School Improvement in Maryland

State Curriculum: Social Studies Grade 8

Date: 6/20/2006
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Standard 1.0 Political Science

Topic

A.

Indicator

  • 1. Investigate the evolution of the U.S. political system as expressed in the United States Constitution

Objectives

  1. Compare the confederate form of government under the Articles of Confederation with the federal form under the Constitution
  1. Explain and summarize the principles of federalism, popular sovereignty, rule of law, consent of the governed, separation of powers, checks and balances, majority rule, limited government and how they protect individual rights and impact the functioning of government
  1. Compare how the powers and functions of the three branches of government are divided and how they are shared to protect popular sovereignty
  1. Explain and summarize how the supremacy of the national government was defined by events, such as Shay's Rebellion and early decisions of the Supreme Court, such as McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
  1. Evaluate the role and responsibility of a legislator in a representative democracy
  1. Analyze the impact of precedence in the office of the President, such as the establishment of a cabinet and foreign policy
  1. Summarize an individual's legal obligations to obey the law, pay taxes, serve on a jury and serve as a witness

Indicator

  • 2. Analyze the impact of historic documents and practices that became the foundations of the American political system during the early national period

Objectives

  1. Evaluate the power and authority of the government on individuals
  1. Identify the principles in European historic documents and show their connections to the development of American political ideology such as Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights
  1. Explain how the philosophies of Hobbes, Locke and Montesquieu influenced the principles that shaped United States government
  1. Describe the significance of principles in the development of the Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Preamble, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights
  1. Describe the major debates and compromises that occurred during the Constitutional Convention and interpret their effects on the ratification process
  1. Describe the development of political parties and their effects on elections and political life
  1. Evaluate the significance of the Civil War Amendments (13th, 14th and 15th) and how they protected individual rights

Indicator

  • 3. Evaluate roles and policies of the United States government regarding public policy and issues

Objectives

  1. Examine the effect that national interests have on shaping government policy, such as the abolitionist movement and slavery, states' rights, and regional commerce
  1. Evaluate regional and international perspectives regarding the formation and implementation of public policy, such as Washington's Farewell Address, Monroe Doctrine, westward expansion, sectionalism, plantation holders in the South v. the industrialists in the North

Topic

B.

Indicator

  • 1. Analyze the influence of individuals and groups on shaping public policy

Objectives

  1. Analyze the influence of the media on political life
  1. Evaluate ways the citizens should use, monitor and influence the formation and implementation of public policy
  1. Examine the roles and functions of political parties in the American system of government
  1. Explain how the media, interest groups, and public opinion affected elected officials and government policy prior to the Civil War

Indicator

  • 2. Defend the importance of civic participation as a citizen of the United States

Objectives

  1. Evaluate ways people can participate in the political process including voting, analyzing the media, petitioning elected officials, and volunteering
  1. Analyze the concept of citizenship and explain how the concept has changed from colonial times through Reconstruction
  1. Evaluate how various groups provide opportunities for individuals to participate in the political process

Topic

C.

Indicator

  • 1. Examine the impact of governmental decisions on individual rights and responsibilities in the United States

Objectives

  1. Describe responsibilities associated with certain basic rights of citizens, such as freedom of speech, religion, and press, and explain why these responsibilities are important
  1. Explain how rules and laws protect individual rights and protect the common good
  1. Explain the significance of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison which established judicial review
  1. Describe the expansion of the powers of the national government in the decision of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland

Indicator

  • 2. Explain how the United States government protected or failed to protect the rights of individuals and groups

Objectives

  1. Describe significance and effects of the Emancipation Proclamation
  1. Describe methods that were used to deny civil rights to women, African Americans and Native Americans
  1. Examine the use of Presidential power in Lincoln's suspension of the writ of habeas corpus

Indicator

Objectives

  1. Identify how due process of law protects individuals
  1. Describe the due process protections in the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment

Standard 2.0 Peoples of the Nation and World

Topic

A.

