Grade 6 Social Studies Maryland standards Standards

Skills and Processes

History

Economics

Geography

Peoples of the Nations and World

Civics

Inquire about the historical development of the fundamental concepts and processes of authority, power, and influence with particular emphasis on civic reasoning in order to become informed, responsible citizens, engage in the political process, and contribute to society.

Inquire about the people of the United States and the world using a historically grounded, multidisciplinary approach in order to recognize multiple narratives and acknowledge the diversity and commonality of the human experience.

Inquire about the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location, distribution, and impact of human activities using geographic tools and spatial thinking in order to demonstrate a significance of place.

Inquire about decisions made by individuals and groups using economic reasoning in order to understand the historical development and current status of economic principles, institutions, and processes needed to be effective citizens, consumers, and workers participating in local communities, the nation, and the world.

Inquire about significant events, ideas, beliefs, and themes to identify patterns and trends and to analyze how individuals and societies have changed over time to make connections to the present in their communities, Maryland, the United States, and the world.

Inquire about civics, geography, economics, history, and people and nations of the world using disciplinary literacy skills and processes to critically evaluate content through a variety of source materials across disciplines and use reading, writing, and other forms of communication to develop, defend, and critique arguments in order to take informed action.

Communicating and Critiquing Conclusions & Taking Informed Action

Evaluating Sources & Using Evidence

Constructing Compelling Questions

Developing Questions & Planning Inquiries

Conflict between Ideas and Institutions

Skills And Processes

Emergence, Expansion and Changes in Nations and Empires

Individuals and Societies Change Over Time

History

Economic Systems and the Role of Government in the Economy

Scarcity and Economic Decision-making

Economics

Modifying and Adapting to the Environment

Movement of People, Goods and Ideas

Geographic Characteristics of Places and Regions

Using Geographic Tools

Geography

Conflict and Compromise

Cultural Diffusion

Elements of Culture

Peoples Of The Nations And World

Participation and Political Deliberation

Protecting Rights and Maintaining Order

Individual and Group Participation in the Political System

The Foundations and Function of Government

Civics

Students shall inquire about the historical development of the fundamental concepts and processes of authority, power, and influence with particular emphasis on civic reasoning in order to become informed, responsible citizens, engage in the political process, and contribute to society.

Students shall inquire about the people of the United States and the world using a historically grounded, multidisciplinary approach in order to recognize multiple narratives and acknowledge the diversity and commonality of the human experience.

Students shall inquire about the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location, distribution, and impact of human activities using geographic tools and spatial thinking in order to demonstrate a significance of place.

Students shall inquire about decisions made by individuals and groups using economic reasoning in order to understand the historical development and current status of economic principles, institutions, and processes needed to be effective citizens, consumers, and workers participating in local communities, the nation, and the world.

Students shall inquire about significant events, ideas, beliefs, and themes to identify patterns and trends and to analyze how individuals and societies have changed over time to make connections to the present in their communities, Maryland, the United States, and the world.

Apply civic dispositions and skills when working with others

Apply civic dispositions and skills when participating in school, community settings

Identify and apply the appropriate deliberative processes for various settings.

Explain the relevance of personal interests and perspectives, civic skills, and democratic principles when people address issues and problems in government and civil society

Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging the counterclaims strength and limitations of the arguments

Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence, examples and details with relevant information and data, while acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the explanations

Present adaptations of arguments and explanations on topics of interest to others to reach audiences and venues outside the classroom using print and oral technologies (ex. posters, essays, letters, debates, speeches, reports, and maps)

Critique arguments for credibility

Critique the structure of explanations.

Draw on multiple lenses to analyze how a specific problem can manifest itself at local, regional, and global levels over time, identifying its characteristics and cause, and the challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address the problem

Assess their individual and collective capacities to take action to address local, regional, and global problems, taking into account a range of possible strategies and potential outcomes

Apply a range of deliberative and democratic procedures to make decisions and take action in their classrooms and schools, and in out of school civic contexts

Identify a disciplinary topic that reflects a key idea in the field

Identify possible questions for inquiry into the key idea

Analyze key disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with the compelling questions

Construct supporting questions that connect with the compelling question

Analyze the extent to which the supporting questions drive the inquiry

Analyze key disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with the supporting questions

Analyze sources that will be helpful in answering the compelling or supporting questions

Compare experts' interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with compelling and supporting questions

Evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to economic issues in terms of benefits and costs for different groups over time

Plan and predict the financial outcomes in an applied decision-making process

Compare at least three markets that sell similar goods and services and determine which offers the best value

Use appropriate data to evaluate economic indicators such as, unemployment, inflation, total production, income and economic growth in the economy

Investigate how social and cultural decisions affect the ecology and economy

Gather multiple sources that may be relevant to the task

Evaluate the credibility of the sources by considering the authority, the origin, type, context, and corroborative value of each source

Identify credible, relevant information contained in the sources

Identify evidence that draws information from multiple sources to support claims, noting evidentiary limitations

Develop claims and counter claims while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both

Construct maps to represent and explain the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics

Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships bet ween the locations of places and regions, and changes in their environmental characteristics

Use paper based or electronic mapping and graphing techniques to represent and analyze spatial patterns of different environmental and cultural characteristics

Analyze connections among events and developments in broader historical contexts

Classify series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity

Use questions generated about individuals and groups to analyze why they, and the developments they shaped, are seen as historically significant

Analyze multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras

Explain how and why perspectives of people have changed over time

Analyze how people's perspectives influenced what information is available in the historical sources they created

Classify the kinds of historical sources used in a secondary interpretation

Detect possible limitations in the historical record based on evidence collected from different kinds of historical sources

Use other historical sources to infer a plausible maker, date, place of origin, and intended audience for historical sources where this information is not easily identified

Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to identify further areas of inquiry and additional sources

Evaluate the relevancy and utility of a historical source based on information such as maker, date, place of origin, intended audience and purpose

Explain multiple causes and effects of events and developments in the past

Evaluate the relative influence of various causes of events and developments in the past

Organize applicable evidence into a coherent argument about the past

Compare the central arguments in secondary works of history on related topics in multiple media

Students shall inquire about civics, geography, economics, history, and people and nations of the world using disciplinary literacy skills and processes to critically evaluate content through a variety of source materials across disciplines and use reading, writing, and other forms of communication to develop, defend, and critique arguments in order to take informed action.

Examine the necessity and purpose of government in early world history

Identify and compare forms of government and various distributions of power, such as those found in ancient civilizations, dynastic China, absolute and constitutional monarchies

Summarize the positions taken on government by political philosophers from early civilizations through the Middle Ages

Analyze the historic events, documents, and practices in early world history that are the foundations of political systems

Examine and report on the roots of democratic principles in World History, such as Sumerian written law, Hammurabi's Code, Greek city-states, Roman Republicanism, and the British Constitution (Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights)

Examine the decline of feudalism and the emergence of monarchies

Analyze the roles of institutions and governments in early world history regarding public policy and issues

Describe the conflict between the church and the state in the formation and implementation of policy

Analyze perspectives regarding issues in a feudal society, such as the church leaders v. lords of the manor, joining the Crusades, the growth of trade

Analyze the methods used by individuals and groups to shape governmental policy and actions in early world history

Compare methods used in early world history to change governments, such as coups, elections and revolts

Examine the role of citizens in Greek city-states and the Roman Republic/Empire

Examine how religion shaped and influenced government policy

Analyze the importance of civic participation as a citizen of early world history

Analyze the usefulness of various sources of information used to make political decisions

Explain why common people did not have a voice in ancient civilizations

Analyze the individual rights and responsibilities in an ancient world civilization

Describe the importance of citizenship in ancient Rome and Greece

Describe the significance of Hammurabi's Code and how it defined rights of citizens

Evaluate how ancient governments around the world protected or failed to protect the rights of individuals and groups

Explain how the Roman Republic and the rule of the Senate affected individuals and groups

Compare power and authority of rulers in Ancient Egypt, India, Persia and China v. the protection of citizens in Greek city-states

Examine the balance between providing for the common good of the manor v. the rights of the individual serfs

Describe characteristics that historians use to organize people into cultures

Describe how location and environment influenced early world cultures

Describe and compare elements of culture such as art, music, religion, government, social structure, education, values, beliefs and customs, from civilizations in early world history

Describe the social, political, and religious character of societies in early world history

Explain how cultural diffusion influenced the development of cultures

Identify cultural groups within a region in early world history

Describe factors that resulted in cultural diffusion, such as trade, conflict and migration

Describe interactions that promoted or failed to promote relationships between groups, civilizations, empires, and nations

Analyze how increased diversity in early world history resulted from immigration, settlement patterns and economic development

Examine the practices and beliefs of world religions and philosophies including monotheism and polytheism

Describe the impact of various religions on a civilization, such as its effect on political, economic and social systems

Analyze factors that affected relationships in early world history

Examine the causes and effects of social, economic, and political conflict such as the Crusades

Describe the impact of trade and migration on the exchange of ideas and beliefs

Use geographic tools to locate places and describe the human and physical characteristics in early world history

Use maps to compare geographic locations of civilizations from world history to:<ul><li>Mesopotamia</li><li>Africa including Egypt, Nubia/Kush and sub-Saharan Africa</li><li>Indus River Valley</li><li>Northern China</li><li>Greeks and Romans</li><li>Mesoamerican, such as the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs</li></ul>

Use photographs and thematic maps, to identify and describe physical and human characteristics of early civilizations

Examine how physical and human characteristics shape the identity of places and regions and influence the development of civilizations in world history

Identify and describe physical characteristics that influenced human settlement

Explain how physical characteristics of a place influenced human activities, such as agriculture, transportation, art and architecture and economic activity in the ancient world

Explain how human perceptions of and interactions with the environment changed over time in due to technologies, such as road building, dam construction, and agricultural improvements

Describe and analyze population growth, migration and settlement patterns in early world history

Identify reasons why people migrate, such as economic opportunity, climate, and political reasons

