MS Program of Studies - Departments

MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCIAL STUDIES

The Middle School Social Studies program at CAC seeks to foster global awareness and agency within each student. Teachers facilitate the acquisition of critical thinking and problem solving skills through inquiry-based learning. The curriculum focuses on the analytical understanding of historical, geographical and cultural characteristics of different civilizations and regions. The diverse selection of social studies courses provides a broad spectrum of opportunities for students to develop an appreciation of forces that have shaped the past and are affecting the contemporary world. Our goal is to promote the Core Values and internationalism, and to encourage students to explore social justice topics and other current issues. The program supports students to become stewards of advocacy and change as active global citizens. The standards within Middle School Social Studies courses include:

- Standard 1: Time, Continuity, and Change - Students will understand patterns of change and continuity, relationships between people and events through time, and various interpretations of these relationships.

- Standard 2: Connections and Conflict - Students will understand causes and effects of interaction among societies, including trade, systems of international exchange, war, and diplomacy.

- Standard 3: Geography - Students will understand the interactions and relationship between human societies and their physical environment.

- Standard 4: Culture - Students will understand cultural and intellectual developments and interactions among societies.

- Standard 5: Society and Identity - Students will understand social systems and structures and how these influence individual.

- Standard 6: Government - Students will understand why societies create and adopt systems of governance and how they address human needs, rights, responsibilities and citizenship.

- Standard 7: Production, Distribution, and Consumption - Students will understand fundamental economic principles and ways in which economies are shaped by geographic and human factors.

- Standard 8: Science, Technology, and Society - Students will understand how societies have influenced and been influenced by scientific developments and technological developments.