Learn about geography through the study of the relationships among people, places, and environments

Learn about the history of the world and explain historical relationships

Analyze issues that affect the present and the future; examine change and continuity over time in order to develop historical perspective

Understand the foundations of our political systems

Learn about production, distribution, exchange and consumption of resources

Explore concepts from the discipline of sociology and study the interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions

Explore the concept of anthropology and study cultures in various times and settings

Identify major scientific discoveries and technological innovations and describe their social and economic effects on society

Understand the development and the concepts of the major religions of the world

Describe how buildings and their decoration reflect cultural values and ideas, using cave paintings, pyramids, sacred cities, castles, and cathedrals as examples.

Explain how laws are developed and how the purposes of government are established

Summarize the sources of American democracy

Describe the principles in the Constitution

Understand the freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights

Identify the duties and responsibilities of citizens

Describe the organization and work of Congress

Summarize the duties and responsibilities of the president and other workers in the executive branch

Explain the organization and work of the judicial branch

Discuss how geographers look at the world in order to draw conclusions and make inferences

Identify different landforms

Outline the factors that influence climate

Identify each major climate zone

Explain and identify key elements in a people’s culture

Describe how people have an impact on the environment

Outline the relative size and major physical features of the United States and Canada

Identify the different climates found in the United States and Canada

Summarize the main features of the economy of the United States and Canada

Describe the relative size, location, and population density of Europe

Name the major physical features of Europe

Identify the countries and major physical features of Europe

Understand and interpret the (5) themes of geography: Place, Location, Region, Movement, and Human-Environmental Interaction

Explain the difference between the North and the South that led to the secession of most slave states from the U.S. during the pre-Civil War era

Detail the strategies of the Civil War

Describe reconstruction policies and their effects on the former U. S. Confederacy

Examine educational and social reforms and the early women’s movement

Discuss the development of the West

Explain the role of railroad barons, inventions, corporations and labor in America in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s

Discuss the need for and attempts at governmental and social reforms during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s

Explain how and why the U.S. expanded its economic and political influence in the Pacific and in Latin America

Describe the causes, course, and outcome of World War I

Evaluate the effects the events of the 1920’s had on American culture and the causes of the Great Depression

Study how the New Deal changed the American economy

Investigate the causes of WWII and the role of the US in WWII

Analyze causes and results of the increased tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union after WW II

Relate the economic, social and cultural distinctions of the U.S. during the 1950’s

Discuss the civil rights movement in the U.S.

Describe the causes, course, and effects of the Vietnam War