Seventh Grade (Eastern Hemisphere Geography) Social Studies Pacing Guide

 

Note on Celebrate Freedom Week.

The following content standard must be taught during Freedom Week in November.     

Content Standard 1: The student will analyze data from a geographic perspective using the

skills and tools of geography

6. Commemorate Celebrate Freedom Week by recognizing the sacrifices and contributions to American freedom by veterans and by reciting the social contract selection from the Declaration of Independence: 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

 

Unit 1 Title of Unit: Skills and Tools of Geography Number of Weeks for this Unit 3   Content Standard 1: The student will analyze data from a geographic perspective using the skills and tools of geography. 1. Cite specific geographic information to support analysis from primary and secondary sources located in texts, documents, newspapers, magazines, journals, political cartoons, and online news sources. 2. Integrate visual information, draw conclusions, and make predictions from geographic data and analyze spatial distribution and patterns by interpreting that data as displayed on globes, graphs, charts, satellite and other forms of visual imagery including data from bar and line graphs, pie charts, thematic maps, population pyramids, climagraphs, cartagrams, contour/relief maps, GIS systems, and diagrams. 3. Apply the concepts of scale, distance, direction, relative location, absolute location, and latitude and longitude. 4. Integrate visual information and apply the skill of mental mapping of the political and physical features of Earth’s surface and to organize information about people, places, and environments. 5. Conduct short research projects by investigating contemporary events and issues from political, economic, social, and geographic perspectives. Content Standard 4: The student will analyze the world’s peoples and cultures in the context of the human systems in the Eastern Hemisphere. 1. Compare and contrast the common cultural traits including language, ethnic heritage, social systems, religions, and traditions and how cultural diffusion impacts societies. 3. Integrate visual information to analyze data used by geographers to measure the human characteristics used to define developed versus developing countries including literacy rates, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, Gross National Product (GNP), and per capita income.   Process and Literacy Standard(s):  Literacy Skills Standard 1: The student will develop and demonstrate Common Core Social Studies reading literacy skills. A. Key Ideas and Details 1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources. 2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. B. Craft and Structure 4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies. C. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas 7. Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts. D. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity 10. By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. Literacy Skills Standard 2: The student will develop and demonstrate Common Core Social Studies writing literacy skills. A. Text Types and Purposes 1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content. a. Introduce claim(s) about a topic or issue, acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically. b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources. c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence. d. Establish and maintain a formal style. e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented. 2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historic events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes. d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. B. Production and Distribution of Writing 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently. 7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.   Background Knowledge Students Must Have to Be Successful with this Unit: Basic geography skills and tools that were learned during geography class in 6th grade.   Vocabulary Essential for this Unit: primary and secondary sources globes climagraphs satellite imagery research thematic maps cartagrams contour map data five themes of geography map projections relief map analysis geographic perspective mental mapping scale relative location absolute location religion cultural region     Unit 2 Title of Unit: Europe
Number of Weeks for this Unit: 5   Content Standard 2: The student will examine the human and physical characteristics of the major regions of the Eastern Hemisphere. 1. Integrate visual information in order to describe specific political regions of the Eastern Hemisphere, and identify on a political map the major urban areas and countries including A. Europe – London/United Kingdom, Paris/France, Rome/Italy, Berlin/Germany, and  Moscow/Russia, 2. Integrate visual information in order to describe the characteristics and relative location of physical and cultural regions of the Eastern Hemisphere including A. Physical Regions – 3) Rhine-Danube industrial corridor 3. Explain and summarize how common physical or human characteristics can link as well as divide regions including A. Extensive inland waterway systems of natural rivers and manmade canals that link European trading centers, B. Ural Mountains that physically divide Europe from Asia, 4. Cite specific textual and visual evidence to analyze reasons for conflict and cooperation among groups, societies, countries, and regions of the Eastern Hemisphere and the involvement of multinational organizations of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization including D. Coordination of currency and free trade zones created by the European Union Content Standard 3: The student will examine the interactions of physical systems that shape the patterns of Earth’s surface in the Eastern Hemisphere. 1. Integrate visual information to identify on a physical map and describe the major landforms and bodies of water including A. Landforms – the Iberian and Scandinavian Peninsulas; the Urals, Pyrenees, and Alps Mountain Ranges B. Bodies of water – Danube and Volga Rivers; Mediterranean and North Seas; Strait of Gibraltar; Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. Content Standard 4: The student will analyze the world’s peoples and cultures in the context of the human systems in the Eastern Hemisphere. 2. Describe the world’s major religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism including the geographic origins, major beliefs, and customs of the five major world religions and the significance of religion in contemporary societies. 4. Compare and contrast the market and command economic systems and how governments affect economic activities in such systems including B. The economic advantages and disadvantages of Sweden’s mixed market system 5. Compare and contrast the major political systems of representative governments (democracy, republic, and constitutional monarchy) and authoritarian systems (dictatorship and absolute monarchy) including the role of the citizen in the selection of government officials, lawmaking, and the liberties guaranteed under different forms of government.  A. The symbolic role of the British crown in comparison to the absolute authority of the monarchy of Saudi Arabia. B. The transformation of the former Soviet Union from an authoritarian system to the limited representative democracy of Russia. 6. Integrate visual information to explain patterns of global economic interdependence and world trade focusing on the concepts of imports and exports, supply and demand, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and balance of trade including A. The European Union’s single currency and open single market that link economies and governments, 7. Evaluate and summarize the impact of geography on population location, growth, change and density and on the availability of resources, settlement patterns, and migration including the B. Challenges of under-population on the labor market in developed nations of Europe, C. Changing face of European cultures as a result of recent patterns of immigration, and Content Standard 5: The student will analyze the interactions of humans and their environment in the Eastern Hemisphere. 1. Cite specific textual and visual evidence to describe the relationship between the distribution of major renewable and nonrenewable resources and evaluate how the three levels of economic activities (primary, secondary, and tertiary) contribute to the development of a country or region including the C. Accessibility of coal and iron reserves contributing to steel industries of western Europe and Russia, and D. Value of North Sea petroleum reserves to developed 2. Evaluate the effects of human modification of and adaptation to the natural environment including the B. Creation of living space through the drainage of seawater and the system of dikes in the Netherlands E. Benefits and dangers of nuclear power generation as exemplified by the environmental disaster at Chernobyl. 3. Integrate visual information to analyze regional problems and policies having spatial dimensions in the Eastern Hemisphere including the A. Management of the Aral Sea’s water resources, B. Impact of economic development on Russia’s Arctic regions, and   Process and Literacy Standard(s): B. Production and Distribution of Writing 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 5. With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed. 6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas clearly and efficiently. 7. Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration. 8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. 9. Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis reflection, and research.
Background Knowledge Students Must Have to Be Successful with this Unit: Basic geography skills and tools that were learned during geography class in 6th grade.

