Arkansas K–6 social studies standards

Identify the purpose of classroom or school rules in establishing communities and ways of living and working together.

Identify the characteristics and responsibilities of a leader.

Recognize state and national symbols and patriotic songs:

• American flag
• Star Spangled Banner
• Recitation of Pledge of Allegiance
• Arkansas flag
• Apple Blossom
• Honey Bee
• Mockingbird
• Pine Tree

Demonstrate responsibilities of being a good citizen at school.

Follow agreed-upon rules for listening and having a discussion in the classroom.

Discuss the need for rules.

Discuss ways people improve communities which may include:

• being a good neighbor
• volunteering/helping
• recycling
• donating personal items/toys

Discuss the importance of problem solving related to classroom issues.

Discuss needs and wants and how they are restricted by limited resources.

State the reasons behind making a personal decision.

Identify ways people create goods and services.

Discuss ways human, natural, and capital resources are used in the production of goods and services.

Identify ways people buy and sell goods (i.e., markets).

Recognize that consumers use money as a medium of exchange to satisfy economic wants and needs.

Identify the reasons for and places where people save money (e.g., piggy banks, wallets, banks).

Discuss examples of goods and services.

Identify common products that come from other countries.

Identify where products used in daily life are produced.

Describe familiar places using words that communicate location (e.g., beside, past, before), direction (e.g., right/left), and distance (e.g., long/short).

Identify and describe the physical characteristics of a place such as rivers, mountains, and forests using maps, globes, and photographs.

Create maps of familiar places such as the school, playground, or neighborhood.

Describe ways humans have impacted the environment

• planting trees
• reducing waste
• littering
• polluting

Discuss cultural characteristics among families and in the community such as art, celebrations, food, language, music, and traditions.

Identify the influence of weather and climate on people's daily lives.

Identify natural resources that meet the needs of a community such as timber, minerals, oil, coal, and natural gas.

Identify people, goods, and ideas that move from place to place.

Discuss products and traditions that connect people around the world (e.g., where products are made, celebrations, dance, art, food, toys).

Discuss the needs of people during natural and human-made disasters.

Discuss a sequence of events using chronological terms such as first, next, last, before, after. Sequence of events may include:

• Daily classroom activities
• Significant events in students' lives
• Typical day in the life of the student

Develop a timeline to sequence significant events in students' lives.

Compare the life of a student today (present) to the life of a student in the past using visual representations (e.g., growing food, rules and laws, making clothing, transportation, communication).

Recognize historic figures and other people who have made an impact on history.

Identify the purpose of national holidays and describe the people or events celebrated.

• Independence Day
• Thanksgiving
• Memorial Day
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• President's Day
• Veteran's Day

Identify the different points of view represented in a single historical event.

Describe materials and methods that allow people to learn about the past (e.g., photos, artifacts, diaries, oral history, stories).

Compare the differences in sources of information from the present and the past (e.g., telegraph, pony express, newspaper, telephone, TV, Internet).

Connect classroom rules and a student handbook as documents that establish the values of fairness and equality in a school community.

Describe the roles of people who hold positions of authority which may include:

• Teachers lead a classroom and help students learn
• School principal makes decisions for the school
• Police officers protect and serve their communities
• Fire/rescue workers help people in need

Discuss the purpose of government.

Describe state and national symbols and patriotic songs:

• American flag
• Flag etiquette
• Star Spangled Banner
• Recitation of Pledge of Allegiance
• "Arkansas" by Eva Ware Barnett
• White-Tailed Deer
• Milk
• Square Dance
• Diamond

Identify personal responsibilities of being a good citizen in the community.

Follow agreed-upon rules for listening, consensus building, and voting procedures in the classroom.

Explain the purpose of rules and laws.

Describe ways people impact communities which may include:

• welcoming a new classmate/neighbor
• developing classroom rules and procedures
• contributing unused food to a food bank
• picking up trash

Describe ways schools and communities work to establish responsibilities, fulfill roles of authority, and accomplish common tasks.

Identify examples of scarcity and opportunity cost.

List costs and benefits of making a decision.

Discuss the importance of human capital (i.e., knowledge, skills, education, experience) and the relationship between work and income.

Compare ways human, natural, and capital resources are used in the production of goods and services now and long ago.

Recognize that markets exist when buyers and sellers exchange goods and services.

