WORLD HISTORY
Introduction/Rationale
The Core Learning Goals for Social Studies include four core learnings from the Maryland School Performance Outcomes for Social Studies: Political Systems, Peoples of the Nation and World, Geography, and Economics. The expectations reflect a blend of the Maryland Social Studies Outcomes (1990) and the National Standards in History (1994), Civics and Government (1994), Geography (1994), Economics (1994), and Social Studies (1994).The four core learning goal statements-Political Systems, Peoples of the Nation and World, Geography, and Economics-are goals for the entire social studies program, K12. They are not specific to a particular social studies course or grade-level social studies curriculum. Each social studies course presents a part of the whole goal statement appropriate to its objectives.
The goals, expectations, and indicators take into consideration the importance of civic education which is necessary to be an informed, involved citizen who understands and supports democratic principles, institutions, and processes. The expectations and indicators also focus on the relationship between United States history, politics, and government and world history, politics, and government.
Students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental concepts and processes of the social scientist associated with the four Core Learning Goals:
- The concepts of authority, power, and influence provide the mental scaffolding for organizing thinking in political systems, allowing students to determine who holds power, how power is gained, used, and justified, and how authority is created, structured, maintained, and changed;
- Chronology provides the mental scaffolding for organizing historical thought, allowing students to organize knowledge, contributions, and events related to peoples and nations in a meaningful sequence;
- The understanding of the spatial dimensions of human experience allows students to determine where things are, how they are arranged, why they are in particular locations, and how people, places, and the environment relate to each other; and
- The concept of scarcity provides the mental scaffolding which allows students to analyze economic decisions made by individuals and groups in both the private and public sectors throughout history.
Each of the three courses (Government, United States History, and World History) integrates the concepts and processes associated with these four social science disciplines. Embedded in the social studies expectations and indicators of learning are requirements that students, individually and as part of a group, demonstrate skills found in the Skills for Success document-learning, thinking, communication, technology, and interpersonal skills. Students should demonstrate the ability to use print and nonprint primary and secondary sources to acquire, interpret, and organize information and data. Students should also be able to compare points of view and apply multiple perspectives to negotiate and reach consensus with others as needed to facilitate responsible decision-making, problem-solving, and issues analysis to understand complex ideas and to generate new ideas. Real-world applications constitute an essential component of these skills and processes. As in all areas of study, students in social studies should be able to demonstrate the ability to read, write, and communicate effectively.
The Core Learning Goals, including expectations, indicators, and content, form the core of the curriculum for the required courses in Government, United States History, and World History. For all three courses, it is assumed that local school systems and individual schools will add to indicators and content as they deem appropriate.
GOAL 1: POLITICAL SYSTEMS
1. Expectation: The student will analyze various causes historians have identified to account for continuity and changes in political and social order.
A. Indicators of Learning
(1) The student will categorize causes of political and social change and explain the consequences for political and social order.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Decline of feudalism.
(b) Enlightenment.
(c) Industrial Revolution.
(d) Russian Revolution.
(e) 20th century revolution in China.
(f) Apartheid in South Africa.
(2) The student will evaluate the degree to which political institutions promote continuity and stability in a society.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Development of kingdoms in West Africa.
(b) Development of nation-states in Europe.
(c) Constitutional development in 17th century England.
(d) Dynasties in China.
(e) Totalitarianism in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
(3) The student will explain significant changes that are considered turning points or benchmarks in world history from historical, political, and social perspectives.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Reformation.
(b) European exploration and exchange in the Americas and Africa.
(c) French Revolution.
(d) World War I and World War II.
(e) Cold War.
(4) The student will analyze the impact of technology as it contributes to continuity and change in the political and social order.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Invention of the printing press.
(b) Introduction of gunpowder.
(c) Factory system.
(d) Nuclear energy and weapons.
B. Sample Instructional Activity: Russian Revolution
The student will study events, personalities, and conditions associated with the 1917 Russian Revolution. From these events, personalities, and conditions, the student will identify philosophic, economic, social, and political causes of the revolution and make a chart comparing causes of the 1917 Russian Revolution to causes of a previously studied revolution or a current revolution.
GOAL 2: PEOPLES OF THE NATION AND WORLD
1. Expectation: The student will analyze the emergence and diffusion of civilizations and their contributions to the modern world.
A. Indicators of Learning
(1) The student will identify and analyze examples of cultural diffusion.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Spread and influence of Islam.
(b) Spread and influence of Buddhism.
(c) Achievements and influence of the Renaissance.
(d) African Diaspora.
B. Sample Instructional Activity: Spread of Islam
The student will identify factors that led to the spread of Islam. The student will map the expansion and explain the influence of Islam on indigenous cultures.
2. Expectation: The student will evaluate the causes and effects of regional and global changes that result from nationalism and imperialism.
A. Indicators of Learning
(1) The student will describe the motivations of governments to expand their economic, political, and cultural influence into other areas of the world.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Mercantilism.
(b) Napoleonic Empire.
(c) European imperialism.
