New Jersey K–6 social studies standards

Describe why it is important that individuals assume personal and civic responsibilities in a democratic society.

Use examples from a variety of sources to describe how certain characteristics can help individuals collaborate and solve problems (e.g., open-mindedness, compassion, civility, persistence).

Explain how diversity, tolerance, fairness, and respect for others can contribute to individuals feeling accepted.

Explain how national symbols reflect on American values and principles.

Use evidence to describe how democratic principles such as equality, fairness, and respect for legitimate authority and rules have impacted individuals and communities.

Explain how historical symbols, monuments and holidays reflect the shared values, principles, and beliefs of the American identity.

Engage in discussions effectively by asking questions, considering facts, listening to the ideas of others, and sharing opinions.

Establish a process for how individuals can effectively work together to make decisions.

Describe roles and responsibilities of community and local government leaders (e.g., mayor, town council).

Investigate the importance of services provided by the local government to meet the needs and ensure the safety of community members.

Explain how individuals work with different levels of government to make rules.

Explain how all people, not just official leaders, play important roles in a community.

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

Explain what government is and its function.

Determine what makes a good rule or law.

Cite evidence that explains why rules and laws are necessary at home, in schools, and in communities.

Analyze classroom rules and routines and describe how they are designed to benefit the common good.

Explain why teachers, local community leaders, and other adults have a responsibility to make rules that fair, consistent, and respectful of individual rights.

Describe the skills and knowledge required to produce specific goods and services.

Describe the goods and services that individuals and businesses in the local community produce and those that are produced in other communities.

Identify the ways in which people exchange(d) goods and services today, and in the past (e.g., purchase, borrow, barter).

Explain the difference between needs and wants.

Cite examples of choices people make when resources are scarce.

Describe how supply and demand influence price and output of products.

Explain the impact that decisions about savings, debt, and investment can have on individuals' lives.

Describe how local and state governments make decisions that affect individuals and the community.

Cite examples of products that are produced domestically and sold abroad and produced abroad and sold domestically.

Explain why people in one country trade goods and services with people in other countries.

Identify examples of human capital, physical capital, and natural resources that contribute to favorable economic conditions.

Describe examples of goods and services that governments provide.

Explain why and how people, goods, and ideas move from place to place.

Use technology to understand the culture and physical characteristics of regions.

Explain how seasonal weather changes, climate, and other environmental characteristics affect people's lives in a place or region.

Describe how human activities affect the culture and environmental characteristics of places or regions (e.g., transportation, housing, dietary needs).

Identify cultural and environmental characteristics of different regions in New Jersey and the United States.

Investigate the relationship between the physical environment of a place and the economic activities found there.

Use maps to identify physical features (e.g., continents, oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains).

Describe how maps are created for a specific purpose (e.g., school fire-drill map, route from home to school, learning centers in a classroom).

Identify and describe the properties of a variety of maps and globes (e.g., title, legend, cardinal directions, scale, symbols,) and purposes (wayfinding, thematic).

Identify examples of geospatial data (e.g., landmarks on the school grounds, the spatial location of each student's assigned seat in the classroom, needs more thought).

Explain the different physical and human characteristics that might make a location a good place to live (e.g., landforms, climate and weather, resource availability).

Make an evidence-based argument how and why communities change over time (e.g., locally, nationally, globally).

Use multiple sources to create a chronological sequence of events that describes how and why your community has changed over time.

Use a timeline of important events to make inferences about the "big picture" of history.

Make inferences about how past events, individuals, and innovations affect our current lives.

Use examples of regional folk heroes, stories, and/or songs and make inferences about how they have contributed to the development of a culture's history.

Analyze a variety of sources describing the same event and make inferences about why the accounts are different (e.g., photographs, paintings, cartoons, newspapers, poetry, novels, plays).

Use historical data from a variety of sources to investigate the development of a local community (e.g., origins of its name, originating members, important historical events and places).

Use primary sources representing multiple perspectives to compare and make inferences about why there are different accounts of the same event.

Use evidence to demonstrate how an individual's beliefs, values, and traditions may change and/or reflect more than one culture.

Use examples from the past and present to describe how stereotyping and prejudice can lead to conflict.