  Vocabulary Essential for this Unit:

multinational organizations	political stability	religion	cultural region
ethnic heritage	imports/exports	supply/demand	under-population
conventional/nuclear war	genocide	cultural trait	absolute monarchy
dictatorship

 

 

  Unit 3

  Title of Unit: Africa

  Number of Weeks for this Unit: 4

 

  Content Standard 2: The student will examine the human and physical characteristics of the major regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information in order to describe specific political regions of the Eastern Hemisphere, and identify on a political map the major urban areas and countries including

E. Africa – Cairo/Egypt, Nairobi/Kenya, South Africa, Libya, Sudan, and Nigeria

2. Integrate visual information in order to describe the characteristics and relative location of physical and cultural regions of the Eastern Hemisphere including

A. Physical Regions –

1) Sub-Saharan savannas

B. Cultural Regions –

1) The Sahel’s and Sahara’s nomadic peoples

3) The cultural hearth of the Nile

3. Explain and summarize how common physical or human characteristics can link as well as divide regions including

C. Sahara Desert that physically and culturally divides North Africa from Sub-Sahara Africa,

E. Cultural differences resulting in civil war and genocide in Darfur and Rwanda.

4. Cite specific textual and visual evidence to analyze reasons for conflict and cooperation among groups, societies, countries, and regions of the Eastern Hemisphere and the involvement of multinational organizations of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization including

