Social Studies Curriculum

AP US History

Teacher: Mark Doebele 
Prerequisites:
Length: 1 year/1 credit
Course Description: The AP U.S. History course is designed to provide students with the analytic skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and materials in U.S. history. The program prepares students for intermediate and advanced college courses by making demands upon them equivalent to those made by full-year introductory college courses. Students should learn to assess historical materials — their relevance to a given interpretive problem, reliability, and importance — and to weigh the evidence and interpretations presented in historical scholarship. An AP U.S. History course should thus develop the skills necessary to arrive at conclusions on the basis of an informed judgment and to present reasons and evidence clearly and persuasively in essay format. The approach to this course includes, but is not limited to, the following elements: development of substantial knowledge of social, cultural, political, economic and military events relevant to history of the United States; development of assessment and interpretive skills; development of “map skills”, and the development of communicative skills through the writing of coherent, analytical essays.

Course Objectives:
The student will

• Demonstrate a mastery of a broad body of historical knowledge
• Use historical evidence to defend and support basic arguments and positions
• Differentiate between various schools of historical thought and interpretation
• Interpret and draw conclusions from various pieces of historical data including original documents, cartoons, graphs, etc.
• Demonstrate an effective use of analytical skills of evaluation, cause-and-effect relationships, and compare and contrast
• Work effectively in groups to produce products, make presentations, and solve problems

Course Outline:

• Unit 1: New World Beginnings (33,000 B.C.- A.D. 1769)
• Unit 2: The Planting of English America (1500-1733)
• Unit 3: Settling the Northern Colonies (1619-1700)
• Unit 4: American Life in the Seventeenth Century (1607-1692)
• Unit 5: Colonial Society on the Eve of Revolution (1700-1775)
• Unit 6: The Duel for North America (1608-1763)
• Unit 7: The Road to Revolution (1763-1775)
• Unit 8: America Secedes from the Empire (1775-1783)
• Unit 9: The Confederation and the Constitution 1776-1790
• Unit 10: Launching the New Ship of State 1789-1800
• Unit 11: The Triumphs and Travails of the Jeffersonian Republic 1800-1812
• Unit 12: The Second War for Independence and the Upsurge of Nationalism
• Unit 13: The Rise of Mass Democracy (1824-1840)
• Unit 14: Forging the National Economy (1790-1860)
• Unit 15: The Ferment of Reform and Culture 1790-1860
• Unit 16: The South and the Slavery Controversy 1793-1860
• Unit 17: Manifest Destiny and Its Legacy 1841-1848
• Unit 18: Renewing the Sectional Struggle (1848-1854)
• Unit 19: Drifting Toward Disunion 1854-1861
• Unit 20: Girding for the War: The North and the South 1861-1865
• Unit 21: The Furnace of Civil War 1861-1865
• Unit 22: The Ordeal of Reconstruction 1865-1877
• Unit 23: Political Paralysis in the Gilded Age 1869-1896
• Unit 24: Industry Comes of Age 1865-1900
• Unit 25: America Moves to the City 1865-1900
• Unit 26: The Great West and the Agricultural Revolution (1865-1896)
• Unit 27: Empire and Expansion (1890-1909)
• Unit 28: Progressivism and the Republican Roosevelt (1901-1912)
• Unit 29: Wilsonian Progressivism at Home and Abroad (1912-1916)
• Unit 30: The War to End War (1917-1918)
• Unit 31: American Life in the “Roaring Twenties” (1919-1929)
• Unit 32: The Politics of Boom and Bust (1920-1932)
• Unit 33: The Great Depression and the New Deal (1933-1939)
• Unit 34: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Shadow of War (1933-1941)
• Unit 35: America in World War II (1941-1945)
• Unit 36: The Cold War Begins (1945-1952)
• Unit 37: The Eisenhower Era (1952-1960)
• Unit 38: The Stormy Sixties (1960-1968)
• Unit 39: The Stalemated Seventies (1968-1980)
• Unit 40: The Resurgence of Conservatism (1980-1992)
• Unit 41: America Confronts the Post-Cold War Era (1992-2004)

Government

Teacher: 
Prerequisites:
Length: 1 semester/.5 credit
Course Description: This course is a survey of the U.S. government structure, systems and political processes. Content will include factors that influence U.S. government at the national, state, and local levels. This course prepares students to become responsible/aware members of American society, to think critically about political issues, and to express informed opinions about questions of government through a variety of different formats.
Relevance: Students in their pursuit of developing civic competence will develop an understanding of structure of power, authority, governance and their evolving function in contemporary U.S. society. Through the study of U.S. Government and politics, a student will continue to develop their reading, writing, and critical thinking skills that will provide leverage and value in other academic disciplines and provide enduring skills for life beyond high school.