With adult guidance and support, bring awareness of a local issue to school and/or community members and make recommendations for change.

Investigate a global issue such as climate change, its significance, and share information about how it impacts different regions around the world

Collect data and consider sources from multiple perspectives to become informed about an environmental issue and identify possible solutions

Using evidence, explain how the core civic virtues and democratic principles impact the decisions made at the local, state, and national government (e.g., fairness, equality, common good).

Use a variety of sources to describe the characteristics exhibited by real and fictional people that contribute(d) to the well-being of their community and country.

Use evidence from multiple sources to construct a claim about how self-discipline and civility contribute to the common good.

Identify the types of behaviors that promote collaboration and problem solving with others who have different perspectives.

Examine the responsibilities of differing positions of authority and identify criteria that are likely to make leaders qualified for those positions.

Investigate the lives of New Jersey individuals with diverse experiences who have contributed to the improvement of society.

Cite evidence from a variety of sources to describe how a democracy depends upon and responds to individuals' participation.

Compare and contrast responses of individuals and groups, past and present, to violations of fundamental rights (e.g., fairness, civil rights, human rights).

Describe the role of religious freedom and participatory government in various North American colonies.

Describe how fundamental rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights contribute to the improvement of American democracy (i.e., freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of petition, the right to vote, and the right to due process).

Research and cite evidence for how the actions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other historical civil rights leaders served as catalysts for social change, inspired social activism in subsequent generations.

Cite examples from a variety of sources to describe how national and international leaders, businesses, and global organizations promote human rights and aid individuals and nations in need.

Identify actions that are unfair or discriminatory, such as bullying, and propose solutions to address such actions.

Describe the roles of elected representatives and explain how individuals at local, state, and national levels can interact with them.

Explain how individuals can initiate and/or influence local, state, or national public policymaking (e.g., petitions, proposing laws, contacting elected officials).

Explain how and why it is important that people from diverse cultures collaborate to find solutions to community, state, national, and global challenges.

Compare the qualifications of candidates running for local, state, or national public office with the responsibilities of the position.

Describe ways in which people benefit from and are challenged by working together, including through government, workplaces, voluntary organizations, and families.

Investigate different ways individuals participate in government (e.g., voters, jurors, taxpayers).

Explain how the United States functions as a representative democracy and describe the roles of elected representatives and how they interact with citizens at local, state, and national levels.

Describe the services our government provides the people in the community, state and across the United States.

Explain how government functions at the local, county, and state level.

Distinguish the roles and responsibilities of the three branches of the national government.

Explain how national and state governments share power in the federal system of government.

Describe how the United States Constitution defines and limits the power of government.

Research and compare the differences and similarities between the United States and other nations' governments, customs, and laws.

Compare procedures for making decisions in a variety of settings including classroom, school, government, and /or society.

Describe the process by which immigrants can become United States citizens.

Evaluate school and community rules, laws and/or policies and determine if they meet their intended purpose.

Explain how policies are developed to address public problems.

Explain why individuals and businesses specialize and trade.

Identify examples of the variety of resources that are used to produce goods and services (i.e., human capital, physical capital, natural resources).

Describe how supply and demand influence price and output of products.

Compare different regions of New Jersey to determine the role that geography, natural resources, climate, transportation, technology, and/or the labor force play in economic opportunities.

Explain why individuals and societies trade, how trade functions, and the role of trade.

Explain the system of mercantilism and its impact on the economies of the colonies and European countries.

Identify positive and negative incentives that influence the decisions people make.

Use quantitative data to engage in cost benefit analyses of decisions that impact the individual and/or community.

Explain how scarcity and choice influence decisions made by individuals, communities, and nations.

Explain how the development of communication systems has led to increased collaboration and the spread of ideas throughout the United States and the world.

Illustrate how production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services are interrelated and are affected by the global market and events in the world community.

Use economic data to explain how trade leads to increasing economic interdependence among nations.

Compare and contrast how the availability of resources affects people across the world differently.

Evaluate the economic impact of science and technology innovations on European exploration.

Explain the ways in which the government pays for the goods and services it provides.

Use data to describe how the availability of resources in New Jersey and other regions in the United States have impacted economic opportunities.

