Social Studies Department

The Social Studies curriculum centers on the study of global cultures both past and present. The Academy strives to create active classroom environments in which students can develop into self-directed learners and prepare themselves for the world of tomorrow. The Academy fosters an investigation approach toward learning that places a premium on participation along with the analysis and evaluation of historical questions and topics. Academic skills are introduced and reinforced at each grade level. Foremost among theses skills is the utilization of new and emerging technologies. Students learn how to locate, select, and interpret information from the rapidly expanding base of electronic resources. The department emphasizes an interdisciplinary methodology that incorporates literature, art, and other subjects into its curriculum. We believe that students can employ their knowledge of the past as a means of dealing with the challenges and complexities of the future.

GEOGRAPHY

Grade 7

1 Credit

This course is designed to introduce students to the core knowledge about physical, human, environmental and cultural graphic systems. Later students will be required to analyze, evaluate, and supply this knowledge in a variety of ways including projects, research, writing assignments, tests, and quizzes. The course first focuses on geographic knowledge including the five themes of geography and other geographer tools including vocabulary, maps, geological evidence, GPS and GIS. Ideas of physical, human, and cultural geography are established. The focus of the class then becomes using this knowledge in relation to assessing various world regions/countries.

WORLD HISTORY (409)

Grade 9

1 Credit

This course has two main approaches: First, students will explore the values held by ancient people in relation to contemporary ones. Students will examine how earlier beliefs about authority, the organization of society, the divine, and the world at large differ from or compliment modern views. Second, we will reflect upon historical processes such as migration, trade, warfare, the development of technology, and cultural exchange. Students will investigate how these processes changed individual lives at different periods in pre-modern history. The course will emphasis development of critical skills in reading and analyzing primary source documents.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD HISTORY (410)

Grade 10

1 Credit

This course is designed to aid the student in developing skills of historical analysis and inquiry. These techniques will help the student to approach social, economic, political, and cultural problems met in today's world. Comprehensive in design, the course includes the study of history, philosophy, religion, humanities, fine art, and literature to demonstrate the ways in which man through the ages has coped with the most pressing issues of his time. It is hoped that the student will acquire critical thinking skills and an appreciation of the aesthetic tradition of which they are a part.

Evaluation of student achievement will be based on major tests, quizzes, oral reports, essays, and contributions to the class.

AMERICAN HISTORY (411)

Grade 11

1 Credit

A survey of the history of our nation. American History places emphasis on the period following independence to the present. Through a close examination of the American past, students will gain a greater appreciation and understanding of the forces, which have shaped our country. Students are encouraged to develop their critical thinking in both the written and spoken word through essays and class discussion.

Major tests, analytical essays, research projects, and class participation will be the major ways by which student progress is measured.

PRINCIPALS OF DEMOCRACY (412)

Grades 11 and 12

1 Credit

Analyze the structure of the democracy of the United States in detail. Offer a comparative United States democracy to European Democracies.