What does a student learn in StateMichigan,GradeGrade 7,SubjectSocial Studies?

Use geographical inquiry and analysis to answer questions about relationships between peoples, cultures, and their environments, and interaction among places and cultures within the era under study.

Use a variety of geographical tools (maps, globes, geographic information systems [GIS], and web-based geography technology) to analyze what is happening at different times in different locations.

Apply the skills of geographic inquiry (asking geographic questions, acquiring geographic information, organizing geographic information, analyzing geographic information, and answering geographic questions) to analyze a geographic problem or issue.

Use, interpret, and create maps and graphs representing places and regions in the era being studied.

Locate and use information from maps and GIS to answer geographic questions on the era and region being studied.

Investigation And Analysis (P1, P2)

conduct research on topics and issues, compose persuasive essays, and develop a plan for action.

Describe how technology creates patterns and networks that connect people, products, and ideas.

Identify and describe the advantages, disadvantages, and impacts of different technologies used to transport products and ideas in the era being studied.

Describe patterns, processes, and functions of human settlement.

Explain how people in the past have modified the environment and used technology to make places more suitable for humans.

Describe patterns of settlement and explain why people settled where they did.

Explain the patterns, causes, and consequences of major human migrations.

Explain how forces of conflict and cooperation among people influence the division of the Earth's surface and its resources.

Identify factors that contribute to conflict and cooperation between and among cultural groups.

Describe examples of cooperation and conflict in the era being studied.

Explain how humans used, adapted to, and modified the environment in the era studied.

Describe examples of how humans modified the environment in the era being studied.

Explain how different technologies were used in the era being studied.

Explain how people defined and used natural resources in the era being studied.

Use historical conceptual devices to organize and study the past.

Compare and contrast several different calendar systems used in the past and present and their cultural significance.

Use historical inquiry and analysis to study the past.

Explain how historians use a variety of sources to explore the past.

Read and comprehend a historical passage to identify basic factual knowledge and the literal meaning by indicating who was involved, what happened, where it happened, what events led to the development, and what consequences or outcomes followed.

Identify the point of view (perspective of the author) and context when reading and discussing primary and secondary sources.

Compare and evaluate differing historical perspectives based on evidence.

Describe how historians use methods of inquiry to identify cause/effect relationships in history, noting that many have multiple causes.

Identify the role of the individual in history and the significance of one person's ideas.

Use historical concepts, patterns, and themes to study the past.

Describe and use cultural institutions to study an era and a region.

Describe and use themes of history to study patterns of change and continuity.

Use historical perspectives to analyze global issues faced by humans long ago and today.

WHG Era 1: The Beginnings Of Human Society: Beginnings To 4000 BCE

WHG Era 2: Early Civilizations And Cultures And The Emergence Of Pastoral Peoples, 4000 To 1000 BCE And Western Hemisphere 4000 BCE to 1500 CE

WHG Era 3: Classical Traditions, World Religions, And Major Empires, 1000 BCE To 300 CE

WHG Era 4: Bridge To Era 4-Case Studies From Three Continents

Describe the spread of people during Era 1.

Explain how and when human communities populated major regions of the world and adapted to a variety of environments.

Explain what archaeologists have learned about Paleolithic and Neolithic societies.

Describe the Agricultural Revolution and explain why it was a turning point in history.

Describe the transition of many cultures from hunter-gatherers to sedentary agriculture (domestication of plants and animals).

Explain the importance of the natural environment in the development of agricultural settlements in different locations.

Explain the impact of the first Agricultural Revolution (stable food supply, surplus, population growth, trade, division of labor, development of settlements, changes to the environment, and changes to hunter-gatherer societies).

Analyze early civilizations and pastoral societies.

Describe the importance of the development of human communication (oral, visual, and written) and its relationship to the development of culture.

Describe how the invention of agriculture led to the emergence of agrarian civilizations (seasonal harvests, specialized crops, cultivation, and development of villages and towns).

Use historical and modern maps and other sources to locate, describe, and analyze major river systems and discuss the ways these physical settings supported permanent settlements and development of early civilizations.

Examine early civilizations to describe their common features, including environment, economies, and social institutions.

Define the concept of cultural diffusion and explain how ideas and technology spread from one region to another.

Describe pastoralism and explain how the climate and geography of Central Asia were linked to the rise of pastoral societies on the steppes.

Analyze classical civilizations and empires and their lasting impact.

Describe the characteristics that classical civilizations share.

Using historic and modern maps, locate three major empires of this era, describe their geographic characteristics including physical features and climates, and propose a generalization about the relationship between geographic characteristics and the development of early empires.

Compare and contrast the defining characteristics of a city-state, civilization, and empire.

Assess the importance of Greek ideas about democracy and citizenship in the development of Western political thought and institutions.

Describe major achievements from Indian, Chinese, Mediterranean, African, Southwest and Central Asian, Mesoamerican, and Andean civilizations.

Use historic and modern maps to locate and describe trade networks linking empires in the classical era.

Use a case study to describe how trade integrated cultures and influenced the economy within empires.

Describe the role of state authority, military power, taxation systems, 71 and institutions of coerced labor, including slavery, in building and maintaining empires.

Describe the significance of legal codes, belief systems, written languages, and communications in the development of large regional empires.

Create a timeline that illustrates the rise and fall of classical empires during the classical period.

Explain the role of economics in shaping the development of classical civilizations and empires.

Explain how world religions or belief systems of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Sikhism, and Islam grew and their significance (Sikhism and Islam are included here even though they came after 300 CE). The world's major faiths and ethical systems emerged, establishing institutions, systems of thought, and cultural styles that would influence neighboring peoples and endure for centuries.

Identify and describe the core beliefs of major world religions and belief systems, including Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Sikhism and Islam.

Locate the geographical center of major religions and map the spread through 1500 CE.

analyze the environmental, economic, and political crises in the classical world that led to the collapse of classical empires and the consolidation of Byzantium.

use a case study to describe how trade integrated cultures and influenced the economy within early African empires.

use a case study to describe the culture and economy of Indigenous Peoples in North America prior to 1500.

Identify and analyse issues, decision making, persuasive communication about a public issue, and citizen involvement

Clearly state an issue as a question of public policy in contemporary or historical context, or as a contemporary/historical comparison. Trace the origins of an issue, analyze and synthesize various perspectives, and generate and evaluate alternative resolutions. Deeply examine policy issues in group discussions and debates to make reasoned and informed decisions. Write persuasive/argumentative essays expressing and justifying decisions on public policy issues. Plan and conduct activities intended to advance views on matters of public policy, report the results, and evaluate effectiveness:

identify public policy issues related to global topics and issues studied.

clearly state the issue as a question of public policy orally or in written form.

use inquiry methods to acquire content knowledge and appropriate data about the issue.

identify the causes and consequences and analyze the impact, both positive and negative.

share and discuss findings of research and issue analysis in group discussions and debates.

compose a persuasive essay justifying the position with a reasoned argument.

develop an action plan to address or inform others about the issue at the different scales.

Act constructively to further the public good.

Demonstrate knowledge of how, when, and where individuals would plan and conduct activities intended to advance views in matters of public policy, report the results, and evaluate effectiveness.

Engage in activities intended to contribute to solving a national or international problem studied.

Participate in projects to help or inform others.