Classify exchanges consumers make as monetary or bartering.

Discuss the reasons why and the tools and techniques people use to save money.

Identify examples of public goods and services that governments provide

• police officers
• roads
• traffic lights
• state parks
• clean air/water
• public education

Identify reasons why people trade goods and services between countries.

Identify goods that are imported to and exported from Arkansas and the United States.

Show relationships between familiar places using map keys, legends, compass rose, and directional words.

Describe the physical and human characteristics of a place including roads, buildings, and borders using maps, globes, and photographs.

Create and label maps of local areas using titles, symbols, legends, and a compass rose.

Interpret effects of human impact on the environment.

Discuss how cultural characteristics contribute to diversity in a community, place, or region.

Describe the influence of weather, climate, and physical characteristics on people's daily lives.

Explain ways people utilize natural resources such as timber, minerals, oil, coal, and natural gas in their community.

Discuss reasons and methods people, goods, and ideas move from place to place.

Discuss how the products that are consumed connect the local community to other parts of the country and rest of the world such as clothes, toys, and food.

Identify ways to help people who are going through natural and human-made disasters.

Explain similarities and differences of everyday life in different times using chronological terms. This may include:

• Daily tasks
• Food
• Clothing
• Transportation
• Communication
• Recreation
• Celebrations

Create timelines to sequence events from different times using chronological terms.

Compare present day families, objects, and events with those in the past using visual representations, news stories, and artifacts (e.g., daily life tasks, food, clothing, transportation, communication, recreation).

Retell stories of historical events, American legends, and people who played a role in history. This may include:

• Pocahontas
• Sacagawea
• Lewis and Clark
• Hernando de Soto
• Henri de Tonti
• Paul Revere
• Benjamin Franklin
• Booker T. Washington
• Frederick Douglass

Explain the significance of national holidays and the achievement of people associated with them.

Discuss different accounts of the same historical event.

Draw conclusions about life in the past using historical records and artifacts (e.g., photos, diaries, oral history).

Identify ways that a historian can determine the time, place, and credibility of a source (e.g., publication date, author, place of origin, accuracy of facts).

Identify founding documents of the United States:

• Declaration of Independence
• U.S. Constitution
• Bill of Rights

Describe and classify roles and responsibilities of people in authority in communities which may include:

• School district: school superintendent and school board
• City: mayor and city council
• State: governor and General Assembly
• Nation: President and Congress

Explain the functions of government using local examples such as infrastructure, safety, and rules/laws.

Explain the significance of state and national symbols, patriotic songs, and mottos:

• American flag
• Flag etiquette
• Star Spangled Banner
• Recitation of Pledge of Allegiance
• National Motto: In God we Trust
• State Seal
• Diana fritillary butterfly
• Fiddle
• Quartz
• Bauxite
• Pink Tomato

Describe roles and responsibilities of individuals in a democracy.

Discuss ways to build a consensus with a group when making a decision that can bring about change.

Discuss how rules and laws impact students and communities which may include:

• school board
• school handbook
• classroom expectations

Compare successful and unsuccessful attempts to improve communities.

Identify ways people benefit from and are challenged by working together in response to problems.

Explain examples of scarcity and opportunity cost.

Explain a decision related to the criteria of costs and benefits such as the cost-benefit decision model.

Discuss knowledge, skills, education, and experience (i.e., human capital) that workers need for jobs.

Identify ways human, natural, and capital resources come together to produce goods and services.

Describe ways markets exist in various places such as the home, physical location, and Internet.

Explain the role of money in making exchange easier.

Describe reasons people save money in banks.

Explain benefits of public goods and services.

Explain challenges that cause people in one country to trade goods and services with people in other countries.

Describe the process by which products are produced, transported, and sold, including the importance of the trucking industry. Products produced abroad and sold domestically may include:

• cars
• crude oil
• computers

Products produced domestically in Arkansas and sold abroad include:

• transportation products like airplane parts
• minerals such as bauxite, bromine, and gypsum
• wood pulp, paper, rice

Interpret the information on a map of local places using map keys, symbols, intermediate directions, scale, and compass rose.

Describe the physical and human characteristics of a place using geographic tools such as maps, globes, and charts.

Create and label state and national maps using titles, symbols, legends, and a compass rose.

Discuss the impact human choices have on the environment.

Describe ways people of different cultures shape and change the dynamics of a place or region.