Indicator

  • 1. Analyze how America became a diverse society

Objectives

  1. Describe the influence of religious tolerance and intolerance in the colonies
  1. Describe how the colonies developed into diverse states reflecting various cultural elements
  1. Explain the interaction of cultures in Antebellum America

Topic

B.

Indicator

  • 1. Analyze how America continued to evolve into a society consisting of diverse cultures, customs, and traditions

Objectives

  1. Describe the effects of cultural exchange and interactions among Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans on the development of the United States
  1. Examine how the diversity of the United States represents a blending of cultures and ideas from around the world

Indicator

  • 2. Describe how the increased diversity of American culture resulted from immigration, settlement, and economic development in the United States

Objectives

  1. Analyze consequences of immigration including assimilation, and Nativism

Topic

C.

Indicator

  • 1. Analyze factors that affected relationships in the United States prior to 1877

Objectives

  1. Examine examples of conflict and compromise among different ethnic, religious, and gender groups
  1. Describe how cultural, economic and political differences contributed to sectionalism
  1. Describe various reform movements, such as abolition, women's rights, and education
  1. Describe the effects of early industrialization on individuals and families

Standard 3.0 Geography

Topic

A.

Indicator

Objectives

  1. Use thematic maps to locate places and describe the human and physical characteristics, such as settlement patterns, migration, population density, transportation, and communication networks
  1. Explain interrelationships among physical and human characteristics that shaped the nation
  1. Analyze thematic maps to determine demographic and economic information about a region

Topic

B.

Indicator

Objectives

  1. Analyze how geographic characteristics influenced the location and development of economic activities, such as farming, lumbering, fur trading, whaling and the rise of industry in the early national period
  1. Describe how changes in transportation systems, such as roads, canals and railroads affected the expansion of trade and settlement
  1. Analyze how geographic characteristics stimulated regional growth, such as the purchase of the Louisiana Territory

Topic

C.

Indicator

Objectives

  1. Explain why Americans migrated west, such as fertile soil, minerals, and economic opportunity, and the impact on that region
  1. Describe the effects of the influx of immigrants on the United States
  1. Explain how the regional demographic factors of constituents, such as race, ethnicity, education, occupation, and wealth affect public policy and voting issues

Topic

D.

Indicator

  • 1. Analyze why and how people in the United States modify their natural environment and the impact of those modifications

Objectives

  1. Analyze the trade offs of using resources to pursue economic opportunities v. preserving the environment, such as westward movement
  1. Explain the consequences of modifying the natural environment, such as soil erosion, loss of soil fertility and over-fishing
  1. Identify and explain land use issues that illustrate the conflict between economic growth and using the environment
  1. Analyze how land use was managed by the federal government such as the Land Ordinance of 1785 and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787

Standard 4.0 Economics

Topic

A.

Indicator

Objectives

  1. Describe the opportunity cost of economic decisions by individuals, businesses, and governments in the U.S. through 1877, such as the decision about territorial acquisition

Indicator

  • 2. Analyze how scarcity affected economic choices prior to 1877

Objectives

  1. Compare how scarce resources affected the decisions of consumers and producers in different regions of the United States
  1. Describe the importance of economic freedom and economic equity on growth in the North and South prior to 1860
  1. Evaluate socio-economic goals in the North and South after to the Civil War

Indicator

  • 3. Analyze how technological changes affected production in the United States prior to 1877

Objectives

  1. Describe the effects of new technology and resource use on economic growth, such as factories, machinery, roads and the telegraph
  1. Examine why and how technology and production in the industrial North influenced the outcome of the Civil War

Indicator

  • 4. Analyze economic activities, economic decisions, and specialization before and after the Civil War

Objectives

  1. Describe how differences between the agrarian South and the industrial North heightened tensions
  1. Examine the importance of population growth, specialization and trade to economic development prior to the Civil War
  1. Describe the economic opportunities and obstacles faced by different individuals and groups of people before and after the Civil War

Topic

B.