Areas of Study:

• Origins and foundations of United States government
• Federalism
• Legislative Branch
• Executive Branch
• Judicial Branch
• The Separation of Powers and Division of Powers
• Rights, liberties, and responsibilities
• Government bureaucracy and practical workings of government
• Political parties and the electoral process
• Government and the media
• Research and government issues

Course Objectives:
The student will

• Understand the purposes of government, and the basic constitutional principles of the United States republican form of government.
• Know the structure and function of local, state, and national government and how citizen involvement shapes public policy.
• Know the political relationship of the United States and its citizens to other nations and to world affairs.
• Understand how citizens exercise the roles, rights and responsibilities of participation in civic life at all levels - local, state and national.

Course Outline:

• Unit 1: Introduction to Government
• Unit 2: Thinking and Research on Government
• Unit 3: Political Spectrum
• Unit 4: Origins of American Political Thought
• Unit 5: Creating the Constitution
• Unit 6: Constitution
• Unit 7: How the Constitution is applied today
• Unit 8: Additional Government topics

Honors Government

Honors World History

Teacher: Brooke Davis/Hannah Ryan
Length: 1 year/1 credit
Textbook: ISBN- 0-618-42770-8 The Earth and Its People (A Global History)
Course Description: Honors World History is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills that will facilitate their understanding of the evolution of global processes through the study of interaction among different societies. Focuses include encounters and interactions among the major societies and how their actions (political, economic, technological, and environmental) have both initiated change and allow for continuities over time, from 5000 BC to the present. The curriculum — in terms of both content and skills — is based on five overarching themes which serve throughout the course as unifying threads, helping put what is particular about each period or society into a larger framework. The five themes we will focus on are: Interaction between humans and environment; Development and interaction of cultures; State-building, expansion, and conflict; Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems; and Development and transformation of social structures.

Course Outline:

• Unit 1: The Emergence of Human Communities, to 500 B.C.
• Unit 2: The Formation of New Cultural Communities, 1000-600 A.D.
• Unit 3: Competition Among Cultural Communities, 600-1200
• Unit 4: Interregional Patterns of Culture and Contact, 1200-1550
• Unit 5: The Globe Encompassed, 1500-1750
• Unit 6: Revolutions Reshape the World, 1750-1870
• Unit 7: Global Diversity and Dominance, 1850-1945

Modern World History

Length: 1 semester/.5 credit
Course Description:This class will journey through the 1950’s to present. Modern World History will mainly consist of projects and homework. The class will be broken down into units by decades. Each event will be thoroughly analyzed, while studying the effects and consequences it had on the world past and present. Writing and reading are important components of this course. The approach to this course includes, but is not limited to, the following elements: development of substantial knowledge of social, cultural, political, economic and military events relevant to history of the United States and the development of assessment and interpretive skills. A textbook will not be used for this class.

Course Objectives

The student will:

• Look at perspectives from around the world while keeping an open mind.
• Recognize that God has designed each of us with a purpose to serve Him and our country in a unique way.
• Understand how political situations can affect people and cultures from across the globe.
• Describe how conflict can create a variety of outcomes and can affect whole population

Course Outline:

• Unit 1: The 1950's
  • Civil Rights
  • The Apartheid
  • Korean War
  • Rock N' Roll
• Unit 2: The 1960's
  • Vietnam War
  • Assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert. F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X
  • Landing on the Moon
  • Bay of Pigs Invasion
  • The Beatles
• Unit 3: The 1970's
  • Completion of the Vietnam War
  • Nixon and Watergate
  • Timeline Project that covers all major events of the 1970's
• Unit 4: The 1980's
  • Assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan and the Pope
  • Challenger Explosion
  • Mount St. Helen's Eruption
  • Pan Am Explosion/Libya Bombings
  • Iran-Contra Scandal
  • Berlin Wall Coming Down
• Unit 5: The 1990's
  • Fall of the Soviet Union
  • Waco Siege
  • Princess Diana
  • Rodney King Beating/OJ Simpson Trial
  • Controversies with President Clinton
  • Oklahoma City Bombings
• Unit 6: Current Events and Wall of Fame throughout the semester

Psychology

Teacher: Brooke Davis
Textbook: Psychology: ISBN- 0-03-015449-9 Psychology - Principles in Practice
Length: 1 semester/.5 credit
Course Description: Psychology is the science and profession concerned with the behavior of humans and animals. This course will look at the content and terminology of the discipline. A course in general psychology gives the students the opportunity to develop methods of learning and study; to prepare for parenthood, family life, and careers; and to learn about the range of services provided by psychologists. Through the use of class notes, current media, case studies and class discussion, the student will explore the theories and assertions that are open to question in the light of new information.