Explain the influence of weather, climate, and physical characteristics on people's daily lives in a place or region.

Examine how natural resources such as timber, minerals, oil, coal, and natural gas influence human settlement.

Compare and contrast reasons and methods that people, goods, and ideas move from place to place.

Identify various cultural groups that have come to Arkansas and where they settled.

Examine how the products that are consumed and the traditions that are celebrated connect people to different parts of the world (e.g., raw materials, art, food, culture).

Investigate ways natural and human-made disasters affect people locally, nationally, and globally.

Create historical narratives about a sequence of changes in a community or region over time using primary-source documents such as letters, stories, interviews with elders, photographs, maps, and artifacts. Events may include:

• Founding of the town
• Development of schools or businesses
• Election of local and county leaders

Create timelines to understand the development of a community or region including its founding and growth.

Compare life in a community past and present using maps, photographs, news stories, artifacts, or interviews (e.g., transportation, communication, recreation, jobs, housing).

Investigate ways individuals, groups, and events have shaped a community.

Explain state and national historical symbols and landmarks and the people and events associated with them.

Compare and contrast different accounts of the same historical event.

Sort or categorize information from different sources to answer a compelling question about a significant historical event or person from Arkansas or the United States.

Identify and compare characteristics and examples of primary and secondary sources (e.g., raw information and first-hand accounts such as interviews, records of events, maps, and artwork versus interpretations and second-hand information like newspaper articles, stories, and book reviews).

Discuss the origins of the United States' founding documents:

• Declaration of Independence
• U.S. Constitution
• Preamble
• Bill of Rights

Identify powers of government officials in the three branches of government

• Legislative branch makes laws
• Executive branch enforces laws
• Judicial branch interprets laws

Explain the functions and structure of state government.

Investigate origins of state and national symbols, patriotic songs, and mottos:

• American flag
• Flag etiquette
• Star Spangled Banner
• Recitation of Pledge of Allegiance
• Arkansas Motto: Regnat Populus

Compare rights and responsibilities of citizens in different places.

Use deliberative processes, including listening, discussing, consensus building, and voting, when making decisions and acting upon civic problems.

Describe the processes for creating rules and laws at the local level (e.g., zoning, ordinances).

Identify ways people influence rules and laws to improve communities.

Identify ways local and state communities work together in response to problems.

Discuss how scarcity and opportunity cost influence decision-making.

Evaluate problems, alternatives, and trade-offs involved in making a decision such as the cost-benefit decision tree.

Explain the relationship between knowledge, skills, education, and experience (i.e., human capital) to productivity.

Identify ways entrepreneurs and businesses organize human, natural, and capital resources to produce goods and services.

Analyze economic factors in a market including supply, demand, competition, and incentives.

Explain purpose and functions of money in the United States.

Explain the purpose (e.g., safeguard assets, offer loans) and functions (e.g., storing money, transferring money, lending money) of banks.

Explain the difference between public and private goods and services (e.g., food, clothing, cars).

Identify factors that affect our economy

• unemployment
• inflation
• printing of money
• availability of skilled workers

Construct explanations that demonstrate the relationships among imports, exports, and global interdependence (e.g., oil, energy, lumber, crops, technology).

Describe the effects of trade on people in various places such as:

• increases in economic growth
• competition
• experience producing for foreign markets
• decreases in certain job markets
• depletion of natural resources
• outsourcing

Describe the spatial organization of local and global places based upon the relative location, distance, direction, legend, compass rose, and scale on a map.

Use thematic maps to show the interactions that shape the physical and human characteristics of local and global places.

Create maps to illustrate the physical and human characteristics of a place or region, including titles, symbols, legends, a compass rose, and scale.

Examine environmental problems and ways in which humans address them.

Investigate the cultural characteristics of various places and regions from around the world.

Investigate the influence of physical characteristics upon people's choices in Arkansas and the United States (i.e., where people live and work).

Analyze how natural resources such as metals, sand, stone, soil, freshwater, and wildlife influence human settlement patterns in various geographic regions (e.g., Rocky Mountains, Coastal Plains, Southwest).

Explain effects of the movement and distribution of people, goods, and ideas on communities using geographic sources such as maps, satellite images, and geospatial technologies.

Describe various cultural groups and reasons why they settled in Arkansas or the United States (i.e., push-pull factors).

