Stage D - Social Science

Descriptors

14A - Students who meet the standard can understand and explain basic principles of the United States government.

1. List reasons for forming a government.
2. Describe the purpose of the Declaration of Independence, and the Illinois and United States Constitutions.
3. Recite basic rights of citizens and restrictions upon government afforded to Americans through the Bill of Rights.
4. Differentiate between citizenship by birth or naturalization.
5. Discuss some of the responsibilities adults share in maintaining our local governments and communities (e.g., voting at election time, when asked to serve on community boards or committees they join, paying their taxes, serving on juries).
6. Defend the position that people in a democracy must have such rights as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, or freedom of assembly.

14B - Students who meet the standard can understand the structures and functions of the political systems of Illinois, the United States, and other nations.

1. Name people from Illinois who serve in the U.S. Congress.
2. Compose a definition for a "national government."
3. Summarize the function of the three branches of government found within the state and federal government.
4. Compare and contrast how local and state governments provide services to people.
5. Distinguish between the powers and responsibilities of local, state, and federal government.

14C - Students who meet the standard can understand election processes and responsibilities of citizens.

1. Explain the significance of the rights and responsibilities students share within a school.
2. Predict the consequences of people not acting responsibly in their communities.
3. Explain why a person might choose to vote for one candidate for President of the United States over another candidate.
4. Identify historical events during which various groups have won their right to participate within the electoral process (e.g., 15th and 19th Amendments).

14D - Students who meet the standard can understand the roles and influences of individuals and interest groups in the political systems of Illinois, the United States, and other nations.

1. Explain why someone would join a non-profit or civic group that serves the common good (e.g., Red Cross).
2. Describe a way that a president used political persuasion to shape public policy (e.g., State of the Union Address, press conference, meeting with members of a Congressional committee).
3. Identify a controversial issue in the community.
4. Identify the names of major contemporary political parties.

14E - Students who meet the standard can understand United States foreign policy as it relates to other nations and international issues.

1. Name an international organization of which the United States is a member (e.g., United Nations).
2. Identify the role of the president in making foreign policy decisions.
3. Describe how the interests of the United States and other nations may or may not allow for international cooperation.

14F - Students who meet the standard can understand the development of United States political ideas and traditions.

1. Describe values that have formed the foundation of our American democratic system (e.g., the love of liberty, respect for individual rights).
2. Summarize the meaning of the words, sounds, or images in an artistic expression that illustrates the traditions important to our political system and concept of freedom (e.g., music and lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner, painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River).
3. Explain the significance of political symbols and mottoes of the United States (e.g., E Pluribus Unum, the Flag, the Statue of Liberty, the bald eagle, the Great Seal, oaths of office).

15A - Students who meet the standard understand economic systems, with an emphasis on the United States.

1. Identify the productive resources (human, natural, capital) used in the production of goods and services they use
2. Identify alternative uses for a given a set of productive resources.
3. Define labor (i.e., human resource used to produce goods and services).
4. Explain how wages or salaries (the price of labor) act as incentives for people to provide labor.
5. Distinguish between "unemployed" and "non-employed" persons in the economy.
6. Identify skills and knowledge needed for a job.

15B - Students who meet the standard understand that scarcity necessitates choices by consumers.

1. Identify criteria they use when making consumer choices.
2. Identify the opportunity cost of a recent consumer choice they have made.

15C - Students who meet the standard understand that scarcity necessitates choices by producers.

1. Explain that producers will make and sell more of a good or service when the price of that good or service is higher, and will make and sell less when the price is lower.
2. Define "entrepreneur."
3. Identify examples of entrepreneurs in the community, state, or world.
4. Classify examples of human, natural, and capital resources.

15D - Students who meet the standard understand trade as an exchange of goods or services.

1. Describe a monetary exchange that students have made and explain why they were willing to exchange money for a good or service.
2. Identify current and historical examples of exchange (both barter and monetary).
3. Identify the division of labor in a simple production process.
4. Identify examples of division of labor in the school or the community.

15E - Students who meet the standard understand the impact of government policies and decisions on production and consumption in the economy.

1. Define public goods and services as those that benefit more than one person at the same time and cannot be restricted to only those that pay.
2. Explain why private providers do not produce goods and services such as streetlights.
3. Name at least two taxes students or adults pay.
4. Explain how governmental bodies use taxes.

16A - Students who meet the standard can apply the skills of historical analysis and interpretation.

1. Place a randomly ordered series of events at the proper points on a timeline to differentiate between BCE and CE time.
2. Compare life in one region or place during two different time periods using a combination of historical sources.
3. Describe historical trends using data supplied on a graph or chart.
4. Describe changes in a region or place using an historical atlas.
5. List the details found on an historical artifact to determine its manufacture, date, and use.
6. Describe aspects of life in a specific period in a specific region or place using a combination of historical sources.
7. Locate a website for the study of history on the World Wide Web.

16B - Students who meet the standard understand the development of significant political events.

1. Place a series of political events in their proper location on a timeline of United States history. (US)
2. List the contributions of significant figures in United States political history (e.g., Thomas Jefferson's writing of the Declaration of Independence). (US)
3. Explain why significant events in United States political history are important today. (US)
4. Interpret the symbolism of the images/icons found on historical memorials, murals, or monuments. (US)
5. Place a series of political events in their proper location on a timeline of World History. (W)
6. Describe a political system and/or institution that existed during ancient times. (W)
7. Identify western political ideas originating in earlier periods (e.g., elements of democracy in ancient Greece and Rome and medieval England). (W)

16C - Students who meet the standard understand the development of economic systems.

