North Carolina Social Studies Guide
Grade 5 Students:
Introduction:
In fifth grade students build on the concepts, generalizations, and skills developed in the fourth grade North Carolina study as they extend their focus to geographic regions of the United States, Canada, and Latin America. They will learn about the peoples of the Western Hemisphere and the physical environments in which they live. As they examine social, economic, and political institutions, they will analyze similarities and differences among societies. Western Hemisphere are drawn from history and the social sciences, but the primary discipline is geography, especially cultural geography. Given the swiftness of change and our global information systems, students' examinations of these concepts must require continuous reference to current events and trends.
Half the program at fifth grade is devoted to the study of the United States. In the remaining half of the year, students learn about Canada and its regions and Latin American nations. Organizing the fifth grade study by focusing on regions allows selected states, provinces, and nations to be chosen as illustrative case studies. These case studies might include the Plains States, the Atlantic Provinces of Canada, or the Andean Nations of Latin America.
As fifth grade students learn about the Western Hemisphere, they acquire information from a variety of sources, especially maps. They will use this information to make decisions or form generalizations about problems, issues, and phenomena in this hemisphere. As students learn about people in Canada and Latin America, they participate in classroom activities that help them,reduce their stereotypes of unfamiliar people and places, which is essential to the development of skills in self-management and group participation. Finally, as they study about the political institutions of the hemisphere and participate in meaningful classroom and school activities, their skills of civic participation will grow.
In their study of societies in the Western Hemisphere, students will address five key questions:
Who are the people of this society and what are their values and beliefs?
What is the environment in which these people live?
How is this society organized?
How do the people of this society make a living?
How has this society changed over time?
Grade Five Competency Goals:
Goal 1: Analyze characteristics of peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
Goal 2: Assess the influence of major religions, ethical beliefs, and aesthetic values on life in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
Goal 3: Locate major physical features and suggest the influence of location on life in the Western Hemisphere.
Goal 4: Assess the significance of the physical and cultural characteristics of regions within the Western Hemisphere.
Goal 5: Evaluate ways the people of the Western Hemisphere use, modify, and adapt to the physical environment.
Goal 6: Evaluate the significance of the movement of people, goods, and ideas.
Goal 7: Evaluate the extent to which basic cultural institutions of the United States, Canada, and Latin America help people meet their needs.
Goal 8: Examine ways the people of the United States, Canada, and Latin America govern themselves.
Grade Six Students.
Introduction:
The sixth grade study of Europe (including nations formerly in the Soviet Union) continues the world studies cycle begun in grade five with the study of the Western Hemisphere. In sixth grade students build on the concepts and generalizations developed in fourth and fifth grades as they learn about the peoples of Europe and the physical environments in which they live. As students examine social, economic, and political institutions, they analyze similarities and differences among societies. Concepts for this study are drawn from the disciplines of history and the social sciences, but the primary discipline is geography, especially cultural geography.
Sixth graders in their study of Europe examine societies similar and dissimilar to their own. In an examination of what is commonly called Western Europe, students examine societies somewhat similar to their own and broaden their understanding of western culture. In the focus on Eastern Europe, students encounter political and economic traditions that have differed. Given the swiftness of change in Europe, students' examinations of this world area must require continuous reference to current events and trends.
As students examine societies in Europe, they learn that regions of the continent may be defined in a variety of ways: geographically, historically, culturally, and politically. Organizing the sixth grade study by focusing initially on physical geographic regions allows for extension into other regional studies. Examples of geographic regions might include Scandinavia or the Danube Basin.
Sixth grade students practice skills in selecting from among a variety of media as they learn about European societies. They use these materials, especially maps and other geographic materials, as they make decisions and form generalizations about problems, issues, and phenomena. As they learn about the lives of people in Europe, they gain skill in dealing with diversity and uncertainty. By analyzing the institutions of people different from themselves, they tend toward fewer ethnocentric and stereotypic descriptions of people. Thus, their skills of self-management are enhanced. Finally, as they examine the political institutions and roles of citizens in societies in Europe and the nations of the former Soviet Union and participate in meaningful classroom and school activities, their skills of civic participation and their appreciation of their own liberties grow.