(d) Japanese imperialism.
(2) The student will analyze the ways people, nations, and/or regions respond to political, economic, and cultural imperialism.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Aztec resistance to Spanish rule.
(b) Rebellion in 19th century China.
(c) African resistance to imperialism.
(d) India under British rule.
(3) The student will explain how political borders resulting from nationalism and imperialism create or resolve conflict between and among nations.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Conference of Berlin-1884-85.
(b) Ottoman Empire.
(c) Treaty of Versailles.
B. Sample Instructional Activity: Impact of 19th Century Partition of Africa
The student will map the partition of Africa resulting from the 1884-1885 Conference of Berlin. The student will analyze the overlap of national boundaries and indigenous languages and cultures and make predictions about the impact of partition on the future of Africa.
3. Expectation: The student will compare the causes and consequences of regional and global conflicts.
- A. Indicators of Learning
(1) The student will explain how the consequences of one conflict may sow the seeds of future conflicts.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Reaction to Napoleonic Empire.
(b) Opium Wars and European control of China.
(c) Treaty of Versailles and World War II.
(d) British/Arab/Jewish agreements to create Israel.
(2) The student will draw conclusions about how regional differences or similarities in religion, resource allocation, language, political beliefs, or other factors may lead to cooperation, conflict, and/or movements of people.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Settlement of South Africa.
(b) Jewish diaspora and holocaust.
(c) Separation of India and Pakistan.
(d) Ghana and Nigeria after independence.
(e) Formation of the United Nations.
(f) Causes of migrations to the United States.
(g) Formation of economic alliances.
B. Sample Instructional Activity: Consequences of Religious Conflict in India
The student will analyze how patterns of daily life on the Indian subcontinent have been influenced by religious traditions (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam) throughout Indian history. The student will identify the resulting possible points of conflict among the religious groups and trace the attempts to resolve the growing conflicts prior to Indian independence and partition in 1947. The student will then take a position on the partition in 1947 as the most appropriate solution.
GOAL 3: GEOGRAPHY
1. Expectation: The student will evaluate the interactions of environmental factors and the location and distribution of human activity.
A. Indicators of Learning
(1) The student will analyze the influence of physical geographic factors to include location, climate, and resources as they relate to settlement patterns.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Location, growth, and development of cities.
(b) Land use patterns before and after agricultural mechanization.
(2) The student will analyze the impact of human settlement patterns on the environment.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Land reclamation.
(b) Desertification in the Sahara.
(c) Greenhouse effect.
2. Expectation: The student will examine the role of culture in shaping regional and global interactions.
A. Indicators of Learning
(1) The student will analyze the role of social institutions in shaping distinct cultural identities.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Hinduism in India.
(b) Christianity in Europe.
(c) Communism in the Soviet Union.
(2) The student will examine how culture has been transmitted and diffused.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Catholicism in Latin America.
(b) African art and music in the Americas.
(c) Chinese influence in Southeast Asia and Japan.
(3) The student will evaluate the impact of culture on a region.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Islam in the Middle East.
(b) European colonization in West Africa.
(c) Confucianism in Asia.
3. Expectation: The student will assess the impact of technology in shaping regional and global cooperation, conflict, and interdependence. A. Indicators of Learning
(1) The student will explain the role of transportation and communication in linking world regions.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Impact of trade routes.
(b) Development of telecommunications.
(2) The student will assess how technological advances have created and continue to create opportunities for competition, cooperation, conflict, and interdependence.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Space exploration.
(b) Emergence of Pacific Rim economic power.
The student will research European, African, and American societies circa 1492 and use a world map to show the exchange of ideas, goods, and people among the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Using charts and maps, the student will demonstrate the short- and long-term consequences of the exchange of ideas, goods, and people on these three world regions.
GOAL 4 - ECONOMICS
1. The student will demonstrate an understanding of the economic principles, institutions, and processes which explain the economic activities within and among societies throughout history.
- A. Indicators of Learning
(1) The student will compare the goals and allocation of resources (natural, capital, human) in traditional, market, command, and mixed economic systems.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Manorialism.
(b) Mercantilism.
(c) Laissez-faire (Adam Smith).
(d) Marxism-command economy.
(e) Mixed economies.
(2) The student will evaluate the effectiveness with which people throughout history have utilized specialization and trade to address economic scarcity and unequal resource allocation.
Content to achieve this indicator includes:
(a) Economic motivations for explorations.
(b) Economic motivations for imperialism.
(c) Slavery and the Triangle Trade.
(d) National use of natural, human, and capital resources.
(e) Factors influencing economic development.
B. Sample Instructional Activities
(1) Marxism
The student will explore the concepts of Marxism as a command economy. Using available technology, the student will also gather information and report on how various countries have adopted or attempted to adopt Marxist practices and with what success.
(2) Free enterprise
The student will explore free enterprise (market) economy. Using available technology, the student will also gather information and report on how various countries have adopted or attempted to adopt free enterprise practices and with what success.
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Last updated 02/25/98