8th Grade EALR's

HISTORY

The student will be able to:

• -group events and individuals by broadly defined historical eras and develop related time lines
  
• -measure time and millennia and calculate calendar time BC and AD
  
• -rank the importance of causal factors for given events including the possibility of the accidental as a causal factor in history
  
• -identify and explain major issues, movements, people, and events in U.S. history from beginnings to 1877 with particular emphasis on change and continuity,for example, revolution, the emergence of sectional differences, and the Civil War
  
• -identify social issues and define problems to pose historical questions
  
• -locate sources of information and obtain information from a variety of sources including graphs, charts, tables, maps, diagrams, texts, photographs, documents, and interviews
  
• -organize and record information; distinguish fact from judgment and opinion; recognize stereotype; compare and contract historical information
  
• -interpret and synthesize information; express findings
  
• -propose alternative ways of analyzing and interpreting findings
  
• -explain the origins and development of an idea in history, for example, Puritanism, “separate spheres” for men and women, and abolitionism
  
• -describe how the meaning of ideas can change over time, for example, ideas about equality, welfare, and democracy
  
• -interpret how ideas and attitudes have been shaped by changing technologies, such as: the printing press, atomic energy, and genetic discoveries
  
• -assess the impact of ideas and technological developments on society and culture, for example: railroads, power looms, and steam engines
  

GEOGRAPHY

The student will be able to:

• -use data and a variety of symbols and colors to create thematic maps and graphs, for instance: patterns of population, economic features, rainfall, or vegetation.
  
• -locate physical and human features and events on maps and globes, for example: the location of cultural centers, large urban areas in the US now and in the past, and major land forms and climate regions.
  
• -use observation maps, and other tools to identify and compare the physical characteristics of places and regions such as wildlife, climate, natural hazards, and waterways.
  
• -identify the many groups and subcultures that may exist within a large society and how the interact
  
• -explain how cultural communication contributes to society cohesion and/or division, for example, through television, books, and movies
  
• -identify how people develop their understanding of culture through the exchange of ideas, art, music, natural resources, and goods and services
  

CIVICS

The student will be able to:

• -describe the origins, creation, and outcomes of foundational documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
  
• -explain specific rights guaranteed by the Constitution and how they are related to responsibilities
  
• -identify efforts to reduce difference between democratic ideals and realities
  
• -explain how U.S. citizens govern through representative government and empower representatives to make, interpret, and enforce laws to carry out public policy
  
• -explain how the U.S. government includes concepts of both a democracy and a republic
  
• -describe the structure of the U.S. government (legislative, executive, and judicial branches; federal, state, and local levels; and political parties)
  
• -describe and explain how national interests affect international relations
  
• -describe U.S. roles and interest in major international organizations and international political alliances now and in the past.
  
• -explain how U.S. foreign policy is made
  
• -describe the purposes of government and how its powers are acquired, used, and justified
  
• -describe a variety of forms of government, for example, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy
  
• -describe and explain how national interests affect international relations
  explain how responsibility to the common good might conflict with the exercise of individual rights, for example, freedom of expression or private property rights
  
• -examine why democracy requires government to protect the rights of citizens and to promote the common good
  
• -participate in civic discussions with the aim of solving problems such as curfews, timber policies, or foreign aid
  
• -discuss how voting in a representative democracy is a privilege and a responsibility
  
• -analyze the influence of a diversity of public opinion on the development of public policy and decision making
  
• -describe the relationship between civic responsibility and public service
  

ECONOMICS

The student will be able to:

• -give and explain examples of ways that economic systems structure choices about how goods and services are to be produced and distributed
  
• -describe the role that supply and demand, prices, incentives, and profits play in determining what is produced and distributed in a competitive market system
  
• -identify and analyze the basic types of economic systems (traditional, command, and market)
  
• -differentiate among various forms of exchange and money
  
• -explain the different ways taxes are collected and how taxes are used