Indicator

  • 1. Evaluate the types of economic systems prior to 1877

Objectives

  1. Analyze how 19th century societies answered the basic question of what, how, and for whom to produce
  1. Analyze how the characteristics of a market economy affected the economic development of the 19th century such as the role of entrepreneurs, markets, and competition

Indicator

  • 2. Analyze the role of government in the U.S. economy prior to 1877

Objectives

  1. Give examples of how government spending and taxation influenced the U.S economy's ability to grow and provide jobs, such as the expansion of the railroad system
  1. Explain how the protection of private property rights, regulation of trade, imposition of taxes, and creation of a monetary system are included in the Constitution
  1. Examine ways in which the government influenced the economy such as spending, taxing and acquisition of territories

Indicator

  • 3. Describe the effects of government actions on the banking system prior to 1877

Objectives

  1. Explain the effects of the boom and bust cycles on economic growth and stability
  1. Describe the effects of the absence of a national banking system on economic stability, such as the effects of the Panic of 1837

Standard 5.0 History

Topic

B.

Indicator

  • 1. Analyze the growth and the development of the United States

Objectives

  1. Explain the political and economic impact of the Louisiana Purchase on the United States
  1. Evaluate Manifest Destiny and its impact on territorial expansion of the nation

Indicator

  • 2. Evaluate the importance of Jacksonian Democracy and how it represented a change in the social, political and economic life of the United States

Objectives

  1. Explain how the philosophies and policies of the Jacksonian Era represented a move towards greater democratization
  1. Analyze how tariff policy and issues of states' rights influenced the development of political parties and prompted sectional differences

Indicator

  • 3. Evaluate westward movement in the United States before 1877

Objectives

  1. Explain the political, economic, and social factors that motivated people to move west
  1. Describe the government strategies used to acquire territory
  1. Analyze the impact of westward movement on relations with Native Americans, such as treaty relations, land acquisition and the policy of Indian Removal

Indicator

  • 4. Analyze patterns of immigration to the United States before 1877

Objectives

  1. Identify the push and pull factors responsible for immigration to the United States, such as the forced migration of Africans and Western European migration
  1. Analyze the consequences of the rapid settlement of California and Oregon

Indicator

  • 5. Analyze the political, economic, and social goals of Reconstruction

Objectives

  1. Explain the goals and policies of the various Reconstruction plans
  1. Explain how the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments addressed the issue of civil rights through abolition, the granting of citizenship, and the right to vote
  1. Identify the legal and illegal actions used to deny African-Americans civil rights
  1. Evaluate the social and economic impact of sharecropping, tenant farming and the Freedman's Bureau in the post Civil War South

Topic

C.

Indicator

  • 1. Examine and explain the role of religious, social and political institutions in America at the end of the American Revolution

Objectives

  1. Analyze the political effects of the American Revolution on American society and culture
  1. Describe the evolution of the American system of government from a confederal to a federal system of government
  1. Describe how unresolved social, economic, and political issues impacted disenfranchised groups

Indicator

Objectives

  1. Explain why the United States adopted a policy of neutrality prior to the War of 1812
  1. Explain how the continuing conflict between Great Britain and France influenced the domestic and foreign policy of the United States
  1. Evaluate the origins and provisions of the Monroe Doctrine and explain how it influenced foreign affairs
  1. Explain causes and effects of the Mexican-American War

Indicator

  • 3. Analyze the influence of industrialization and technological developments on society in the United States before 1877

Objectives

  1. Describe changes in land and water transportation, including the expanding network of roads, canals, and railroads, and their impact on the economy and settlement patterns
  1. Explain how the cotton gin and the opening of new lands in the South and West impacted the institution of slavery
  1. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of early industrialization on the economy and society

Indicator

  • 4. Analyze the institution of slavery and its influence on societies in the United States

Objectives

  1. Describe pro-slavery and anti-slavery positions and explain how debates over slavery influenced politics and sectionalism
  1. Analyze the experiences of African-American slaves, and free blacks
  1. Compare the relationship of abolitionists to the other reform movements

Indicator

  • 5. Analyze factors affecting the outcome of the Civil War

Objectives

  1. Analyze government policies regarding slavery, such as the three-fifths clause, the Missouri Compromise (1820) and the Compromise of 1850
  1. Analyze the ideological breakdown that resulted from different events and issues, such as Virginia-Kentucky resolutions, the Hartford Convention, nullification/states' rights, political party division, the Dred Scott decision, John Brown raids
  1. Explain why the 1860 election led to the secession of the southern states
  1. Identify the goals, resources and strategies of the North and the South
  1. Describe the political impact of Lincoln's decisions regarding the deployment of black regiments

Standard 6.0 Social Studies Skills and Processes

Topic

A.

