Grades 9-10: Learning Objectives
- Knowledge: Grades 9 and 10 students should be able to-
- Define terms and concepts such as political power, governance, law, civil rights, responsibilities, democracy, city state, political system, republicanism, feudalism, imperialism, absolutism, divine right theory, nationalism, enlightened despotism, totalitarianism, communism, Holocaust, and genocide
- Discuss the purposes of government and describe different political systems around the world
- List the rights and responsibilities of citizenship across time and space
- Describe the political systems that developed in traditional societies including early river civilizations
- Discuss the rise of Greek city-states including Athens and Sparta
- Define democracy and explain how it developed in ancient Greece
- Explain the impacts that Greek and Roman civilizations had on later political systems
- Discuss the significance of Hammurabi’s Code, Hebrew law, and the Twelve Tables of Rome
- Describe the significance of the Justinian Code and other political contributions of the Byzantine Empire
- Summarize the political contributions of the golden age of Islam
- Explain the role of feudalism in Medieval Europe and the effects of feudalism on individual citizens’ rights
- Compare the roles of absolute rulers during the first global age, including Suleiman I, Louis XIV, and Peter the Great
- Discuss the responses to divine right theory and absolutism and the rise of parliamentary democracy in England
- Explain the effects of the enlightenment on political revolutions including the American and French
- Outline the rise of global nationalism in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia
- Explain the effects of imperialism on India, Africa, and Asia
- Discuss the causes and impacts of the Russian Revolution and Chinese Communist Revolution
- Summarize the causes and effects of World War II including the violations of human rights during the Nazi Holocaust
- Describe the role of the United Nations in peace keeping missions throughout the world
- Outline the political effects of the collapse of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union and the unrest in Eastern Europe
- Discuss the impacts of global terrorism on attempts to bring self determination and democracy to the Middle East and to nations in Asia and Africa
- Skills: Grades 9 and 10 students will learn and practice social studies skills related to getting, using, organizing, and presenting information.
Students should be able to get information by-
- Identifying a variety of sources of information about different political systems over time and place including standard reference works, newspapers, magazines, professional journals, Internet websites, primary and secondary sources, government documents, and historical monographs
- Locating specific information about various forms of government in different world communities over time and place by using card catalogues, indices, on-line databases, tables of contents, bibliographies, and Internet websites
- Visiting virtual museums (e.g., Benaki Museum, Athens at www.onassisusa.org), libraries, historic sites, art galleries, college and university libraries and study centers, embassies, and archives to collect information about the historical and philosophical foundations for the political systems of various world civilizations
- Viewing motion pictures, videotapes, DVDs, television documentaries, and plays about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, structure and functions of governments, and how public policies are made in different nations throughout the world
- Listening to radio broadcasts, recordings, interviews, and online reports about how various nations are governed and how governance has changed over time
- Reading from text and trade books, monographs, novels, letters to the editor, newspaper and magazine articles, editorials, government documents, diaries, and transcripts of television and radio broadcasts about the forces and factors shaping political systems throughout the world, today and in the past
- Visiting the United Nations website (www.un.org or www.unicef.org) to collect information about different types of world governments, the United Nation peacekeeping actions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Model UN Program, and webcasts from the United Nations
- Visiting the CIA Fact Book to learn about the governments of various world nations at www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook
- Listening to patriotic and nationalistic music, operas and songs from different world communities to learn what citizens valued and what principles united them
- Preparing charts that describe the basic purposes of government, the roles and responsibilities of citizenship, the structures and functions of different levels of government, and how leaders are selected and their responsibilities
- Developing timelines that illustrate the parallel development of the political systems of different classical civilizations including the growth of democracy in ancient Athens, the role of the citizen in the Roman Republic and the significance of Hammurabi’s Code
- Outlining the important contributions of the Byzantine Empire in the area of law, specifically the Justinian Code
- Responding to document-based questions about medieval government focusing on: how leaders were chosen, how political decisions were made, how laws were made and administered, how justice was provided, and the roles of citizenship
