SOCIAL STUDIES BENCHMARKS
K - 12

History

Students use materials drawn from the diversity of human experience to analyze and interpret significant events, patterns and themes in the history of Ohio, the United States and the world.

Notes

By the end of the K-2 program:

  1. Use a calendar to determine the day, week, month and year.
     
  2. Place events in correct order on a time line.
     
  3. Compare daily life in the past and present demonstrating an understanding that while basic human needs remain the same, they are met in different ways in different times and places.
     
  4. Recognize that the actions of individuals make a difference, and relate the stories of people from diverse backgrounds who have contributed to the heritage of the United States.

By the end of the 3-5 program:

  1. Construct time lines to demonstrate an understanding of units of time and chronological order.
     
  2. Describe the cultural patterns that are evident in North America today as a result of exploration, colonization and conflict.
     
  3. Explain how new developments led to the growth of the United States.

By the end of the 6-8 program:

  1. Interpret relationships between events shown on multiple-tier time lines.
     
  2. Describe the political and social characteristics of early civilizations and their enduring impact on later civilizations.
     
  3. Describe the characteristics of feudal societies and the transition to the Renaissance and Reformation in Europe.
     
  4. Describe the effects of interactions among civilizations during the 14th through the 18th centuries.
     
  5. Explain the causes and consequences of the American Revolution, with emphasis on both Colonial and British perspectives.
     
  6. Explain the political and economic challenges faced by the United States after the Revolutionary War and the actions that resulted in the adoption of the United States Constitution.
     
  7. Analyze the causes and consequences of the American Civil War.

By the end of the 9-10 program:

  1. Explain connections between the ideas of the Enlightenment and changes in the relationships between citizens and their governments.
     
  2. Explain the social, political and economic effects of industrialization.
     
  3. Analyze the reasons that countries gained control of territory through imperialism and the impact on people living in the territory that was controlled.
     
  4. Connect developments related to World War I with the onset of World War II.
     
  5. Analyze connections between World War II, the Cold War and contemporary conflicts.
     
  6. Identify major historical patterns in the domestic affairs of the United States during the 20th century and explain their significance.

By the end of the 11-12 program:

  1. Explain patterns of historical continuity and change by challenging arguments of historical inevitability.
     
  2. Use historical interpretations to explain current issues.

People in Societies

Students use knowledge of perspectives, practices and products of cultural, ethnic and social groups to analyze the impact of their commonality and diversity within local, national, regional and global settings.

Notes

By the end of the K-2 program:

  1. Identify practicesandproducts of diverse cultures.
     
  2. Identify ways that different cultures within the United States and the world have shaped our national heritage.

By the end of the 3-5 program:

  1. Compare practices and products of North American cultural groups.
     
  2. Explain the reasons people from various culturalgroups came to North America and the consequences of their interactions with each other.

By the end of the 6-8 program:

  1. Compare cultural practices, productsandperspectives of past civilizations in order to understand commonality and diversity of cultures.
     
  2. Analyze examples of interactions between cultural groups and explain the factors that contribute to cooperation and conflict.
     
  3. Explain how contact between different cultures impacts the diffusion of belief systems, art, science, technology, language and forms of government.

By the end of the 9-10 program:

  1. Analyze the influence of different cultural perspectives on the actions of groups.
     
  2. Analyze the consequences of oppression, discrimination and conflict between cultures.
     
  3. Analyze the ways that contacts between people of different cultures result in exchanges of cultural practices.

By the end of the 11-12 program:

  1. Analyze how issues may be viewed differently by various cultural groups.
     
  2. Identify the causes of political, economic and social oppression and analyze ways individuals, organizations and countriesrespond to resulting conflicts.
     
  3. Explain the role of diverse cultural institutions in shaping American society.

Geography

Students use knowledge of geographic locations, patterns and processes to show the interrelationship between the physical environment and human activity, and to explain the interactions that occur in an increasingly interdependent world.

Notes

By the end of the K-2 program:

  1. Identify the location of the state of Ohio, the United States, the continents and oceans on maps, globes and other geographic representations.
     
