American Studies IIThis is a full year course designed to incorporate studies of economics, geography, and government to help students understand United States history from 1861 to today. Special emphasis is placed on the Civil War, settling the west, the Great Depression, causes/conduct/consequences of WW II and the cold war (including the war inVietnam). Communication through visual means and oral presentations is stressed.
Listed below are the social studies standards for American Studies 2.
Identify unstated assumptions
Demonstrate understanding of the relationships among powerful people, important events, and the lives of common people
Students analyze the nature of conflicts, how they have been or might be resolved, and how some have shaped the divisions in various times of their local community, Vermont, the United States, and the world
Identify multiple causes and effects of events under study
Examine how people in specific circumstances behave in order to predict human behavior in similar situations
Students understand the varied uses of evidence and data, and use both to make interpretations concerning public issues
Research and evaluate a public issue by tracing its origins, gathering and presenting data and other relevant evidence, and justifying the best resolution
Determine the validity of an argument
Differentiate among fact, opinion, and interpretation;
Recognize and evaluate the human tendencies to categorize, romanticize, or vilify individuals and groups through selected facts and interpretations
Investigate the impact of new knowledge and inventions (e.g., the knowledge of fire, the printing press, the cotton gin, train, automobile, textile, machine, electricity, steam)
Describe and interpret events through the perspectives of people (both famous and common) living in the time and place under study
Identify and analyze the influence of various groups (e.g., racial, ethnic, gender, religious, and various socioeconomic classes) on major issues and events under study
Collect and use primary resources (e.g., letters, diaries, artifacts, artwork, documents) in building original historical interpretations
Use oral history methods and data to understand the ways in which people assign meaning to their own historical experiences
Students use geographical knowledge and images of various places to understand the present, communicate historical interpretation, develop solutions for the problems, and plan for the future
Make and use legend/keys on a variety of thematic maps
Students examine and debate the meaning of citizenship and act as citizens in a democratic society
Examine community (e.g., classroom, school, town, nation) for fair treatment of all people
Examine community (e.g., classroom, school, town, nation) for fair treatment of all people
Students use the basic principles of economics to interpret local, state, national, and international economic activity
Identify examples of natural resources, human resources, and capital goods
Trace the changing economic activity in their own communities and those around the globe, based on supply and demand of goods and services, changing prices, fluctuating exchange rates, availability of labor, management of resources, consumer consumption, and profit and loss
Use formal economic terms such as Gross Domestic Product, Consumer Price Index, inflation, deflation, balance of payments, supply and demand, consumer expectations, pricing, etc as they analyze and interpret local, state, national, and international economic activity
Compare the differences in lifestyles (e.g. size, ruralness, economic factors )between their community and other communities in Vermont and around the world
Use knowledge of change and continuity in making decisions and taking action on public issues
Compare and contrast differing sets of data
Use statistical methodology to describe and interpret a broad range of societal issues (e.g., infant mortality, literacy rates, indicators of quality of life, the effects of government policies on various groups)
Distinguish among fact, bias, stereotyping, generalizing, and categorizing in gathering and presenting evidence and data
Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information
Analyze interpretations of events from the perspective of various groups, and evaluate the credibility of differing accounts
Identify and sequence patterns of change and compare historical data from Vermont, the U.S. and the world by examining [all that content stuff]
Sequence historical eras; identify the characteristics of transitions between eras, being sure to make connections to past and present; and research, analyze, and synthesize historical data from each era
Students use historical methodology to make interpretations concerning history, change, and continuity
Use statistical methods and data collection to make interpretations, comparisons, and conclusions about scientific, governmental, social, and other changes in society
Explain how technology affects the diffusion of culture (e.g., mass media, transportation networks)
Analyze the relationship between participation in the political process (e.g. voting, petitioning) and the attainment of individual and collective goals;
Examine how citizens work to close the gap between the ideal and the reality of everyday life
Students compare and evaluate the philosophical underpinnings and the working of different types of government, including constitutional governments, in various times in their local community, in Vermont, in the United States, and in various locations world wide
Identify, compare, contrast, and evaluate the political and economic power of various groups
Analyze the influences that interest groups and public opinion have had on political, social, and economic life
Identify and evaluate how individual and group action promote or deny human rights
Identify the differences between homogeneity and diversity, and explain how each can cause community tensions and disunity, or can contribute to harmony and unity
Identify and evaluate the benefits and stresses of diversity on a society (e.g., classroom, town, nation)
Identify how technology is changing production and employment patterns and redefining how goods and services are produced and distributed (e.g., on-demand production or assembly of goods, Internet based commerce)
Understand the relationship between interest rates and borrowing money through such activities as monitoring the changes in the interest rates(e.g. for mortgages, personal loans, car loans ), and demonstrate how savings, investment, and interest rates interact to shape the well being of an economy
Identify the elements of various economic systems focusing on distribution of wealth, organization of labor, and the interplay between various economic and governmental systems
Analyze and compare how economic systems, (ie. mixed, command, market) have fostered or discouraged individual liberties and the common good (e.g. the environment, national defense, consumer rights, poverty, basic human needs)
Identify and analyze the role of government in regulating the economy as it applies to themselves, their communities, Vermont, and the United States (e.g., budget deficits and surpluses, free trade, embargoes, subsidies, balance of payments, monetary policies)
Analyze and evaluate conditions, actions, and motivations that contribute to contemporary global conflicts, showing how national interests come into conflict with one other