CIVICS AND GOVERNMENT
Students will learn the constitutional principles and the democratic foundations of national, state, and local systems and institutions.Further, students will learn how to exercise the rights and responsibilities of participation in civic life and to analyze and evaluate public policies. This understanding entails insight into political power, how it is distributed and expressed, the types and purposes of governments, and their relationships with the governed. Political relationships among the United States and other nations are also included in this content area.
CA. RIGHTS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND PARTICIPATION
Students will understand the rights and responsibilities of civic life and employ the skills of effective civic participation. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Identify the characteristics of an effective citizen.
2. Evaluate and defend positions on current issues regarding individual rights and judicial protection.
3. Describe and analyze the process by which a proposed law is adopted, including the role of governmental and non-governmental influences.
4. Identify ways in which citizens in a pluralistic society manage differences of opinion on public policy issues.
5. Explain the functions of and relationships among local, state, and national governments.
CB. PURPOSE AND TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
Students will understand the types and purposes of governments, their evolution, and their relationships with the governed. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Compare leadership and civil rights in our democracy to their status under an authoritarian type government.
2. Compare and contrast the structures of local, state, and national government.
3. Contrast the roles of local, state, and national governments by investigating, evaluating, and debating a current civic issue.
4. Identify key representatives in legislative branches and the heads of executive and judicial branches in Maine and in the United States government.
5. Assess competing ideas about the purposes government should serve (e.g., individual rights versus collective rights).
6. Explain the history and functions of Maine state government, including the Constitution of Maine.
CC. FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT AND CONSTITUTIONS
Students will understand the constitutional principles and the democratic foundations of the political institutions of the United States. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Explain the meaning and importance of fundamental principles of American constitutional democracy (e.g., popular sovereignty, rule of law, three branches of government, representative institutions, shared powers, checks and balances, and separation of church and state).
2. Examine civil rights, liberties, and responsibilities established in the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights.
3. Take and defend positions on current issues involving the constitutional practice of individual rights (e.g., freedom of speech, separations of church and state).
4. Explain the importance, in a pluralistic society, of having certain shared political values and principles.
CD. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Students will understand the political relationships among the United States and other nations. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Explain the foreign policy powers which the Constitution gives to the branches of the government.
2. Assess the ways in which the United States government has attempted to resolve an international problem (e.g., Vietnam, Northern Ireland, World War II).
3. Explain the reasons for alliances with some nations against others (e.g., with France during the American Revolution, with the Allied Powers in World War II, NATO).
HISTORY
Students will learn to analyze the human experience through time, to recognize the relationships of events and people, and to identify patterns, themes, and turning points of change using the chronology of history and major eras. In interpreting current and historical events, students will evaluate the credibility and perspectives of multiple sources of information gathered from technology, documents, artifacts, maps, the arts, and literature.
HA. CHRONOLOGY
Students will use the chronology of history and major eras to demonstrate the relationships of events and people. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Describe the effects of historical changes on daily life.
2. Identify the sequence of major events and people in the history of Maine, the United States, and selected world civilizations. (See suggested list below in "Secondary Grades.")
3. Trace simultaneous events in various parts of the world during a specific era.
EXAMPLE
Select a significant figure from Maine history and research the period of his or her life to discover what events that person might have witnessed or participated in.
Trace movements of pastoral peoples (e.g., the Hebrews, Turks, Huns, Mongols) by examining references to them in the chronologies of other peoples, using these references to build a time-line specifically for the group chosen.
HB. HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE, CONCEPTS, AND PATTERNS
Students will develop historical knowledge of major events, people, and enduring themes in the United States, in Maine, and throughout world history. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the causes and effects of major events in United States history and the connections to Maine history with an emphasis on events up to 1877, including but not limited to:
Declaration of Independence The Constitution
Westward Expansion Industrialization
Civil War
2. Demonstrate an understanding of selected themes in Maine, United States, and world history (e.g., revolution, technological innovation, migration).
3. Demonstrate an understanding of selected turning points in ancient and medieval world history and the continuing influence of major civilizations of the past.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of selected twentieth century issues and events in United States and in Maine history, including "modern" Maine history (1945 to present).