Explain how the development of transportation and communication networks influenced the movement of people, goods and ideas from place to place, such as trade routes in Africa, Asia and Europe, and the spread of Islam

Describe how economic systems and cultural diffusion help to shape patterns of human settlement and interaction

Analyze why and how people modify their natural environment and the impact of those modifications

Describe ways people modified their environment to meet their needs, such as cultivating lands, building roads, dams, and aqueducts

Analyze how people in early world history perceived and reacted to environmental concerns, such as flooding, drought, and depletion of natural resources and evaluate the consequences of those actions

Explain that people made choices because resources relative to economic wants to goods and services in the context of early world history

Identify opportunity cost of economic decisions made by individuals and groups such as the decision to engage in trade

Analyze how scarce economic resources were used to satisfy economic wants in early world history

Identify ways people have used resources to meet economic wants such as domesticating agriculture

Describe how available resources affected specialization and trade

Analyze how technological changes affected consumption and production in early world history

Give examples of how technology changed consumption and provided greater access to goods and services

Examine why technology has changed production such as the development of the printing press

Examine how specialization, interdependence and trade affected the production of goods and services in early world history

Analyze examples of regional specialization that resulted from economic resources, such as silk production, bronze casting and terraced farming

Describe the effects of agricultural surplus and job specialization on the emergence of early towns and cities in various parts of the world

Identify African and Eurasian trade routes to explain how surplus goods and regional specialization resulted in economic interdependence

Describe the types of economic systems in early world societies

Describe how various early world societies answer the basic question of what, how, and for whom to produce

Describe examples of tradition in economies such as the economic roles of men and women in tribal societies

Describe examples of command in economies, such as the feudal system

Describe the transition from feudalism and the manor system to the development of early towns

Explain how the growth and management of towns, guilds, and the banking system were affected by technology and agriculture

Analyze how the guild system addressed changes in the economy, such as dictating price and production

Describe the importance of medium of exchange in early world history

Explain how societies used mediums of exchange to facilitate trade and help their economies grow

Analyze how the rise of the earliest communities led to the emergence of agricultural societies

Describe characteristics and innovations of hunting and gathering societies, such as nomadic lifestyles, inventors of tools, adaptation to animal migration and vegetation cycles and the shift from food gathering to food-producing activities

Explain how and why towns and cities grew from early human settlements, including the need for security and government

Examine the emergence, growth and decline of empires in the Americas

Describe and trace the development of political and social structures of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs

Analyze how civilizations emerged in the river valley areas

Describe the characteristics of a civilization, such as social hierarchy, government, writing system, specialization in an area of trade and the establishment of cities

Compare major cultural, political and economic achievements of river valley civilizations, such as the Tigris and Euphrates River Valley, the Huang River Valley, the Indus River Valley and the Nile River Valley including Egypt, Nubia and Kush

Analyze the emergence and enduring influence of Aegean civilizations

Describe the major cultural achievements of the Greek civilization, such as art, science, political systems, and philosophy across time

Explain the emergence, rise and decline of the Greek city-states

Analyze the emergence, expansion and decline of the Roman Empire

Describe the major achievements of the Roman Era, such as legal, artistic, architectural, technological, and literary

Explain the transition from Roman Republic to Roman Empire including the social structure, significance of citizenship and the development of political institutions

Summarize the factors that led to the decline of the Roman Empire

Compare the dynasties and empires in ancient China

Describe the causes and consequences of the unification of China under early imperial dynasties, such as the Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang

Explain the major traditions, customs and beliefs of Confucianism and Taoism in the context of early Chinese imperial dynasties

Analyze China's cultural, political and economic influence on Japan, Korea, and countries in Southeast Asia

Analyze the emergence, growth and decline of African Empires

Describe the contributions of major African monarchies, cities, and trade networks, such as Ghana, Mali and Songhai

Analyze the cultural and economic impact of African regional and worldwide trade routes

Summarize the factors that led to the decline of the African empires

Analyze the effect of interactions between civilizations in early world history

Describe how interactions promoted or failed to promote development, such as the Fertile Crescent Empire, Greek city-states, and Latin Empires

Analyze the causes of the rise and fall, expansion and contraction of political entities and nation-states

Analyze the major traditions, customs, and beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism and their expansion throughout Asia

Describe the major traditions, customs and beliefs of Buddhism

Explain the major traditions, customs and beliefs of Hinduism and its political and social impact on India

Analyze the emergence and expansion of Islamic civilization

Analyze the major traditions, customs, and beliefs of Islam

Describe causes and consequences of the expansion of Islam into other regions, such as Southwest Asia, Southeast Asia, North Africa, Europe and India

Analyze the changes in the European society during the Middle Ages

Analyze the major traditions, customs, and beliefs of Christianity

Explain the origins and consequences of the Black Death during the 14th century, such as a population decrease, a decline in trade, the elimination of the social order and the decline of religious power

Analyze the characteristics of the development and decline of feudalism and the emergence of monarchies

Describe the causes, consequences and cultural diffusion that resulted from the Crusades, such as the increase in Mediterranean trade and the exchange of knowledge and ideas