C. Impact of multiple ethnic groups on Nigerian political stability,

E. Humanitarian relief efforts by the United Nations to address hunger in Africa, and

F. The struggle for and achievement of civil liberties and economic opportunities in South Africa’s postapartheid era

5. Explain and summarize how and why regions change over time through physical and human processes which operate to modify Earth’s surface including the

A. Cultural diffusion brought about by North Africa’s location central to trade across multiple continents,

B. Impact of overgrazing and drought leading to desertification in the Sahel,

Content Standard 3: The student will examine the interactions of physical systems that shape

the patterns of Earth’s surface in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information to identify on a physical map and describe the major landforms and bodies of water including

A. Landforms – the Sahara and Kalahari Deserts and the Great Rift Valley.

B. Bodies of water –Nile, Congo, and Niger Rivers; Mediterranean Sea; Persian Gulf; Atlantic, Indian, the Southern Oceans.

2. Analyze from multiple perspectives the impact of natural disasters on human populations resulting in forced migration, scarcity of consumer goods, and loss of employment including

B. Frequent drought of northern Africa and Southwest Asia that creates stress on humans and wildlife,

Content Standard 4: The student will analyze the world’s peoples and cultures in the context of the human systems in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Compare and contrast the common cultural traits including language, ethnic heritage, social systems, religions, and traditions and how cultural diffusion impacts societies.

2. Describe the world’s major religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism including the geographic origins, major beliefs, and customs of the five major world religions and the significance of religion in contemporary societies.

3. Integrate visual information to analyze data used by geographers to measure the human characteristics used to define developed versus developing countries including literacy rates, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, Gross National Product (GNP), and per capita income.

Content Standard 5: The student will analyze the interactions of humans and their environment in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Cite specific textual and visual evidence to describe the relationship between the distribution of major renewable and nonrenewable resources and evaluate how the three levels of economic activities (primary, secondary, and tertiary) contribute to the development of a country or region including the

B. Reserves of valuable minerals responsible for South Africa’s economic growth,

Process and Literacy Standard(s):

Literacy Skills Standard 2: The student will develop and demonstrate Common Core Social Studies writing literacy skills.

A. Text Types and Purposes

2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historic events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes.

a. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

b. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

c. Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.

d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

e. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone.

f. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

 

Background Knowledge Students Must Have to Be Successful with this Unit:

Basic geography skills and tools that were learned during geography class in 6^th grade.

 

Vocabulary Essential for this Unit:

multinational organizations	political stability	religion	cultural region
ethnic heritage	infant mortality rate	imports/exports	supply/demand
under-population	conventional/nuclear war	humanitarian relief	apartheid
genocide	desertification	cultural trait	absolute monarchy
dictatorship

 

 

 

Unit 4

Title of Unit: Southwest Asia

Number of Weeks for this Unit: 3

 

Content Standard 2: The student will examine the human and physical characteristics of the major regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information in order to describe specific political regions of the Eastern Hemisphere, and identify on a political map the major urban areas and countries including

B. Southwest Asia – Mecca/Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem/Israel, Tehran/Iran, Beirut/Lebanon, and Bagdad/Iraq,

2. Integrate visual information in order to describe the characteristics and relative location of physical and cultural regions of the Eastern Hemisphere including

B. Cultural Regions –

2) Jerusalem’s religious significance to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam,

3) The cultural hearth of Mesopotamia.