Describe how the development of different transportation systems impacted the economies of New Jersey and the United States.

Explain how creativity and innovation resulted in scientific achievement and inventions in many cultures during different historical periods.

Explain how the availability of private and public goods and services is influenced by the government and the global economy.

Examine the qualities of entrepreneurs in a capitalistic society.

Describe the role and relationship among households, businesses, laborers, and governments within the economic system.

Use multiple sources to evaluate the impact of the movement of people from place to place on individuals, communities, and regions.

Use historical maps to explain what led to the exploration of new water and land routes.

Use geographic tools to determine factors that impacted emigration, settlement patterns, and regional identities of the US colonies.

Explain how cultural and environmental characteristics affect the distribution and movement of people, goods, and ideas.

Use a variety of sources from multiple perspectives, including aerial photographs or satellite images to describe how human activity has impacted the physical environment during different periods of time in New Jersey and the United States.

Cite examples of how technological advances have changed the environment in New Jersey and the United States (e.g., energy, transportation, communications).

Analyze the effects of catastrophic environmental and technological events on human settlements and migration.

Compare and contrast characteristics of regions in the United States based on culture, economics, and physical characteristics to understand the concept of regionalism.

Describe how landforms, climate and weather, and availability of resources have impacted where and how people live and work in different regions of New Jersey and the United States.

Use geographic models to describe how human movement relates to the location of natural resources and sometimes results in conflict.

Investigate the different physical and human characteristics of urban, suburban and rural communities and identify the factors that might attract individuals to that space.

Describe how the migration and settlement patterns of Native American groups impacted different regions of the Western Hemisphere.

Compare and contrast the voluntary and involuntary migratory experiences of different groups of people and explain why their experiences differed.

Identify the maps or types of maps most appropriate for specific purposes, (e.g., to locate physical and/or human features in a community, to determine the shortest route from one town to another town, to compare the number of people living at two or more locations).

Use maps to explain the impact of location and place on the relationships between places in New Jersey, the United States and other countries.

Demonstrate how to use digital geographic tools, maps and globes to measure distances and determine time zones, and locations using latitude and longitude.

Use a variety of geographic representations to describe the similarities and differences between places in New Jersey, the United States and the world (e.g., maps, data visualizations, graphs, diagrams, aerial and other photographs, GPS).

Use geographic data to examine how the search for natural resources resulted in conflict and cooperation among European colonists and Native American resulting in changes to conditions.

Craft an argument, supported with historical evidence, for how factors such as demographics (e.g., race, gender, religion, and economic status) affected social, economic, and political opportunities during the Colonial era.

Analyze key historical events from the past to explain how they led to the creation of the state of New Jersey and the United States.

Use a variety of sources to illustrate how the American identity has evolved over time.

Use multiple sources to describe how George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Governor William Livingston have impacted state and national governments over time.

Use evidence to document how the interactions among African, European, and Native American groups impacted their respective cultures.

Analyze the power struggle among European countries and determine its impact on people living in Europe and the Americas.

Use multiple sources to make evidence-based inferences on the impact of European colonization on Native American populations, including the Lenni Lenape of New Jersey.

Evaluate the initial and lasting impact of slavery using sources that represent multiple perspectives.

Make evidence-based inferences to describe how the influence of Native American groups, including the Lenni Lenape culture, is manifested in different regions of New Jersey.

Evaluate the impact of ideas, inventions, and other contributions of prominent figures who lived New Jersey.

Analyze the power struggle among European countries and determine its impact on people living in Europe and the Americas.

Make evidence-based inferences to explain the impact that belief systems and family structures of African, European, and Native American groups had on government structures.

Determine the roles of religious freedom and participatory government in various North American colonies.

Craft a claim explaining how the development of early government structures impacted the evolution of American politics and institutions.

Compare the practice of slavery and indentured servitude in Colonial labor systems.

Analyze key historical documents to determine the role they played in past and present-day government and citizenship (i.e., the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights).

Examine multiple accounts of early European explorations of North America including major land and water routes, reasons for exploration, and the impact the exploration had.

Construct an argument for the significant and enduring role of historical symbols, monuments, and holidays and how they affect the American identity.

