Standards - Social Studies

• Reasons for the settlement of the thirteen colonies the voting process.
• The three branches of government and how they were established.
• The roles of major political parties within the voting process. School and classroom rules.
• Democratic values as expressed in documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation.
• Vocabulary: American democracy, founding of the nation, settlement, thirteen colonies, Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, government, executive branch, legislative branch, judicial branch, voting process, election, political parties, Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, rules, democratic values

• Fundamental democratic values including equality, justice, and responsibility for the common good.
• The names and significance of national historic figures, both male and female.
• The significance of national holidays and the relationship of each to democratic values.
• The history and significance of American symbols and monuments.
• Vocabulary: democratic values, equality, justice, responsibility, common good, founding father, national holiday, American symbol, monument

• How to use a calendar.
• How to interpret a timeline.
• Vocabulary: primary sources, calendar, timeline, past, historical letter, artifacts

• Vocabulary associated with time.
• Vocabulary: year, decade, score, century

• The difference between political and physical maps and the information that can be gained from each.

• Differences among the ways maps, globes, and technological resources represent Earth and portions of the Earth.
• Location of states, continents, oceans, equator, and other physical and man-made geographic features. Intermediate directions.
• Vocabulary: states, continents, oceans, equator, map, globe, title, legend, compass rose, scale, virtual globe, satellite image, radar, northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest

• The production and distribution cycle.
• The difference between imported and exported goods consumer choices and decisions.
• The concepts of supply and demand.
• Vocabulary: production, producer, resource, consumer, economy

• Definition and examples of scarcity.
• Definition and examples of surplus.
• The concepts of supply and demand.
• The difference between natural resources and human-made products.
• Vocabulary: scarcity, supply, demand, natural resources, human-made products, shortage, surplus, cost, price, perishable, expiration

• Definition of immigration.
• Reasons for immigration into the United States modes of transportation used by immigrants from a variety of locations.
• Reasons for and importance of cultural unity within immigrant communities.
• Methods of cultural integration and its importance to the American culture.
• Vocabulary: immigration, cultures, cultural unity, diversity

• Difference between human and physical environments the physical regions of the United States and the features of each.
• Affects of environment on human behavior and ways of life.
• Positive and negative affects of humans on the environment.
• Examples of types of tourism and recreation and the affects of each, including state and national parks.

Students know:

• The purpose and essential elements of legends, stories, and songs.
• Examples of legends, stories, and songs that contributed to United States' cultural history including American Indian Legends, African American Stories, Tall Tales and stories of Folk Heroes.
• Vocabulary: legends, stories, songs, cultural history.