4. Cite specific textual and visual evidence to analyze reasons for conflict and cooperation among groups, societies, countries, and regions of the Eastern Hemisphere and the involvement of multinational organizations of the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization including

A. Multinational peace-keeping efforts to stabilize Arab/Israeli relations,

5. Explain and summarize how and why regions change over time through physical and human processes which operate to modify Earth’s surface including the

D. Effects of abundant oil supplies in the Persian Gulf region.

Content Standard 3: The student will examine the interactions of physical systems that shape

the patterns of Earth’s surface in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information to identify on a physical map and describe the major landforms and bodies of water including

B. Bodies of water – Arabian Sea; Persian Gulf; Indian Ocean, Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

2. Analyze from multiple perspectives the impact of natural disasters on human populations resulting in forced migration, scarcity of consumer goods, and loss of

employment including

B. Frequent drought of northern Africa and Southwest Asia that creates stress on

humans and wildlife

Content Standard 4: The student will analyze the world’s peoples and cultures in the context of the human systems in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Compare and contrast the common cultural traits including language, ethnic heritage, social systems, religions, and traditions and how cultural diffusion impacts societies.

2. Describe the world’s major religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism including the geographic origins, major beliefs, and customs of the five major world religions and the significance of religion in contemporary societies.

3. Integrate visual information to analyze data used by geographers to measure the human characteristics used to define developed versus developing countries including literacy rates, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, Gross National Product (GNP), and per capita income

6. Integrate visual information to explain patterns of global economic interdependence and world trade focusing on the concepts of imports and exports, supply and demand,

Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and balance of trade including

D. Control over production and supply of global oil reserves as exercised by the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Content Standard 5: The student will analyze the interactions of humans and their environment in the Eastern Hemisphere.

2. Evaluate the effects of human modification of and adaptation to the natural environment including the

C. Transformation of arid lands of the Arabian Peninsula through introduction of western irrigation methods,

 

Process and Literacy Standard(s):

Literacy Skills Standard 1: The student will develop and demonstrate Common Core Social Studies reading literacy skills.

A. Key Ideas and Details

1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source;

B. Craft and Structure

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

5. Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

6. Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

C. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

8. Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

D. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

10. By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

 

Background Knowledge Students Must Have to Be Successful with this Unit:

Basic geography skills and tools that were learned during geography class in 6^th grade.

 

Vocabulary Essential for this Unit:

multinational organizations	political stability	religion	cultural region
imports/exports	supply/demand	desertification	cultural trait

 

Unit 5

Title of Unit: Semester Review/Test

Number of Weeks for this Unit:1

 

 

Unit 6

Title of Unit: South and Central Asia

Number of Weeks for this Unit: 3

 

Content Standard 2: The student will examine the human and physical characteristics of the major regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information in order to describe specific political regions of the Eastern Hemisphere, and identify on a political map the major urban areas and countries including

C. South Asia – Mumbai/India, Pakistan, Afghanistan,

2. Integrate visual information in order to describe the characteristics and relative location of physical and cultural regions of the Eastern Hemisphere including

A. Physical Regions –

4) The Himalayan Mountain Range.

B. Cultural Regions –

3) The cultural hearths of the Nile, Indus, Ganges River Valleys

3. Explain and summarize how common physical or human characteristics can link as well as divide regions including

D. Multiple languages, religion, and the legacy of the caste system  in India that present barriers to cultural unity

4. Cite specific textual and visual evidence to analyze reasons for conflict and cooperation among groups, societies, countries, and regions of the Eastern Hemisphere and the involvement of multinational organizations of the United Nations and the North

Atlantic Treaty Organization including

B. Roots of disputes between India and Pakistan resulting in the threat of conventional war and nuclear war

Content Standard 3: The student will examine the interactions of physical systems that shape

the patterns of Earth’s surface in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information to identify on a physical map and describe the major landforms and bodies of water including

A. Landforms –Indochina Peninsula; Himalayan Mountain Range

B. Bodies of water – Indus and Ganges Rivers; Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean

Content Standard 4: The student will analyze the world’s peoples and cultures in the context of the human systems in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Compare and contrast the common cultural traits including language, ethnic heritage, social systems, religions, and traditions and how cultural diffusion impacts societies.

2. Describe the world’s major religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism including the geographic origins, major beliefs, and customs of the five major world religions and the significance of religion in contemporary societies.