  2. Identify physicalandhumanfeatures of places.
     
  3. Explain how environmental processes influence human activity and ways humans depend on and adapt to the environment.

By the end of the 3-5 program:

  1. Use mapelements or coordinates to locate physicaland humanfeatures of North America.
     
  2. Identify the physicaland humanfeatures and characteristics of places and regions in North America.
     
  3. Identify and explain ways people have affected the physical environment of North America and analyze the positive and negative consequences.
     
  4. Analyze ways that transportation and communication relate to patterns of settlement and economic activity.

By the end of the 6-8 program:

  1. Identify on a map the location of majorphysicaland human features of each continent.
     
  2. Define and identify regions using human and physical characteristics.
     
  3. Explain how the environment influences the way people live in different places and the consequences of modifying the environment.
     
  4. Explain reasons that people, products and ideas move from place to place and the effects of that movement on geographic patterns.

By the end of the 9-10 program:

  1. Analyze the cultural, physical, economic and political characteristics that defineregions and describe reasons thatregions change over time
     
  2. Analyze geographic changes brought about by human activity using appropriate maps and other geographic data.
     
  3. Analyze the patterns and processes of movement of people, products and ideas.

 

 

By the end of the 11-12 program:

  1. Explain how the character and meaning of a place reflect a society’s economics, politics, social values, ideology and culture.
     
  2. Evaluate the consequences of geographic and environmental changes resulting from governmental policies and human modifications to the physical environment.
     
  3. Use appropriate data sources and geographic tools to analyze and evaluate public policies.

Economics

Students use economic reasoning skills and knowledge of major economic concepts, issues and systems in order to make informed choices as producers, consumers, savers, investors, workers and citizens in an interdependent world.

Notes

By the end of the K-2 program:

  1. Explain how the scarcity of resources requires people to make choices to satisfy their wants.
     
  2. Distinguish between goods and services and explain how people can be both buyers and sellers of goods and services.
     
  3. Explain ways that people may obtain goods and services.

By the end of the 3-5 program:

  1. Explain the opportunity costs involved in the allocation of scarce productiveresources.
     
  2. Explain why entrepreneurship, capitalgoods, technology, specialization and division of labor are important in the production of goods and services.
     
  3. Explain how competition affects producers and consumers in a market economy and why specialization facilitates trade.

By the end of the 6-8 program:

  1. Explain how the endowment and development of productive resources affect economic decisions and global interactions.
     
  2. Explain why trade occurs and how historical patterns of trade have contributed to global interdependence.
     
  3. Identify connections between government policies and the economy.

By the end of the 9-10 program:

  1. Compare how different economic systems answer the fundamental economic questions of what goods and services to produce, how to produce them and who will consume them.
     
  2. Explain how the United States government provides public services, redistributes income, regulates economic activity and promotes economic growth and stability.

By the end of the 11-12 program:

  1. Analyze how scarcity of productive resources affects supply, demand, inflation and economic choices.
     
  2. Identify factors which inhibit or spur economic growth and cause expansions or recessions.
     
  3. Explain how voluntary worldwide trade, specialization and interdependence among countries affect standards of living and economic growth.
     
  4. Analyze the role of fiscal and regulatory policies in a mixed economy.
     
  5. Explain the use of a budget in making personal economic decisions and planning for the future.

Government

Students use knowledge of the purposes, structures and processes of political systems at the local, state, national and international levels in order to understand that people create systems of government as structures of power and authority to provide order, maintain stability and promote the general welfare.

Notes

By the end of the K-2 program:

  1. Identify elected leaders and authority figures in the home, school and community and explain reasons for having persons in authority.
     
  2. Recognize and explain the importance of symbols and landmarks of the United States.
     
  3. Explain the purposes of rules in different settings and the results of adherence to, or violation of, the rules.

By the end of the 3-5 program:

  1. Identify the responsibilities of the branches of the United States government and explain why they are necessary.
     
  2. Give examples of documents that specify the structure of state and national governments in the United States and explain how these documents foster self-government in a democracy.

By the end of the 6-8 program:

  1. Explain why people institute governments, how they influence governments and how governments interact with each other.
     
  2. Explain how the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, and the Northwest Ordinance have provided for the protection of rights and the long-term future of a growing democracy.
     