In their study of societies in the Eastern Hemisphere, students will address five key questions:
Who are the people of this society and what are their values and beliefs?
What is the environment in which these people live?
How is this society organized?
How do the people of this society make a living?
How has this society changed over time?
Grade Six Competency Goals
Goal 1: Investigate the characteristics of the people of Europe.
Goal 2: Assess the influence of major religions, ethical beliefs, and aesthetic values on life in Europe.
Goal 3: Locate major physical features and suggest the influence of their location on life in Europe.
Goal 4: Assess the significance of the physical and cultural characteristics of regions within Europe.
Goal 5: Evaluate ways the people of Europe use, modify, and adapt to their physical environment.
Goal 6: Evaluate the significance of the movement of people, goods, and ideas.
Goal 7: Evaluate the extent to which basic cultural institutions help the people of Europe meet their needs.
Goal 8: Examine ways in which the people of Europe govern themselves.
Grade Seven Students
Introduction:
The seventh grade study of Africa and Asia completes the study of regions of the state, nation, and world begun in grade four. It is designed to allow students to examine societies dissimilar to their own in such a way as to broaden their understanding of people and places in an increasingly interdependent world. Seventh grade students examine areas of the world having the longest record of human habitation and the richest diversity of human experience. These are regions within which the vast majority of the world' s people live, and regions that possess some of the world's most valuable resources.
In seventh grade students build on the concepts and generalizations developed in earlier grades as they learn about the peoples of Africa and Asia (including Oceania) and the physical environments in which they live. As students examine social, economic, and political institutions in societies in Africa and Asia, they analyze similarities and differences among these societies as well as making comparisons with societies in the Western Hemisphere and Europe including states formerly in the Soviet Union. Concepts for this study are drawn from history and the social sciences, but the primary discipline is geography, especially cultural geography.
As seventh graders examine societies in Africa and Asia, they discern that regions may be defined in a number of ways: politically, geographically, culturally, and historically. Organizing the seventh grade study by focusing initially on physical geographic regions allows for extension into other regional studies such as Oceania. Examples of geographic regions might include Northern Africa or East Asia.
Seventh grade students polish information acquisition skills as they learn about Africa and Asia. They use materials, especially maps and other geographic tools, as they make decisions and form generalizations about problems, issues, and phenomena. As they learn about people whose life experiences are very different from their own, they grow in their abilities to deal with diversity, ambiguity, and change. Other self-management skills such as the ability to empathize and describe differences without stereotyping grow as well. Finally, as they examine political institutions and the roles of individuals in African and Asian societies and participate in carefully designed civic projects and activities in the classroom and school, their skills of civic participation and their appreciation of their own liberties grow.
In their study of societies in the Eastern Hemisphere, students will address five key questions:
Who are the people of this society and what are their values and beliefs?
What is the environment in which these people live?
How is this society organized?
How do the people of this society make a living?
How has this society changed over time?
Grade Seven Competency Goals
Goal l: Investigate the characteristics of the people of Africa and Asia.
Goal 2: Assess the influence of major religions, ethical beliefs, and aesthetic values on life in Africa and Asia.
Goal 3: Locate major physical features and suggest the influence of their location on life in Africa and Asia.
Goal 4: Assess the significance of the physical and cultural characteristics of geographic regions within Africa and Asia.
Goal 5: Evaluate ways people in Africa and Asia use, modify, and adapt to their physical environment.
Goal 6: Evaluate the significance of themovement of people, goods, and ideas.
Goal 7: Evaluate the extent to which basic cultural institutions of Africa and Asia help people meet their needs.
Goal 8: The learner will analyze how societies in Africa and Asia govern themselves.
Grades 9-12 World Cultures
Introduction:
The study of World Cultures enables students to understand that people live, behave, and believe as they do because of their culture.
Students of World Cultures begin to understand that culture is dynamic and evolving and that people can shape their cultures as their cultures shape them. They understand as well that the ways judgments are formed, events are interpreted, and decisions are reached are culturally determined.