3. Integrate visual information to analyze data used by geographers to measure the human characteristics used to define developed versus developing countries including literacy rates, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, Gross National Product (GNP), and

per capita income.

7. Evaluate and summarize the impact of geography on population location, growth, change and density and on the availability of resources, settlement patterns, and migration including the

A. Impact of push and pull factors on the rural migration to overcrowded urban centers in India,

 

Process and Literacy Standard(s):

 

Background Knowledge Students Must Have to Be Successful with this Unit:

Basic geography skills and tools that were learned during geography class in 6^th grade.

 

Vocabulary Essential for this Unit:

multinational organizations	political stability	religion	cultural region
ethnic heritage	infant mortality rate	imports/exports	supply/demand
conventional/nuclear war	desertification	cultural trait	dictatorship

 

Unit 7

Title of Unit: East and Southeast Asia

Number of Weeks for this Unit: 5.5

 

Content Standard 2: The student will examine the human and physical characteristics of the major regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information in order to describe specific political regions of the Eastern Hemisphere, and identify on a political map the major urban areas and countries including

D. East and Southeast Asia – Beijing/China, Seoul/South Korea, Tokyo/Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia,

2. Integrate visual information in order to describe the characteristics and relative location of physical and cultural regions of the Eastern Hemisphere including

A. Physical Regions –

1) Sub-Saharan savannas and rainforests,

2) Pacific Ring of Fire

B. Cultural Regions –

3) The cultural hearth of the Hwang He River Valleys

5. Explain and summarize how and why regions change over time through physical and human processes which operate to modify Earth’s surface including the

C. Results of the Green Revolution in Central Asia

Content Standard 3: The student will examine the interactions of physical systems that shape

the patterns of Earth’s surface in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information to identify on a physical map and describe the major landforms and bodies of water including

A. Landforms – the Gobi Desert

B. Bodies of water – Yangtze River and Pacific Oceans

2. Analyze from multiple perspectives the impact of natural disasters on human populations resulting in forced migration, scarcity of consumer goods, and loss of employment including

A. The impact of plate tectonics resulting in earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions on human and physical systems bordering the Pacific Ring of Fire,

C. The impact of monsoon patterns and typhoon activity on agriculture and loss of life in South Asia, and

D. Regular flooding of China’s rivers resulting in the accumulation of loess.

Content Standard 4: The student will analyze the world’s peoples and cultures in the context of the human systems in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Compare and contrast the common cultural traits including language, ethnic heritage, social systems, religions, and traditions and how cultural diffusion impacts societies.

2. Describe the world’s major religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism including the geographic origins, major beliefs, and customs of the five major world religions and the significance of religion in contemporary societies.

3. Integrate visual information to analyze data used by geographers to measure the human characteristics used to define developed versus developing countries including literacy rates, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, Gross National Product (GNP), and per capita income.

4. Compare and contrast the market and command economic systems and how governments affect economic activities in such systems including

A. Economic reforms in China that are moving China from a command system toward a market system,

C. The economic prosperity generated by Japan’s market system, and

D. The economic development limitations of North Korea’s command economic system.

6. Integrate visual information to explain patterns of global economic interdependence and world trade focusing on the concepts of imports and exports, supply and demand, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and balance of trade including

B. The relative isolation of Japan and the United Kingdom that require extensive trade patterns for natural resources and markets,

C. Outsourcing of technological and manufacturing jobs to developing regions of Asia, and

7. Evaluate and summarize the impact of geography on population location, growth, change and density and on the availability of resources, settlement patterns, and migration including the

D. Impact of China’s one-child policy on population growth and culture.

Content Standard 5: The student will analyze the interactions of humans and their environment in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Cite specific textual and visual evidence to describe the relationship between the distribution of major renewable and nonrenewable resources and evaluate how the three levels of economic activities (primary, secondary, and tertiary) contribute to the development of a country or region including the

A. Abundant energy resources driving China’s rapid development,

2. Evaluate the effects of human modification of and adaptation to the natural environment including the

A. Deforestation of Indonesia’s rainforests,

D. Use of terrace farming and double-cropping as solutions to food needs of East Asia, and

3. Integrate visual information to analyze regional problems and policies having spatial dimensions in the Eastern Hemisphere including the

                       C. Transformation of the environment and population centers caused by the construction of the Three Gorges Dam in China.

 

Process and Literacy Standard(s):

Standard 1 should be embedded through acquiring information and expressing knowledge of content.