  3. Compare the defining characteristics of democracies, monarchies and dictatorships.

By the end of the 9-10 program:

  1. Analyze the evolution of the Constitution through post-Reconstruction amendments and Supreme Court decisions.
     
  2. Analyze the differences among various forms of government to determine how power is acquired and used.

By the end of the 11-12 program:

  1. Evaluate, take and defend positions about issues concerning the alignment of the characteristics of American democracy with realities in the United States today.
     
  2. Explain how the United States Constitution has evolved including its philosophical foundations, amendments and court interpretations.
     
  3. Analyze how citizens participate in the election process in the United States.

Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

Students use knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in order to examine and evaluate civic ideals and to participate in community life and the American democratic system.

Notes

By the end of the K-2 program:

  1. Describe the results of cooperation in group settings and demonstrate the necessary skills.
     
  2. Demonstrate personal accountability, including making choices and taking responsibility for personal actions.

By the end of the 3-5 program:

  1. Explain how citizens take part in civic life in order to promote the common good.
     
  2. Identify rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the United States that are important for preserving democratic government.

By the end of the 6-8 program:

  1. Show the relationship between civic participation and attainment of civic and public goals.
     
  2. Identify historical origins that influenced the rights United States citizens have today.

By the end of the 9-10 program:

  1. Analyze ways people achieve governmental change, including political action, social protest and revolution.
     
  2. Explain how individual rights are relative, not absolute, and describe the balance between individual rights, the rights of others and the common good.

By the end of the 11-12 program:

  1. Evaluate various means for citizens to take action on a particular issue.
     
  2. Explain how the exercise of a citizen’s rights and responsibilities helps to strengthen a democracy.

Social Studies Skills and Methods

Students collect, organize, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources in order to draw logical conclusions. Students communicate this information using appropriate social studies terminology in oral, written or multimedia form and apply what they have learned to societal issues in simulated or real-world settings.

Notes

By the end of the K-2 program:

  1. Obtain information from oral, visual, print and electronic sources.
     
  2. Predict outcomes based on factual information.
     
  3. Communicate information orally, visually or in writing.
     
  4. Identify a problem and work in groups to solve it.

By the end of the 3-5 program:

  1. Obtain information from a variety of primaryandsecondary sources using the component parts of the source.
     
  2. Use a variety of sources to organize information and draw inferences.
     
  3. Communicate social studies information using graphs or tables.
     
  4. Use problem-solving skills to make decisions individually and in groups.

By the end of the 6-8 program:

  1. Analyze different perspectives on a topic obtained from a variety of sources.
     
  2. Organize historical information in text or graphic format and analyze the information in order to draw conclusions.
     
  3. Present a position and support it with evidence and citation of sources.
     
  4. Work effectively in a group.

By the end of the 9-10 program:

  1. Evaluate the reliability and credibility of sources.
     
  2. Use data and evidence to support or refute a thesis.

By the end of the 11-12 program:

  1. Obtain and evaluate information from public records and other resources related to a public policy issue.
     
  2. Critique data and information to determine the adequacy of support for conclusions.
     
  3. Develop a research project that identifies the various perspectives on an issue and explain a resolution of that issue.
     
  4. Work in groups to analyze an issue and make decisions.

BACK
Early Learning Writing
 K - 2 Writing
 3 -4  Writing
 5 - 7  Writing 8 -10  Writing
 11 - 12Writing
Early Learning Reading
 K - 3 Reading
 4 -7  Reading
 8 -10  Reading
 11 -12 Reading
Early Learning Math
 K - 2 Math 3 - 4 Math 5 - 7  Math
 8 -10 Math
 11 - 12 Math
Early Learning Social  Studies
 K -2 Social  Studies 3 - 5 Social  Studies
 6 - 8 Social  Studies
 9 -10 Social  Studies
 11 - 12 Social  Studies
Early Learning Science
 K -2 Science 3 -5  Science
 6 -8  Science
 9 -10 Science
 11 - 12 Science

All of the information on this site is available in pdf and/or Word format at  the  Ohio Department of Education Web Site at http://www.ode.state.oh.us/  

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