As students examine the institutions, settings, and people of other cultures, they gain perspectives that enable them to examine our culture, to analyze elements of our culture, and to make judgments as to how well practices and institutions of our own culture work. Such an examination helps students to understand more fully what it means to be an American.
In the study of World Cultures, students examine persistent issues such as ecology, peace and security, technology, the position of the individual in society, and the importance of national and cultural identity. Through an examination of issues that are global in scope, students prepare themselves to be good decision makers about domestic and international policies concerning such issues.
Cultural regions, institutions, and practices chosen for examination in the World Cultures course may vary, but those used should include important cultures of Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and Middle and South America. Specific cultures should be chosen to illustrate the diversity and richness of the cultures of the world and engage students in using the arts, literature, and artifacts of those cultures as a means of understanding them.
In their study of World Cultures students will acquire information from a wide array of sources and will use information to analyze and compare cultural attributes and practices. As they make judgments about how well cultural practices and institutions work and reach decisions about global issues, students hone their decision-making skills. As they come to understand that people believe and live as they do for reasons that are logical within their cultural context, students sharpen their own skills of self-management. Finally, as students examine the position of the individual in other societies, their understanding of their own civic worth and the importance of their civic participation grows.
Grade 9-12 Competency Goals (World Cultures)
Goal 1: Learn that all people live within a variety of cultural arrangements.
Goal 2: Recognize the family as the most enduring social unit in any culture.
Goal 3: The learner will analyze the interaction of a culture with its physical environment.
Goal 4: Elaborate on the importance of material expressions of a culture.
Goal 5: Assess the importance of non-material expressions of a culture.
Goal 6: Learn that all cultures address the central problem of scarcity as they consume, produce, and trade.
Goal 7: Learn that all cultures legitimize power to provide for security and internal order.
Goal 8: Analyze ways cultures change.
Goal 9: Understand that all cultures exist within the "Global Culture" created by technology and are affected by the emerging challenges of that culture.
Grades 9-12 World Geography
Introduction:
Students of World Geography learn about the spatial distribution of people, places, physical features, resources, and human activities. They will ask the questions asked by geographers as they study the world: What is it? Where is it? Why is it there? and What of it? The study of World Geography in secondary school builds on the foundation laid in cultural geography studies in grades 4-7 as it offers students an opportunity to discern patterns of physical and cultural characteristics in a variety of world regions.
Five fundamental themes or analytical questions introduced in the primary social studies program and developed in grades 4-7 provide the framework for World Geography. They are as follows:
LOCATION: What is the location of this place on the map? What is its location relative to other places? How does its location affect the lives of the people who live here?
PLACE: What are the physical and cultural characteristics of this place? What role do these two aspects of the environment play in the character of this locale? How are the people who live here affected by the physical characteristics of this place, and how do they affect the place?
HUMAN-ENVIRONMENTAL INTERACTION: How does the physical environment affect the lives of people? What have people done to modify this setting, this environment we are studying? How have people adapted to this physical environment?
MOVEMENT: What role have human migration, cultural diffusion, or the transportation of resources and goods had in shaping the world? How has the movement of people, ideas, and goods influenced life in this place? How is this place connected to other places by these movements?
REGIONS: How are regions defined? Of what regions is a given place a part? How do regions change, how have they changed, and why? What is the significance of these changes? Regions and places selected for study will vary, but case studies from each continent will be included. These selected case studies will be set within their regional context and will exemplify important geographic concepts or problems.
Students acquire information from maps, charts, graphs, data bases, and narrative sources. They use this information as they arrive at valid generalizations about issues and phenomena, as they make decisions about geographic issues, and as they suggest solutions to geographic problems. Students of World Geography use self-management skills as they describe people and ideas accurately and without distorting stereotypes, as they express positive attitudes toward change, diversity, and uncertainty. Finally, students exhibit growth in the skills of civic participation as they express concern for the earth's resources, act on their own environmental awareness, and engage in activities that seek to improve the fortunes of the world's people.
Grade 9-12 Competency Goals (World Geography)
Goal 1: Analyze relationships between people and the locations of places.
Goal 2: Examine physical characteristics of places.