Literacy Skills Standard 1: The student will develop and demonstrate Common Core Social Studies reading literacy skills.

A. Key Ideas and Details

1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

3. Identify key steps in a text’s description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g., how a bill becomes law, how interest rates are raised or lowered).

B. Craft and Structure

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

                        5. Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively,

causally).

6. Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

C. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

8. Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

9. Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

D. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

10. By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6–8  text complexity band independently and proficiently

Literacy Skills Standard 2: The student will develop and demonstrate Common Core Social Studies writing literacy skills.

A. Text Types and Purposes

1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

a. Introduce claim(s) about a topic or issue, acknowledge and distinguish

the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and organize the reasons and evidence logically.

b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant, accurate data and evidence that demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text, using credible sources.

c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

d. Establish and maintain a formal style.

e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.

C. Range of Writing

10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

 

Background Knowledge Students Must Have to Be Successful with this Unit:

Basic geography skills and tools that were learned during geography class in 6^th grade.

 

Vocabulary Essential for this Unit:

history	monsoon-typhoon-tsunami	elevation	philosophy
climate	religion	dynasty	civilization
trade	irrigation	cultural region	plate tectonics
imports/exports	supply/demand	one-child policy	cultural trait
terraced farming

 

 

 

Unit 8

Title of Unit: Australia and the Pacific/Oceania

Number of Weeks for this Unit: 2

 

Content Standard 2: The student will examine the human and physical characteristics of the major regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information in order to describe specific political regions of the Eastern Hemisphere, and identify on a political map the major urban areas and countries including

F. Oceania – Australia and New Zealand.

2. Integrate visual information in order to describe the characteristics and relative location of physical and cultural regions of the Eastern Hemisphere including

A. Physical Regions –

2) Pacific Ring of Fire

Content Standard 3: The student will examine the interactions of physical systems that shape the patterns of Earth’s surface in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Integrate visual information to identify on a physical map and describe the major landforms and bodies of water including

B. Bodies of water – Indian, Pacific, and the Southern Oceans

Content Standard 4: The student will analyze the world’s peoples and cultures in the context of the human systems in the Eastern Hemisphere.

1. Compare and contrast the common cultural traits including language, ethnic heritage, social systems, religions, and traditions and how cultural diffusion impacts societies.

2. Describe the world’s major religions including Buddhism, Christianity, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism including the geographic origins, major beliefs, and customs of the five major world religions and the significance of religion in contemporary societies.

3. Integrate visual information to analyze data used by geographers to measure the human characteristics used to define developed versus developing countries including literacy rates, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, Gross National Product (GNP), and per capita income.

 

Process and Literacy Standard(s):

Literacy Skills Standard 1: The student will develop and demonstrate Common Core Social Studies reading literacy skills.

A. Key Ideas and Details

1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source;

B. Craft and Structure

4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

5. Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

6. Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).

C. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other information in print and digital texts.

8. Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.

D. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

10. By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6–8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

 

Background Knowledge Students Must Have to Be Successful with this Unit:

Basic geography skills and tools that were learned during geography class in 6^th grade

 

Vocabulary Essential for this Unit:

religion	ethnic heritage	imports/exports	supply/demand
under-population	desertification	cultural trait

 

Unit 9

Title of Unit: Data Based Questions (students will have familiarized with data based questions during the entire academic year)

Number of Weeks for this Unit: 2

 

Unit 10

Title of Unit: EOI Prep

Number of Weeks for this Unit: 2

 

 

Unit 11

Title of Unit: Semester Review/Test

Number of Weeks for this Unit:1