Delaware K–6 social studies standards

Students will understand that leaders are sometimes chosen by election, and that elected officials are expected to represent the interests of the people who elected them.

Students will understand that positions of authority carry responsibilities and should be respected.

Students will understand that respect for others, their opinions, and their property is a foundation of civil society in the United States.

Students will understand that American citizens have distinct rights, responsibilities, and privileges.

Students will demonstrate the skills necessary for participating in a group, including defining an objective, dividing responsibilities, and working cooperatively.

Students will understand that individuals and families with limited resources undertake a wide variety of activities to satisfy their wants.

Students will apply the concept that economic choices require the balancing of costs incurred with benefits received.

Students will understand how barter, money, and other media are employed to facilitate the exchange of resources, goods, and services.

Students will identify human wants and the various resources and strategies which have been used to satisfy them over time.

Students will understand that the exchange of goods and services around the world creates economic interdependence between people in different places.

Students will understand the nature and uses of maps, globes, and other geo-graphics.

Students will distinguish different types of climate and landforms and explain why they occur.

Students will identify types of human settlement, connections between settlements, and the types of activities found in each.

Students will use the concepts of place and region to explain simple patterns of connections between and among places across the country and the world.

Students will use clocks, calendars, schedules, and written records to record or locate events in time.

Students will use artifacts and documents to gather information about the past.

Students will understand that historical accounts are constructed by drawing logical inferences from artifacts and documents.

Students will develop an understanding of the similarities between families now and in the past, including:<ul><li>Daily life today and in other times</li><li>Cultural origins of customs and beliefs around the world</li></ul>

Students will develop an awareness of major events and people in United States and Delaware history.<ul><li>Who lives here and how did they get here? (immigrants, demographics, ethnic and religious groups)</li><li>Important people in our past</li><li>Different kinds of communities in Delaware and the United States</li></ul>

Students will understand that governments have a variety of structures and exist for many purposes and that in America these are explained in the United States and State constitutions.

Students will understand that the United States government is divided into executive, legislative, and judicial branches, each with specific responsibilities and powers.

Students will understand that the principle of due process protects American citizens by requiring the government to pass and follow fair laws and use fair procedures to execute and enforce those laws.

Students will understand that a society based on the ideal of individual liberty requires a commitment on the part of its citizens to the principles of civic responsibility and personal civility.

Students will apply the fundamental rights and protections of American citizens guaranteed in the Bill of Rights to everyday situations.

Students will understand that in order to select effective leaders, citizens have to become informed about candidates' qualifications and the issues of the day.

Students will identify and employ the formal and informal methods by which democratic groups function.

Students will understand that prices in a market economy are determined by the interaction of supply and demand.

Students will understand that consumers and producers in a market economy make economic choices based on supply and demand.

Students will understand the role of banks and other financial institutions in the economy.

Students will identify different means of production, distribution, and exchange used within economic systems in different times and places.

Students will demonstrate how international trade links countries around the world and can improve the economic welfare of nations.

Students will demonstrate development of mental maps of Delaware and of the United States which include the relative location and characteristics of major physical features, political divisions, and human settlements.

Students will apply a knowledge of topography, climate, soils, and vegetation of Delaware and the United States to understand how human society alters, and is affected by, the physical environment.

Students will understand the reasons for the locations of human activities and settlements and the routes connecting them in Delaware and in the United States.

Students will apply geographic skills to develop a profile of the local community by placing it in the context of physical, cultural, and other types of regions.

Students will study historical events and persons within a given time-frame in order to create a chronology and identify related cause-and-effect factors.

Students will draw historical conclusions and construct historical accounts from primary and secondary source materials.

Students will examine historical materials relating to a particular region, society, or theme; chronologically arrange them, and analyze change over time.

Students will explain why historical accounts of the same event sometimes differ and will relate this explanation to the evidence presented or the point-of-view of the author.

Students will develop an understanding of Delaware history and its connections with United States history, including:<ul><li>Native American inhabitants before European contact</li><li>Exploration and settlement (1609-1775)</li><li>From the First State to the Civil War (1776-1865)</li><li>Growth of commerce, industry, transportation, and agriculture (1865-1945)</li><li>Modern Delaware (1945-present)</li></ul>

Students will develop an understanding of selected themes in United States history, including:<ul><li>Who are the American people? (demographics, immigration)</li><li>How did the United States develop its form of government?</li><li>How have advances in technology changed our lives?</li><li>Important people in American history</li></ul>

Students will understand why governments have the authority to make, enforce, and interpret laws and regulations, such as levying taxes, conducting foreign policy, and providing for national defense.

Students will analyze the different functions of federal, state, and local governments in the United States and examine the reasons for the different organizational structures each level of government employs.

Students will understand that the concept of majority rule does not mean that the rights of minorities may be disregarded and will examine and apply the protections accorded those minorities in the American political system.

Students will understand the principles and content of major American state papers such as the Declaration of Independence; United States Constitution (including the Bill of Rights); and the Federalist Papers.

Students will understand that civil rights secure political freedom while property rights secure economic freedom and that both are essential protections for United States citizens.

Students will understand that American citizenship includes responsibilities such as voting, jury duty, obeying the law, service in the armed forces when required, and public service.

Students will follow the actions of elected officials, and understand and employ the mechanisms for communicating with them while in office.

Students will analyze how changes in supply and demand interact in competitive markets to determine or change the price of goods and services.

Students will analyze the role of money and banking in the economy, and the ways in which government taxes and spending affect the functioning of market economies.

Students will demonstrate the ways in which the means of production, distribution, and exchange in different economic systems have a relationship to cultural values, resources, and technologies.

Students will examine how nations with different economic systems specialize and become interdependent through trade and how government policies allow either free or restricted trade.

Students will demonstrate mental maps of the world and its sub-regions which include the relative location and characteristics of major physical features, political divisions, and human settlements.

Students will apply a knowledge of the major processes shaping natural environments to understand how different peoples have changed and been affected by, physical environments in the world's sub-regions.

Students will analyze patterns of cultural activity associated with different world regions in order to explain the reasons for the cultural development of a place.

Students will evaluate a location’s site and situation in order to identify and explain the distinctive cultural and physical characteristics, patterns of trade, and interactions that make a place unique.

Students will understand the processes affecting the location of economic activities in different world regions.

Students will explain how conflict and cooperation among people contributes to the division of the Earth's surface into distinctive cultural regions and political territories.

Students will examine historical materials relating to a particular region, society, or theme; analyze change over time, and make logical inferences concerning cause and effect.

Students will master the basic research skills necessary to conduct an independent investigation of historical phenomena.

Students will examine historical documents, artifacts, and other materials, and analyze them in terms of credibility, as well as the purpose, perspective, or point of view for which they were constructed.

Students will compare different historians' descriptions of the same societies in order to examine how the choice of questions and use of sources may affect their conclusions.

Students will develop an understanding of pre-industrial United States history and its connections to Delaware history, including:<ul><li>Three worlds meet (Beginnings to 1620)</li><li>Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)</li><li>Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)</li><li>Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)</li><li>Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)</li></ul>

Students will develop an understanding of ancient and medieval world history, and the continuing influence of major civilizations, including:<ul><li>The beginnings of human society</li><li>Early civilizations and pastoral peoples (4,000-1,000 BC)</li><li>Classical traditions, major religions, and great empires (1,000 BC--300 AD)</li><li>Expanding zones of exchange and encounter (300-1,000 AD)</li><li>Intensified hemispheric interactions (1,000-1,500 AD)</li></ul>