Trace global connections of raw materials that are used to produce familiar products which may include:

• diamonds: drilling, polishing
• quartz: glass-making, sandpaper
• bauxite: aluminum metal
• bromine: pesticides, water treatment

Describe ways natural and human-made disasters in one place affect people living in other places (e.g., war and natural disasters affecting food supply).

Create historical narratives using chronological sequences of events across Arkansas and/or the world. Events may include:

• Formation of the thirteen colonies
• Founding of the United States in 1776
• Arkansas statehood
• Louisiana Purchase
• Civil War
• Emancipation Proclamation
• Gettysburg Address
• Invention of the lightbulb
• Human mastery of flight
• Declaration of Human Rights
• Formation of the United Nations
• Discovery of DNA

Explain the historical significance of people and events using timelines. People and events may include:

• Historical Arkansans: Colonel Faulkner, Hattie Caraway, Bill Clinton
• Historical Americans: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Historical events: the Boston Tea Party, American Revolution, Civil War, Reconstruction

Compare life from a specific historical time period to life today noting changes over time (e.g., transportation, jobs, urban growth, population density, natural resources, communication).

Analyze individuals, groups, and events to understand why their contributions are important to the heritage of the United States and Arkansas

• Indigenous peoples such as the Caddo, Quapaw, Osage, and Cherokee
• Harriet Tubman
• Clara Barton
• Rosa Parks
• Eleanor Roosevelt
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Investigate relationships of state and national symbols, holidays, and historic places to historical events.

• Liberty Bell
• Fourth of July
• Daisy Bates Day
• Little Rock Nine
• Little Rock Central High School

Identify and explain multiple perspectives in historical narratives.

Justify answers to compelling questions about a significant historical event or person from Arkansas or the United States using evidence from both primary and secondary sources.

Discuss the intended audience and purpose of primary and secondary sources.

Explain the rights and responsibilities citizens have according to the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and Bill of Rights:

• Freedoms (religion, speech, press, peaceable assembly)
• Rights (personal protection, fair trial by jury, vote, fair and equal treatment under the law)
• Responsibility to respect the rights and property of others

Explain the responsibilities government officials have to follow the law, to protect the rights of citizens, and to have integrity in different branches of government at various levels (i.e., local, state, federal).

Compare state and federal governments' origins, functions, and structures.

Analyze the role state and national symbols, patriotic songs, and mottos play in fostering citizenship:

• American and Arkansas flags
• Flag etiquette
• Star Spangled Banner
• Recitation of Pledge of Allegiance
• Statue of Liberty
• Arkansas motto and state seal

Evaluate changes in citizens' rights and responsibilities over time.

Evaluate decision-making processes such as used for acting upon civic problems.

Compare the processes for creating rules and laws at the local and state levels:

• city ordinance v. state law
• city council v. state legislators

Examine the relationship between people and rules/laws.

Analyze group actions and responses to local, state, national, and/or global problems.

Analyze the effects of scarcity and opportunity cost during the decision-making process.

Apply an economic decision-making model when making decisions such as the PACED decision-making.

Analyze how knowledge, skills, education, and experience (i.e., human capital) can impact productivity, career advancement, and potential income.

Explain ways entrepreneurs and businesses organize human, natural, and capital resources to produce goods and services such as Walmart, J.B. Hunt, Tyson Foods, Dillard's.

Explain effects of supply and demand on prices.

Compare methods of exchange in the United States and around the world (e.g., money, currency, bartering, metals, markets).

Describe the types of financial institutions and their roles in an economy (e.g., banks, Federal Reserve, credit unions, investment firms).

Examine ways governments pay for the goods and services they provide through taxation and fees.

Explain the meaning of inflation, deflation, and unemployment.

Explain how trading commodities (e.g., soybeans, rice, cotton) has led to economic interdependence between Arkansas, other states, and other countries (e.g., Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia).

Explain effects of increasing economic interdependence on different groups within a nation, which may include Arkansas's agricultural industry and its impact on natural resources, increased competition, and the shift in labor force.

Compare relative and absolute location (e.g., latitude and longitude) of local and global places on a map.

Compare and contrast the interactions that shape the physical and human characteristics of global places using thematic maps (e.g., climate, political, physical).

Create maps to compare the physical and human characteristics of different places or regions, including titles, symbols, legends, a compass rose, and scale.

