SEVENTH GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM

Description: 

Seventh Grade Social Studies will study American History from the time of European explorers to 1850.  In the class the founding, the establishment and the problems of the new American nation will be discussed.   Seventh Grade Social Studies will give the students the basis for our nation and how the federal government works. 

Standards: 

The Learner Will: 

• Use a variety of tools (e.g., primary and secondary sources, data, artifacts) to explore the interpretive nature of United States history.
• Develop a chronological understanding of the early history of the Untied States.
• Recognize cause-and-effect relationships and multiple causes of events in United States history.
• Examine the impact of significant individuals and groups in early United States history.
• Analyze the social, political, and economic characteristics of eras in American history to Reconstruction (War for Independence, Young Republic, Westward Expansion, Industrialism, and Civil War).
• Recognize the significance of geographical settings and natural resources on historical perspectives and events in early United States history.
• Examine the impact of technological advances on early United States history.
• Understand the development of democratic thought in early America.
• Examine patterns of human movement, settlement, and interaction in early American history and investigate how these patterns influenced culture and society in the United States.
• Examine how early United States history was influenced by the physical environment

       (e.g., natural barriers, natural disasters, natural resources).

• Investigate how Americans used technology, especially in early American history, to modify the environment.
• Recognize and use maps, titles, key symbols, directions, grids, scales, longitude and latitude.
• Analyze economic systems and economic institutions that developed in early United States history.
• Recognize that government regulation impacts the economy in decisions about productive resources (e.g., natural, human, human-made).
• Understand how the desire to earn profits influenced the establishment and growth of economic institutions in early United States history.
• Explain and illustrate how different values and beliefs influence decision making on the use of limited resources.
• Understand how the American political system developed through examining colonial roots of representative democracy, reasons for creating an independent country, and purposes of government.
• Investigate the political process established by the U. S. Constitution, including a system of separation of power with checks and balances and division of power among the states and national government.
• Understand how the U. S. Constitution has changed over time to adjust to different needs and situations.
• Examine the rights and responsibilities of individuals in American society by analyzing democratic principles (e.g., liberty, justice, individual human dignity, and the rule of law) as expressed in historical events, historical documents (e.g., the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, U. S. Constitution), and American society.
• Understand the ways in which citizens can affect political change.
• Examine how culture in the United States has been influenced by religion, language, literature, arts, beliefs, and behavior of people in America’s past.
• Investigate how social institutions addressed human needs in early United States history.
• Analyze social interactions, including conflict and cooperation, among individuals and groups in United States history.
• Develop an awareness that various cultures and religions have contributed to our cultural heritage.

Grading: 

Students will be evaluated on class assignments and activities including but not limited to the following:   

·         Homework (chapter questions, worksheets)

·         Projects/Reports

·         Tests/Quizzes

·         Essay questions

·         Power Point Presentation 

Course Content:  (Time Frame is approximate) 

FIRST QUARTER 

Map Skills and Themes of Geography                                            One week 

Native Americans                                                                                Two weeks 

Explorers                                                                                              Two weeks 

Colonial Period – New England Colonies

                                  Southern Colonies

                                  Middle Colonies                                                 Four weeks

SECOND QUARTER 

American Revolution                                                                          Three weeks 

Articles of Confederation                                                                  Two weeks

United States Constitution                                                                Four weeks 

THIRD QUARTER                                    

Beginnings of a Nation                                                                      Two weeks 

Jefferson Era                                                                                       Two weeks 

Foreign Policy                                                                                     Three weeks 

Jacksonian Democracy                                                                      Two weeks 

FOURTH QUARTER 

Westward Expansion                                                                          Two weeks 

Sectionalism – North

                           South

                           West                                                                           Four weeks 

Reform Movement                                                                               One week 

Civil War                                                                                              Two weeks