1. Place a series of economic events in their proper location on a timeline of United States history. (US)
2. Identify the different types of economic activities of early people in Illinois (e.g., Native Americans, pioneers). (US)
3. Describe how the environment affected the economic activities of the early people of Illinois. (US)
4. Compare/contrast past economic activities to contemporary economic activities. (US)
5. Place a series of economic events in their proper location on a timeline of World History. (W)
6. Identify the differences between an agricultural society and a hunting/ gathering way of life. (W)
7. Describe the causes and consequences of the first agricultural revolution. (W)
8. Discuss the economic conditions of the great ancient civilizations (e.g., Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Aegean/Mediterranean, Asian civilizations) 1000 BCE - 500 CE. (W)

16D - Students who meet the standard understand Illinois, United States, and world social history.

1. Locate examples/stories of the changing roles of people over time. (US)
2. Identify the turning points in local, Illinois, and United States social history. (US)
3. Compare the life of people of various social status in the past to people of the same status during another time period. (US)
4. Place a series of social events in their proper location on a timeline of World History. (W)
5. Compare traditions and customs of a place or world region today with those from the past. (W)
6. Compare/contrast the customs and traditions of a past culture with those of another past culture (e.g., Greeks and Egyptians). (W)

16E - Students who meet the standard understand Illinois, United States, and world environmental history.

1. Place a series of environmental events in their proper location on a timeline of United States history. (US)
2. Describe how hunter-gatherer cultures in the pre-colonial Illinois country and other regions of North America used the environment in terms of securing food, shelter, clothing, and tools (technology). (US)
3. Describe how changes in weather/climate affected the physical and cultural features of the environment in the mid-west and other regions of North America using maps, geographic tools, images, and other sources. (US)
4. Identify the rivers that fostered the growth and development of North America. (US)
5. Explain how the locations of agricultural and industrial regions of the United States help to understand the nation's growth and development. (US)
6. Identify on a map of Illinois the lands associated with Native American tribes. (US)
7. Locate sources about the environment during a specific period of Illinois or United States history using the World Wide Web. (US)
8. Place a series of environmental events in their proper location on a timeline of World History. (W)
9. Describe how hunter-gatherer cultures used the environment in terms of securing food, shelter, clothing, and tools (technology). (W)
10. Identify the rivers that fostered the growth and development of early world civilizations. (W)
11. Identify on a map the major food-producing regions of the world. (W)
12. Explain how the location of the major industrial regions of the world fostered their growth and development. (W)
13. Identify on a map the location of the major civilizations of the world, over time. (W)
14. Locate sources about the environment during a specific period of world history using the World Wide Web. (W)

17A - Students who meet the standard can locate, describe and explain places, regions and features on Earth.

1. Describe the location of countries relative to the locations of other countries.
2. Locate the principal parallels and meridians on maps and globes.
3. Create a map of the local community containing basic elements (e.g., lines, points, symbols).
4. Evaluate maps drawn to different scales to determine the one most useful for describing the characteristics of a place.
5. Locate on maps, major bodies of water and river systems in Illinois, the United States, and the world.

17B - Students who meet the standard can analyze and explain characteristics and interactions of Earth's physical systems.

1. Compare ways the physical environment is used to meet needs of people (e.g., cutting trees, mining, raising food).
2. Explain how the length of day can influence human activities in different regions of the world (e.g., use of daylight savings time, school schedules in the United States, summer and winter activities in areas north of the Arctic Circle).
3. Describe your feelings about some element of the physical environment (e.g., forests, beaches, snow-covered hills, your favorite area in the neighborhood).
4. Interpret a diagram or use a globe to show Earth's rotation on its axis to explain the causes of day and night.
5. Recognize that people can work together to preserve and protect the natural resources and environment.

17C - Students who meet the standard can understand relationships between geographic factors and society.

1. Discuss how different groups of people in the world adapt to the physical and human environment to meet their needs.
2. Compare ways in which people in urban and rural communities meet their needs from the environment.
3. Explain how environmental problems may result from the use of technology and ways that technology might be used to solve environmental problems.
4. Identify resources whose value has changed over time as technology has changed.
5. Observe, describe, and record changes in the local environment over time.
6. Organize a series of pictures to show landscape changes from prairie to farmland.

17D - Students who meet the standard can understand the historical significance of geography.

1. Compare historical and contemporary perceptions people have of the same place using landscape paintings, photographs, maps, and narratives.
2. Describe the geographic history of the community using old maps, photographs, and interviews with older residents.
3. Analyze how the physical features of Illinois have affected the settlement patterns of the state (e.g., rivers, valleys, prairie).
4. 18A - Students who meet the standard can compare characteristics of culture as reflected in language, literature, the arts, traditions, and institutions.
5. Discuss cultural differences in various geographic regions in the United States.
6. Explain the significance of knowing about more than one culture.
7. Describe how a culture other than the student's own uses its technology to adapt to its environment.
8. Identify changes in cultural traits over time.
9. Describe how changes in technology bring about changes in daily life.
10. Explain how a part of American culture (e.g., Mode of dress, music, architecture) has changed overtime.
11. Analyze sources of information (e.g., newspapers from other towns, souvenirs, web-sites) that reflect different cultural traits.

18B - Students who meet the standard can understand the roles and interactions of individuals and groups in society.

1. Define social institution.
2. Differentiate between a primary group, a secondary group, and a reference group.
3. Compare different motivations for the behavior of an individual or group.
4. Distinguish between norms and laws.
5. Give examples of peer pressure (e.g., pressure to smoke, drink, join gangs).

18C - Students who meet the standard can understand how social systems form and develop over time.

1. Give examples of how technology helps to transform a society.
2. Use images to describe group behavior.
3. Describe the function of support systems (e.g., family, youth group).
4. Distinguish between direct and indirect relationships.