Course Outline:

• The Story of Psychology
  • History
  • Need for Psychological Science
  • Research Strategies
• Brain Consciousness
  • Sleep and Dreams
  • Hypnosis
  • Drugs / Consciousness
• Evolutionary Psychology, Environmental Psychology
• Lifespan
  • Prenatal / Newborn
  • Infancy / Childhood
  • Adolescence / Adulthood
• Sensation Perception
  • Vision / Hearing
  • Perceptual Organization
  • Perceptual Interpretation
• Learning
  • Classical Conditioning
  • Operant Conditioning
  • Observation
• Memory
  • Encoding / Storage / Retrieval
  • Improving
• Personality
  • Psychoanalytic Perspective
  • Humanistic Perspective
• Psychological Disorders
  • Anxiety
  • Dissociative / Personality
  • Mood Disorders
  • Schizophrenia
• Therapies
  • Psychological Evaluating
  • Biomedical

US History

Teacher: Mark Doebele/Brooke Davis
Length: 1 year/1 credit
Course Description:This course is a study of the American History starting with the beginning of the first Americans to the Eisenhower Era. Students will use different resources to study the effects of how places, events, and people have shaped who we are as a country today. The approach to this course includes, but is not limited to, the following elements: development of assessment and interpretive skills, development of higher order thinking skills, and communicative skills through a variety of writing tasks and projects.

Course Objectives:
The student will

• understand the chronological organization of history and know to organize each events and people into major eras to identify and explain historical relationships
• know how to use the processes and resources of historical inquiry
• understand that societies are diverse and have changed over time
• understand how science, technology, and economic activity have developed, changed, and affected societies throughout history
• understand political institutions and theories that have developed and changed over time
• know that religious and philosophical ideas have been powerful forces throughout history

Course Outline:

• Unit 1: The Settling of America to 1750
• Unit 2: Making a New Nation, 1750-1815
• Unit 3: The Nation Transformed
• Unit 4: A Nation Divided, 1848-1876
• Unit 5: The Emergence of Industrial America
• Unit 6: The Progressive Era
• Unit 7: From New Era to New Deal
• Unit 8: The United States in a Turbulent World

World Geography

Teacher: Hannah Ryan
Length: 1 semester/.5 credit
Textbook: Prentice Hall's World Geography - Building a Global Perspective
Course Description:Geography focuses on understanding spatial relationships. Geography is primarily broken into Physical Geography and Human Geography. After studying the two in general, we focus on Regional Geography.
Course Objectives: Students will have a general understanding of the physical environment around them and around the world. Students will study relationships between people across the globe to better understand how the world works. Students will study some regions in the world in more detail to understand what life is like in other parts of the world.

Course Outline:

• Unit 1: Basics of Geography
• Unit 2: Physical Geography
• Unit 3: Climate, Weather, Ecosystems
• Unit 4: Human Geography
• Unit 5: World Resources and Economy
• Unit 6: The United States - Profile and Regions
• Unit 7: Canada
• Unit 8: Europe
• Unit 9: Australia and New Zealand
• Unit 10: Geographic Technologies
• Unit 11: Additional Regions as time permits

World History

Teacher:
Length: 1 year/1 credit
Textbook: Prentice Hall's World History - Connections to Today
Course Description:World History covers a variety of information spanning about 6000 years! Beginning with early civilizations, Biblical times, and ancient history all the way through World War Two.
Course Objectives: Students will understand development of civilizations, specific emphasis on Europe's development, go through major empires in history, and a continual development leading toward the modern world.

Course Outline:

• Unit 1: Early Civilizations and Biblical Times
• Unit 2: Ancient Egypt
• Unit 3: Ancient India and China
• Unit 4: Ancient Greece
• Unit 5: Ancient Rome and Christianity
• Unit 6: Ancient American Civilizations
• Unit 7: Europe and the Middle Ages
• Unit 8: Asia Revisited
• Unit 9: Renaissance and Reformation
• Unit 10: Global Development - Europe
• Unit 11: Enlightenment and Revolution
• Unit 12: French Revolution and Napoleon
• Unit 13: Industrial Revolution
• Unit 14: Nationalism and Imperialism
• Unit 15: World War 1
• Unit 16: Revolutions and Crisis
• Unit 17: World War 2