Analyze effects of human impact on the environment over time including deforestation/reforestation, flood control, pollution, and urbanization.

Compare the cultural characteristics of various places and region from around the world.

Analyze ways physical characteristics affect population distribution in Arkansas, the United States, and the world.

Compare how natural resources such as metals, sand, stone, soil, freshwater, and wildlife influence human settlement patterns in various geographic regions (e.g., Rocky Mountains, Coastal Plains, Southwest).

Determine effects of movement and distribution of people, goods, and ideas on various places using geographic sources such as maps, satellite images, and geospatial technologies.

Compare push-pull factors that influenced immigration to and migration within the United States, which may include:

• natural resources
• employment opportunities
• political freedom
• economic freedom
• religious freedom

Describe global connections created through increased trade, transportation, communication, and technology (e.g., tourism; social media; cities and hubs that are central to social, economic, and political decisions; introduction of plant and insect species).

Analyze ways communities cooperate in providing relief efforts during and after natural and human-made disasters.

Create historical narratives using chronological sequences of related events in Arkansas and/or the world.

• Trail of Tears* and the Indian Removal Act
• Arkansas Suffrage Movement and the 19th Amendment
• Civil Rights Movement
• Brown vs. the Board of Education* and Little Rock Nine

Interpret timelines to show relationships among people, events, and movements in Arkansas and/or the world between 1850-1880:

• In U.S. history, national expansion and reform, pioneer life, slavery
• In Arkansas history, The Arkansas Traveler

Compare life from a specific historical time period to life today to explain changes over time (e.g., economic growth, urbanization, resources, population density, environmental issues).

Analyze the impact of individuals and events on the past, present, and future

• Thomas Jefferson
• Alexander Hamilton
• Thomas Paine
• James and Dolley Madison
• Abraham Lincoln
• Role of women such as Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan in STEM careers)

Reference historic places and national parks to guide inquiry about history.

• Toltec Mounds
• Hot Springs National Park
• Ouachita National Forest

Describe how perspectives of different individuals and groups shaped the historical sources they created.

Identify reasons that individuals and groups developed differing perspectives during the same historical period.

Develop original claims to answer compelling questions about a significant historical event or person from Arkansas or the United States using evidence from both primary and secondary sources.

Identify and discuss the benefits and challenges of using a variety of primary and secondary sources in historical inquiry (e.g., first-hand information and multiple perspectives versus author bias, incomplete information, and inaccurate interpretation).

Demonstrate proper etiquette for interacting with the Arkansas and American flags and evaluate the significance of a flag in symbolizing nationalities and boundaries around the world.

Critique the characteristics and functions of various maps, graphs, and other geographic tools to understand spatial information about different states, places, and regions (e.g., traditional maps, diagrams, aerial photographs, remotely sensed images, geographic visualization, global positioning systems, geographic information systems).

Collect geographic data to explain a pattern or phenomenon or to ask or answer a geographic question (e.g., surveys, population density, physical boundaries)

Research how environmental characteristics have impacted the culture of states, places, and regions over time. This may include seafaring/trading in coastal communities, farming cultures in river valleys, and nomadic cultures in arid climates.

Construct visual and written explanations of the spatial organization and spatial patterns of people, places, and environments. This may include maps, charts, and graphs.

Compare and contrast the combinations of physical and human characteristics that make places and regions similar and different. This may include water systems, topography, natural resources, culture, language, religious beliefs, and population density.

Analyze perceptions people have of places and regions around the world, including Arkansas, based on direct experiences (e.g., place of residence, travel) and indirect experiences (e.g., media, books, family, friends) and support or challenge those perceptions using evidence.

Examine physical and cultural changes regionally over time using primary and secondary sources (e.g., maps, charts, satellite imagery, GIS technologies, beliefs, legends, journals).

Explain the influence of geography on current events and issues and future planning using maps, charts, and available geospatial technologies.

Interpret demographic data (e.g., population pyramids) to explain variations of populations in different states, places, and regions.

Investigate and draw conclusions about the causes for migration in and out of a region (i.e., push-pull factors) and the impact that migration has on a region.

Identify how natural disasters and other environmental changes have influenced the responses, laws, and/or decisions of political leaders in a region.