- Classifying political systems into traditional (where people follow rules that are handed down from the past), authoritarian (where a few individuals solve political problems for everyone), and democratic (where citizens have an important voice in the solution of political problems)
- Preparing charts that compare and contrast absolute and divine right rulers such as Suleiman I, Akbar, Louis XIV, and Peter the Great in terms of their personal characteristics and social backgrounds; how they were chosen or assumed their positions; how they remained in power; and their important contributions as political decision makers
- Completing Venn diagrams that compare the political philosophies of different Enlightenment thinkers including John Locke, Voltaire, Machiavelli, Rousseau, and Montesquieu
- Developing charts that display information about the rise of global nationalism including information about its causes, modes of expression, impacts, and long-term effects in Italy, Germany, India, and the Middle East
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Designing and constructing classroom displays that compare different types of political systems over time and place based on the following concepts*:
- political decision-makers (the people who make, interpret, and enforce the rules of the political system)
- political decision-making (the process by which a political system makes, enforces, and interprets rules)
- political institutions (the organizations and ways of handling political decisions)
- political culture (the beliefs, attitudes, values and skills of the people who are part of a political system)
- citizenship (the part played by an individual in a political system)
(*Taken from: Edwin Fenton, Anthony Penna, and Mindella Schultz, Teacher’s Guide for Comparative Political Systems: An Inquiry Approach, Holt Social Studies Curriculum, 1973, pp. xix-xx.)
- Writing reports about the effects of European imperialism in India, Africa, and China, including the reasons for imperialism, conflicting viewpoints about imperialism, and the relationship between nationalism, industrialization, and imperialism
- Preparing oral reports about human rights cases throughout history including the Armenian massacres, forced famine in Ukraine, and Nazi Holocaust and describing their causes, impacts, and long-term effects
- Developing a document-based activity that focuses on the collapse of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union including documents about the background events, causes, historical events, fall of the Berlin Wall, ethnic conflicts, changing boundaries, and current challenges facing Eastern European nations
- Publishing a classroom newspaper that features current political events around the world focusing on the adoption of democratic governments, election campaigns, regional organizations (e.g., NATO, the UN, African National Congress, OAS, SEATO), constitution building, and the extension of civil rights and the political process
- Preparing a classroom lesson for middle school students about the role of the United Nations in protecting the rights of children throughout the world, specifically the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (www.un.org) focusing on the goals of the UN and resources available for students
- Civic Dispositions*: Students should learn and demonstrate the following civic values and attitudes-
- Willing to listen to others points of view or positions on issues even if one strongly disagrees (i.e., civility and civil conversation)
- Willing to view and assess a problem or issue from different points of view or perspectives (i.e., perspective taking)
- Willing to put oneself into another’s shoes
- Willing to allow others to express their opinions, without interruption, after expressing one’s own opinion
- Willing to participate in open-ended and respectful discussions, without using name calling or verbal attacks on those who disagree with one’s own position or arguments
- Willing to show respect for the rule of law
- Willing to consider other points of view or arguments before forming conclusions or making judgments
- Willing to tolerate ambiguity and resist simplistic solutions to complex issues and problems
- Willing to respect the civil rights of others
- Willing to participate in classroom, school, and community activities
- Willing to respect others’ space and property
- Willing to demonstrate personal responsibility
Civic dispositions or traits of private and public character important to the preservation and improvement of American constitutional democracy: **
- Becoming an independent member of society
- Respecting individual worth and human dignity
- Assuming the personal, political, and economic responsibilities of a citizen
- Participating in civic affairs in an informed, thoughtful, and effective manner
- Promoting the healthy functioning of American constitutional democracy
(*Adapted from: Judith Torney-Purta and Susan Vermeer, Developing Citizenship Competencies from Kindergarten through Grade 12: A Background Paper for Policymakers and Educators (Education Commission of the States, 2004), p. 21. and Dialogue on Brown v. Board of Education (American Bar Association - Division for Public Education, 2003), p. 7.)
(**Taken from: NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) Civics Assessment, Civic Dispositions, p. 73. For more information see: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard)