Indicator

  • 1. Use appropriate strategies and opportunities to increase understandings of social studies vocabulary

Objectives

  1. Acquire and apply new vocabulary through investigating, listening, independent reading and discussing a variety of print and non-print sources
  1. Identify and use new vocabulary acquired through study of relationships to prior knowledge and experiences
  1. Use context clues to understand new social studies vocabulary
  1. Use new vocabulary in speaking and writing to gain and extend content knowledge and clarify expression

Indicator

  • 2. Use strategies to prepare for reading (before reading)

Objectives

  1. Identify the characteristics of informational texts, such as print features, graphic aids, informational aids, organizational aids, and online features
  1. Preview the text by examining features, such as the title, pictures, maps, illustrations, photographs, charts, timelines, graphs, and icons
  1. Set a purpose for reading the text
  1. Ask questions and make predictions about the text
  1. Make connections to the text using prior knowledge and experiences

Indicator

  • 3. Use strategies to monitor understanding and derive meaning from text and portions of text (during reading)

Objectives

  1. Identify and use knowledge of organizational structures, such as chronological order, cause/effect, main ideas and details, description, similarities/differences, and problem/solution to gain meaning
  1. Reread slowly and carefully, restate, or read on and revisit difficult parts
  1. Use a graphic organizer or another note-taking technique to record important ideas or information
  1. Look back through the text to search for connections between and among ideas
  1. Make, confirm, or adjust predictions about the text
  1. Periodically summarize or paraphrase important ideas while reading
  1. Visualize what was read for deeper meaning
  1. Explain personal connections to the ideas or information in the text

Indicator

  • 4. Use strategies to demonstrate understanding of the text (after reading)

Objectives

  1. Identify and explain what is directly stated in the text
  1. Identify, paraphrase, or summarize the main idea of the text
  1. Determine and explain the author's purpose
  1. Distinguish between facts and opinions
  1. Explain whether or not the author's opinion is presented fairly
  1. Explain what is not directly stated in the text by drawing inferences
  1. Confirm or refute predictions made about the text to form new ideas
  1. Connect the text to prior knowledge or personal experiences
  1. Draw conclusions and make generalizations based on the text, multiple texts, and/or prior knowledge

Topic

B.

Indicator

  • 1. Select and use informal writing strategies, such as short/response/essay answer/ brief constructed responses, journal writing, note taking, and graphic organizers, to clarify, organize, remember, and/or express new understandings

Objectives

  1. Identify key ideas
  1. Connect key ideas to prior knowledge (personal experience, text and world)

Indicator

  • 2. Use formal writing, such as multi-paragraph essays, historical investigations, research reports, letters, summaries, to inform

Objectives

  1. Identify form, audience, topic, and purpose before writing
  1. Organize facts and/or data/statistics to support a topic
  1. Provide introduction, body, and conclusion
  1. Cite sources when paraphrasing, summarizing, and quoting
  1. Enhance text with graphics, such as charts, maps, and diagrams

Indicator

  • 3. Use formal writing, such as multi-paragraph essays, historical investigations, editorials, and letters to persuade

Objectives

  1. Identify form, audience, topic, and purpose
  1. State a clear opinion or position
  1. Modify or refute a position when appropriate
  1. Provide reasons and cite reliable supporting evidence
  1. Demonstrate understandings of social studies knowledge

Indicator

  • 4. Use timed, on-demand writing to demonstrate understanding on assessments (Constructed Responses)

Objectives

  1. Address the topic
  1. Provide accurate information
  1. Support topic with appropriate details
  1. Integrate social studies concepts and skills

Topic

C.