Research the characteristics of various world regions and cultures:

• Cultural characteristics (e.g., religious beliefs, celebrations, traditions, language, child-rearing, clothing, food, beliefs, behaviors)
• Physical characteristics (e.g., mountains, rivers, deserts, plains, bodies of water)

Describe the different types of economic activities supported by natural resources within a region.

• Arkansas River Valley (e.g., agriculture, coal, natural gas, water)
• Crowley's Ridge (e.g., agriculture)
• Mississippi Alluvial Plain (Delta) (e.g., agriculture, waterfowl, fish)
• Ouachita Mountains (e.g., thermal springs, timber, quartz)
• Ozark Mountains (e.g., minerals, natural gas)
• West Gulf Coastal Plain (Timberlands) (e.g., bromine, diamonds, timber, bauxite, oil, wild game)

Compare advantages and disadvantages of one location over another for access to factors of production (e.g., human resources, natural resources, capital resources, entrepreneurship).

Analyze the social and economic impacts of transportation and communication networks in various regions, including state, regional, and global.

Examine physical and human characteristics that influence the division and control of the Earth's surface:

• Resources
• Land use
• Ethnicity
• National identities
• Natural land barriers (e.g., mountains, rivers, valleys)
• Military
• Politics

Explain levels of cooperation among people in various places and regions who solve human and environmental issues.

Analyze conflicting territorial claims, including water sources or access, mineral rights, and natural resources.

Examine ways people and cultures depend on, adapt to, and interact with the physical environment over time (e.g., technology, habitation, transportation, agriculture, communication).

Analyze positive and negative consequences of human changes on the physical environment and its effects on other places or regions. This may include forest and land management, mining, flood control, and agriculture.

Research and evaluate the impact globalization has on states, nations, and regions, including free trade, outsourcing, multinational corporations, and international supply chains.

Evaluate the impact that resource scarcity has on a region. This may include lack of clean drinking water, land scarcity, labor shortage, and supply chain shortages.

Critique various sustainability practices humans use to preserve resources and minimize environmental impact. This may include forest management (e.g., controlled burns), flood control (e.g., river levees, artificial lakes), use of alternative forms of energy (e.g., wind, solar, nuclear), modern agricultural techniques (e.g., organic farming, hydroponics, no-till farming).

Evaluate the sustainability of resources achieved through civic actions.

Research origins, purposes, and structures of government citing primary and secondary sources:

• Origins (e.g., Code of Hammurabi, Jewish Torah, Mandate of Heaven, Justinian Code, Twelve Tables, Magna Carta)
• Purposes (e.g., belief systems, resource allocation)
• Structures (e.g., patriarchal, matriarchal, tribal, city-state, national)

Compare the structure of leadership/government and functions of civilizations in different times and places (e.g., patriarchal, matriarchal, tribal, city-state, national).

Compare ways in which various civilizations foster social responsibility and civic virtues.

Demonstrate proper etiquette for interacting with the Arkansas and American flags while analyzing the role of flags and symbols in world history.

Compare rights, responsibilities, and privileges of individuals in various societies to 1500 C.E.

Evaluate the function and effects of rules, laws and treaties on civilizations by using historical documents. This may include the Code of Hammurabi, the Torah, the Twelve Tables, Law of Manu, Ancient Mayan law, Tang Code, and Justinian Code.

Analyze the impact of rules and laws on society and reasons people change rules and laws over time.

Explain the development of policies to address public problems in various civilizations over time.

Examine ways trade-offs have allowed civilizations to get the most out of scarce resources.

Analyze historical developments in various regions across the world using models of economic decision-making. Historical developments may include nomadic vs. agrarian, invasions, bartering, and trade.

Demonstrate how the division of labor and specialization led to the development of civilizations. This may include the increased productivity and quality of life civilizations experienced as they transitioned out of hunter-gatherer clusters and into agrarian, pastoral, and even feudal societies in which highly specialized skills could be developed, including artisans, cultivators, educators, and warriors.

Analyze ways human, natural, and capital resources were organized to produce and deliver goods and services in early civilizations (e.g., caravans, public works projects, Silk Road, trade routes).

Compare effects of supply and demand on early markets.

Evaluate the emergence of new economic systems and their impact on civilizations (e.g., manorialism, mercantilism).

Sequence the development of currency as a medium of exchange (i.e., barter > trade > progression of currency).

Evaluate the economic impact of war and conflict on societies and civilizations such as siege, reduction of labor, and spread of disease.

