
á Discussing the basic nature of the modern state and theories of its origin
á Comparing the major forms of government in the world today
á Direct versus representative
á Presidential versus parliamentary
á Dictatorship versus popular sovereignty
á Comparing the basic features of the major economic systems in the world today and their impact on governmental decisions
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the essential meaning of the basic principles of the American constitutional system in both historical and current settings
á Assess the different jurisdictions and roles of local, state, and federal governments in relation to an important public-policy issue
4. Demonstrate an understanding of the process of constitutional change through formal and informal amendment
5. Demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental freedoms associated with civil rights today
á Protection of freedom of religion, free speech, and a free press in the United States (First and Fourteenth Amendments)
á The right of the government to protect itself and the nation
á The essential meaning of the rights of assembly and petition
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of equal justice under the law as it applies today
á Due process of law and its pivotal place in the American system of civil rights
á The rights to freedom and security
á The rights of persons accused of crime
á The rights to equality under the law
á Civil laws passed by Congress since 1954
á American citizenship, the process for acquiring citizenship, and immigration policy
7. Demonstrate an understanding of the nature of political parties
á The essential functions parties perform in American politics
á The American two-party system and the reasons for its existence and retention, including the future of the two-party system
á The nature and role of minor parties in American politics
8. Demonstrate an understanding of voting rights and voter behavior today
á The present-day status of the right to vote and the several recent voting-rights laws and statutes
á The impact of voter turnout on American elections
á The complex factors affecting the behavior of the American voter today
9. Demonstrate an understanding of the critical place of the electoral process in democratic government today
á The methods by which nominations are made in American politics
á The conduct of elections in the United States
á The place of money and its regulation in American politics
á The place of political action committees in American politics
10. Demonstrate an understanding of public opinion and the role of pressure groups in government today
á The role of public opinion in government
á The means by which opinions are expressed and may be measured, including public-opinion polls and the scientific polling process
á The bases upon which pressure groups are formed and their role in politics
á The varied tactics used by pressure groups to influence public opinion and public policy
á The role of media in shaping public opinion
11. Demonstrate an understanding of the place, role, and structure of Congress today
á Its bicameral character, its terms, and sessions
á The changing nature of Congress from its origin to the present, i.e., constitutional versus political-party organizational structures
á The contrasting ways in which the House and Senate begin a new term
á The formal and the party organizational structure in both houses of Congress
á The committee system in Congress and the types of committees to be found in both houses
á The several steps involved in the lawmaking process in both houses
á The final steps in passing a bill, including the functions of conference committees and presidential action
12. Demonstrate an understanding of the powers of Congress
á The scope of the powers of Congress in a governmental system both limited and federal in character
á The significance of the Necessary and Proper Clause and the broad field of implied powers
13. Demonstrate an understanding of the interrelated roles of the Presidency and the process whereby one is elected President today
á The constitutional shape of the office in terms of qualifications, tenure, and compensation
á The process of presidential succession in terms of both vacancy and disability
á The role of the Vice Presidency
á The place of the national conventions in the nominating process
á The presidential campaign and the role of the electoral college in the presidential election
á The principal defects in the electoral college system and the major proposals for change
á The executive office of the President, the several agencies within it, and their functions
á The Cabinet and its role in the executive branch
á The several factors that have worked to strengthen the role and powers of the Presidency
á The nature and extent of the executive power of the President
á The President's several executive, diplomatic, military, legislative, and judicial powers
14. Demonstrate an understanding of government bureaucracy and finances
á The need for and growth of federal bureaucracy
á The overall shape of the organization of the executive branch and the nature of staff/line functions
á The organization/functions of the executive departments
á The organization/functions of the independent agencies
á The continuing need for reorganization in the executive branch
á The development and present shape of the federal civil services
á The process whereby the federal government finances itself
15. Demonstrate an understanding of foreign policy and the need for national security
á The important and inseparable linkage of the nation's foreign relations and its defense
á The institutions and process of foreign and defense policy-making
á The role of the United Nations in world affairs
16. Demonstrate an understanding of the federal court system
á The basic role of the judiciary in the government process
á The role of the Supreme Court as the nation's highest court
á Judicial review and its extraordinary significance in the American governmental system
á The process by which federal judges are selected
á The concept of justice in the American political system
á The difference between a civil and a criminal case
17. Demonstrate an understanding of how state and local governments finance themselves
á The amounts of money involved in state and local government income
á The political and financial shape of public budgets and the budget-making process
á The components of a town report
á The federal and state revenue-sharing programs
18. Develop and defend a position on a public-policy issue
19. Examine civil-rights issues related to well-known Supreme Court decisions
CONTENT STANDARD: ECONOMICS
The study of economics includes understanding concepts of production, distribution, and consumption needed to make decisions as effective participants in an international economy. Students come to understand the development, principles, institutions, relationships to culture, and change over time of economic systems in the United States and elsewhere. Students also come to understand how these concepts apply to individuals, households, businesses, governments, and societies that make decisions based on the availability of resources, as well as on costs and benefits of choices. These concepts help to explain the patterns and results of trade, interdependence, and distribution of wealth in local, regional, national, and world economics. All students are expected to (1) understand that economic decisions are based on the availability of resources and the costs and benefits of choices; (2) understand the economic system of the United States, including principles, development, and institutions; (3) analyze how different economic systems function and change over time; and (4) understand the patterns and results of international trade.
Performance Indicators: The learner will·
|
Grade 12 |
1. Review and extend prior learning
2. Demonstrate an understanding of credit history and the positive and negative impacts that credit can have on an individual's financial life
3. Compare strengths and weaknesses of the market economy with other economic systems, using broad societal goals
á Capitalism
á Socialism
á Communism
á Mixed
|
07/30/98 |
curr-social studies-scope-12.doc |