Indicator

  • 1. Identify a topic that requires further study

Objectives

  1. Identify prior knowledge about the topic
  1. Pose questions the about the topic
  1. Formulate research questions
  1. Develop a plan for how to answer questions about the topic

Indicator

  • 2. Identify a situation/issue that requires further study

Objectives

  1. Define the situation/issue
  1. Identify prior knowledge about the situation/issue
  1. Pose questions about the situation/issue from a variety of perspectives
  1. Pose questions that elicit higher order thinking responses
  1. Formulate research questions
  1. Develop a plan for how to answer questions about the situation/issue

Topic

D.

Indicator

  • 1. Identify primary and secondary sources of information that relate to the topic/situation/problem being studied

Objectives

  1. Gather and read appropriate print sources, such as journals, periodicals, government documents, timelines, databases, reference works, and web sites
  1. Read and obtain information from texts representing diversity in content, culture, authorship, and perspective
  1. Locate and gather data and information from appropriate non-print sources, such as music, artifacts, charts, maps, graphs, photographs, video clips, illustrations, paintings, political cartoons, multimedia, interviews, and oral histories
  1. Access and process information that is factual and reliable from readings, investigations, and/or oral communications

Indicator

  • 2. Engage in field work that relates to the topic/ situation/ problem being studied

Objectives

  1. Gather data
  1. Make and record observations
  1. Design and conduct surveys and oral histories

Topic

E.

Indicator

  • 1. Organize information from non-print sources

Objectives

  1. Prioritize information gathered according to importance and relevance
  1. Distinguish factual from fictional information
  1. Find relationships among gathered information
  1. Display information on various types of graphic organizers, maps, and charts
  1. Summarize information obtained from surveys and field work

Indicator

  • 2. Organize information from print sources

Objectives

  1. Prioritize information gathered according to importance and relevance
  1. Determine the bias and reliability of a source
  1. Find relationships among gathered information
  1. Construct various types of graphic organizers, maps, and charts to display information

Topic

F.

Indicator

  • 1. Interpret information from primary and secondary sources

Objectives

  1. Interpret information in maps, charts and graphs
  1. Interpret information from field studies and surveys
  1. Analyze a document to determine point of view
  1. Analyze the perspective of the author to determine if the document or topic is historically significant
  1. Identify bias and prejudice

Indicator

  • 2. Evaluate information from a variety of sources

Objectives

  1. Compare information from a variety of sources
  1. Compare information to prior knowledge
  1. Determine the reliability of the document
  1. Compare ideas, models, systems, and perspectives

Indicator

  • 3. Synthesize information from a variety of sources

Objectives

  1. Recognize relationships in and among ideas or events, such as cause and effect, sequential order, main idea, and details
  1. Reconstruct the arguments of issues or events
  1. Assess the costs and benefits of alternatives
  1. Modify understandings of social studies concepts and trend
  1. Verify or change prior understandings based on new information

Topic

G.

Indicator

  • 1. Describe how the country has changed over time and how people have contributed to its change, drawing from maps, photographs, newspapers, and other sources

Objectives

  1. Present social studies information in a variety ways, such as mock trials, simulations, debates, and skits
  1. Engage in civic participation and public discourse
  1. Use effective speaking techniques to deliver narrative, persuasive, and research presentations

Indicator

  • 2. Use historic contexts to answer questions

Objectives

  1. Use historically accurate resources to answer questions, make predictions, and support ideas
  1. Explain why historic interpretations vary and are subject to change
  1. Construct a sound historical interpretation
  1. Understand the meaning, implication and impact of historic events and recognize that events could have taken other directions

Indicator

  • 3. Use current events/issues to answer questions

Objectives

  1. Summarize the main points of an issue explaining different viewpoints
  1. Make a decision based on the analysis of issues and evaluate the consequences of these decisions
  1. Identify and formulate a position on a course of action or an issue
  1. Propose and justify solutions to social studies problems
  1. Use media resources to deliberate and advocate issues and policy

Date: 6/20/2006