Goal 3: Analyze human characteristics of places.
Goal 4: Examine relationships between the cultural and physical geography of a region and explain how they affect and are affected by historic events.
Goal 5: Investigate ways people interact with the environment.
Goal 6: Demonstrate that localities, states, and nations are interdependent.
Goal 7: Evaluate the significance of the movement of people, goods, and ideas among various world regions.
Goal 8: The learner will demonstrate that regions are basic units of geographic study and explain differences among regions of the world.
Goal 9: Employ geographic understandings of world regions in analyzing problems and opportunities of developed and developing regions.
Grades 9-12 World History
Introduction:
The study of World History gives students the opportunity to explore recurring themes of human experience common to civilizations around the globe from ancient to contemporary times. World History fosters an approach to contemporary global issues rooted in an understanding of the forces of continuity and change that have shaped the course of human history. As students examine the historical roots of significant events, ideas, movements, and phenomena, they encounter the contributions and patterns of living of civilizations around the world.
World History students will have had significant exposure to cultural geography through their study of world regions in grades five, six, and seven; thus, they bring understandings about the cultural geography of world regions to this historical study. The study of World History differs from the geographic and culture study approaches in the high school world studies program because of the historical perspectives offered in this course. However, all students in the high school world studies program will share some common learnings. Though the three courses in the program examine the world from different perspectives, the lessons students learn from each of the courses have many commonalities.
Because understanding the political institutions and civic values of our own society ties the United States to Europe, this study of World History is, to some extent, a history of western civilization. However, there is significant concentration on other world areas. Contacts between European and other civilizations have changed both Europe and other areas of the world in a variety of important ways. Students broaden their historical perspectives as they examine ways societies have dealt with great issues of war and peace, of internal stability, and of perpetuating their societal institutions. When they consider how societies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America have dealt with these great issues, their understandings of western civilization are enhanced.
The World History course develops chronological and thematic insights. Eight chronological goals examine broad themes in the history of our world from the origins of humans to contemporary times. These goals provide the foundation for historical analyses that enable students to explore given periods of history in depth while establishing linkages across time and around the world.
The final goal draws relationships between continuity and change throughout human history. Teachers of World History have the significant responsibility of teaching a subject that extends the knowledge important for all Americans beyond the borders of the United States. It is essential to an informed citizenry that our students know of the world beyond the time that the United States has existed as a nation.
Students of World History acquire information from a variety of media: through reading literary works, historical works, and primary source materials; through examining artifacts and works of art. They use this information as they arrive at valid generalizations, as they compare aspects of societies of the past, as they translate information from one form to another, and as they make judgments and decisions about the past. Students become less ethnocentric and , and engage in fewer stereotypic expressions as they learn more about societies different from their own. They become more capable of dealing positively with uncertainty, diversity, and change. Finally, as they examine the roles of citizens in past societies, they become more thoughtful and skillful citizens of this society.
As a result of studying World History, students will be able to respond to questions of enduring significance such as:
Are the peoples of the world more civilized than in the past?
How have religious, aesthetic, and ethical beliefs affected the lives and civic conduct of their adherents?
How have contacts and conflicts among people of differing religious, ethical, and political beliefs shaped the course of human history?
How can individuals and nations cooperate to create enduring formal and informal arrangements that will ensure more just and humane societies?
Grade 9-12 Competency Goals (World History)
Goal 1: Analyze the onset and development of cultural institutions in early civilizations.
Goal 2: Analyze classical Eurasian civilizations and assess their enduring contributions.
Goal 3: Investigate significant events in and assess characteristics of traditional civilizations (A.D. 500-1750).
Goal 4: Investigate significant events in and assess characteristics of medieval Europe (476-1400).
Goal 5: Trace events and evaluate the significance of movements associated with the rise of the West (1400-1914).
Goal 6: Examine causes and consequences of Europe's world domination in the period (1750-1945).
Goal 7: Analyze causes and effects of World events in the early twentieth century (1914-1945).
Goal 8: Analyze problems and assess prospects of an interdependent world (1945-present).
Goal 9: Investigate relationships between continuity and change in explaining human history.