Identify barriers to trade and their impact on civilizations such as war/conflict, infrastructure, lack of technology, and geographic limitations.

Analyze the locations and environmental and cultural characteristics of various societies using maps, globes, and other geographic tools.

Explain relationships between physical and human characteristics in various places using a variety of geographic tools such as maps, charts, and graphs.

Synthesize information from a variety of sources to construct maps and other geographic representations to ask and answer compelling questions.

Analyze effects of human-generated changes on the physical environment in various places and regions over time such as large building projects, canals, irrigation, farming, and deforestation.

Analyze ways cultural characteristics influenced population distribution in various civilizations. This may include Greek city-states, Phoenecian colonies and trade cities, and Chinese agrarian society.

Analyze ways climate and environmental characteristics influenced where groups lived and how the groups adjusted to the environment in various civilizations.

Analyze relationships between human settlements and movements and the location and use of natural resources in various regions.

Determine how environmental and cultural characteristics affected the distribution and movement of people, goods, and ideas in various regions of the world.

Evaluate the impact of major population shifts in various eras and regions.

Compare ways spatial patterns of economic activities in a place change over time because of interactions with nearby and distant places.

Compare the characteristics of hunter-gatherer and agrarian societies. This may include tools, shelter, diet, use of fire, cave paintings, artifacts, clothing, rituals, daily life, gender roles.

Construct arguments about lasting achievements of early civilizations.

Evaluate the characteristics necessary for a civilization:

• Government/leadership structure
• Culture (e.g., religion/beliefs, accepted practices/traditions)
• Specialization of labor
• Mastery of food supply
• Technology
• Economic systems
• Education
• Communication systems (e.g., spoken language, alphabetic and/or numeric systems, hieroglyphics, illustrations)

Compare characteristics, contributions, and achievements of early river valley civilizations:

• Mesopotamia
• Egypt
• Indus River Valley
• China

Identify social and cultural effects of militarization and the emergence of new kingdoms on early civilizations (e.g., chariot transport, warfare, invaders).

Compare reasons for the rise and decline of major empires and civilizations:

• Egypt
• Babylonia
• Kingdom of Kush
• Mali Empire
• Greece
• Gupta
• China (Han)
• Rome
• Mayan Empire

Explain the significance and lasting effects of contributions made by major empires and civilizations of the world such as the concept of zero, crossbow, architecture, government, and calendar.

Examine causes and effects of conflict within and among the major empires (e.g., Persian War, Punic Wars, Greek city-states).

Examine key concepts and influences of major belief systems on societies:

• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Confucianism
• Hinduism
• Judaism

Analyze the contributions of major empires and civilizations of the world. This may include the decimal, art, literature, architecture, law, fables, and proverbs (e.g., Aesop, Confucius, and Ancient Hebrews) of major world civilizations:

• African kingdoms and empires
• Middle Eastern and Muslim Empires
• European kingdoms and empires
• East Asian empires and dynasties

Examine causes and effects of conflict within and among the major empires and civilizations. This may include the fall of the Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Mongol Empire, Songhai Empire, and Maya civilization.

Evaluate how the fall of the Roman Empire affected Europe:

• Loss of a centralized power (i.e. power vacuum)
• Rise of power of the Roman Catholic Church
• Norse invasions
• Frankish Kingdoms (Charlemagne)

Examine key concepts and influences of major belief systems on societies:

• Buddhism
• Christianity
• Confucianism
• Hinduism
• Judaism
• Islam

Analyze the global influence and impact of the achievements and perspectives of various individuals. This may include Gutenberg, Joan of Arc, Niccolo Machiavelli, Saladin, Sundiata Keita, Mansa Musa, and Genghis Khan.

Examine the effects invaders brought to various societies, including disease, famine, and cultural assimilation. Groups may include:

• Mongols
• Vikings
• Crusaders
• Maya
• Aztecs

Analyze effects of cultural interactions and connections on civilizations over time. This may include art, literature, religion, architecture, Zheng He's warships, printing press, Maya calendar, Great Zimbabwe, and technological innovations.

Evaluate the impact of disease and war on life within Europe including the Crusades, Feudalism, and Black Death.

Describe the impact of exploration on civilizations in the Americas:

• Aztec
• Maya
• Inca
• Pre-Columbian societies in Arkansas such as Mississippians, Plum Bayou Culture, and prehistoric Caddo