HC. HISTORICAL INQUIRY, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION
Students will learn to evaluate resource material such as documents, artifacts, maps, artworks, and literature, and to make judgments about the perspectives of the authors and their credibility when interpreting current historical events. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Judge the accuracy of historical fiction by comparing the characters and events described with descriptions in multiple primary sources.
2. Explain why historical accounts of the same event sometimes differ and relate this explanation to the evidence presented by the author or the point of view of the author.
3. Use information from a variety of primary and secondary sources to identify and support a point of view on a controversial historical topic.
4. Identify ethnic and cultural perspectives missing from an historical account and describe these points of view.
5. Formulate historical questions based on examination of primary and secondary sources including documents, eyewitness accounts, letters and diaries, artifacts, real or simulated historical sites, charts, graphs, diagrams, and written texts.
GEOGRAPHY
In order to understand and analyze the relationships among people and environments, students will learn how to construct and interpret maps, and how to use globes and other geographic tools to locate and derive information about people, places, regions, and environments. In an integrated way, students will study people and the physical characteristics and processes of the earth's surface to understand causes and effects, ecosystems, human behavior, patterns of population, interdependence, resources, cooperation and conflict, and how these are shaped by economic, political, and cultural systems.
GA. SKILLS AND TOOLS
Students will know how to construct and interpret maps and use globes and other geographic tools to locate and derive information about people, places, regions, and environments. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Visualize the globe and construct maps of the world and its sub-regions to identify patterns of human settlement, major physical features, and political divisions.
2. Develop maps, globes, charts, models, and databases to analyze geographical patterns on the earth.
3. Understand United States social, political, and economic divisions and the more significant social and political divisions in world geography.
EXAMPLE
Speculate about the types of exchanges of goods and materials which might occur between economic regions, and the routes and types of transportation used.
GB. HUMAN INTERACTION WITH ENVIRONMENTS
Students will understand and analyze the relationships among people and their physical environments. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Analyze how technology shapes the physical and human characteristics of places and regions, including Maine.
2. Explain patterns of migration throughout the world.
3. Explain how cultures differ in their use of similar environments and resources.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of how society changes as a consequence of concentrated settlement.
ECONOMICS
Students will learn and apply basic economic concepts of production, distribution, and consumption to make decisions as effective participants in an international economy. Students will understand the development, principles, institutions, relationships to culture, and change over time of economic systems in the United States and elsewhere. Students will also understand how these concepts apply to individuals, households, businesses, governments, and societies which make decisions based on the availability of resources, as well as on costs and benefits of choices. These concepts also help to explain the patterns and results of trade, interdependence, and distribution of wealth in local, regional, national, and world economies.
EA. PERSONAL AND CONSUMER ECONOMICS
Students will understand that economic decisions are based on the availability of resources and the costs and benefits of choices. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Analyze how scarcity affects individuals' decisions about production and consumption of goods and services.
2. Identify and analyze the factors that contribute to personal spending and savings decisions.
3. Use an example to show how incentives affect economic decisions (e.g., tax-deferred savings plans, a fast food restaurant's discount promotion).
EB. ECONOMIC SYSTEMS OF THE UNITED STATES
Students will understand the economic system of the United States, including its principles, development, and institutions. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Demonstrate knowledge of economic concepts of supply, demand, price, the role of money, and profit and loss.
2. Analyze how prices act as signals to producers and customers to answer the three basic economic questions: What to produce? how? and for whom?
3. Identify how the fundamental characteristics of the United States economic system (e.g., private property, profits, competition, and price system) influence economic decision-making.
4. Explain the impact that major events and technological advancements have had on the Maine economy and predict future economic trends and career opportunities.
5. Describe the roles and contributions of the principal contributors to the economy (e.g., laborers, investors, entrepreneurs, managers).
EC. COMPARATIVE SYSTEMS
Students will analyze how different economic systems function and change over time. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Describe the characteristics of traditional, command, market, and mixed economic systems.
2. Compare how different economies meet basic wants and needs over time.
ED. INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCE
Students will understand the patterns and results of international trade. Students will be able to:
MIDDLE GRADES 5-8
1. Describe how changes in transportation and communication technologies have affected trade over time.
2. Evaluate how world trade issues can affect a nation's economy and how trade can influence and transform societies.
3. Explain why trade allows specialization, and identify specific examples of how nations specialize (e.g., Japan's focus on consumer electronics).