Describe the reasons various groups, voluntarily and involuntarily, immigrated to New Jersey and America, and cite evidence from multiple perspectives to describe the challenges they encountered.

Compare and contrast forms of governance, belief systems, and family structures among African, European, and Native American groups.

Use multiple perspectives to evaluate the impact of the Columbian Exchange on ecology, agriculture, and culture.

Compare and contrast gender roles, religion, values, cultural practices, and political systems of Native American groups.

Compare and contrast historians' interpretations of important historical ideas, resources and events.

Evaluate the impact of different interpretations of experiences and events by people with different cultural or individual perspectives.

Describe why it is important to understand the perspectives of other cultures in an interconnected world.

Develop an action plan that addresses issues related to climate change and share with school and/or community members.

Use a variety of sources and data to identify the various perspectives and actions taken by individuals involving a current or historical community, state, or national issue.

Propose a solution to a local issue after considering evidence and the perspectives of different groups, including community members and local officials.

Investigate an economic issue that impacts children and propose a solution.

Use technology to collaborate with others who have different perspectives to examine global issues, including climate change and propose possible solutions.

Plan and participate in an advocacy project to inform others about the impact of climate change at the local or state level and propose possible solutions.

Use primary and secondary sources to assess whether or not the ideals found in the Declaration of Independence were fulfilled for women, African Americans, and Native Americans during this time period.

Research and prioritize the most significant events that led to the expansion of voting rights during the Jacksonian period.

Explain how and why constitutional civil liberties were impacted by acts of government during the Early Republic (i.e., Alien and Sedition Acts).

Evaluate the impact of the institution of slavery on the political and economic expansion of the United States.

Construct an argument to explain how the expansion of slavery violated human rights and contradicted American ideals.

Examine sources from a variety of perspectives to describe efforts to reform education, women's rights, slavery, and other issues during the Antebellum period.

Cite evidence to determine the role that compromise played in the creation and adoption of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Cite evidence to evaluate the extent to which the leadership and decisions of early administrations of the national government met the goals established in the Constitution.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the fundamental principles of the Constitution (i.e., consent of the governed, rule of law, federalism, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, and individual rights) in establishing a federal government that allows for growth and change over time.

Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of citizens, political parties, interest groups, and the media in a variety of governmental and nongovernmental contexts.

Use data and other evidence to determine the extent to which demographics influenced the debate on representation in Congress and federalism by examining the New Jersey and Virginia plans.

Identify the effect of inflation and debt on the American people and evaluate the policies of state and national governments during this time.

Analyze the debates involving the National Bank, uniform currency, and tariffs, and determine the extent to which each of these economic tools met the economic challenges facing the new nation.

Assess the impact of the Louisiana Purchase and western exploration on the expansion and economic development of the United States.

Explain how major technological developments revolutionized land and water transportation, as well as the economy, in New Jersey and the nation.

Analyze how technological innovations affected the status and social class of different groups of people and explain the outcomes that resulted.

Use maps and other geographic tools to construct an argument on the impact of geography on the developments and outcomes of the American Revolution including New Jersey's pivotal role.

Map territorial expansion and settlement, highlighting the locations of conflicts with and resettlement of Native Americans.

Explain how the consequences of the Seven Years War, changes in British policies toward American colonies, and responses by various groups and individuals in the North American colonies led to the American Revolution.

Explain how political parties were formed and continue to be shaped by differing perspectives regarding the role and power of federal government.

Use geographic tools and resources to investigate how conflicts and alliances among European countries and Native American groups impacted the expansion of American territory.

Compare and contrast the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution in terms of the decision-making powers of national government.

Explain the changes in America's relationships with other nations by analyzing policies, treaties, tariffs, and agreements.

Explain the growing resistance to slavery and New Jersey's role in the Underground Railroad.

Analyze how the concept of Manifest Destiny influenced the acquisition of land through annexation, diplomacy, and war.

Analyze the push-pull factors that led to increase in immigration and explain why ethnic and cultural conflicts resulted.

Prioritize the causes and events that led to the Civil War from different perspectives.

Analyze critical events and battles of the Civil War from different perspectives.

Assess the human and material costs of the Civil War in the North and South.

Assess the role of various factors that affected the course and outcome of the Civil War (i.e., geography, natural resources, demographics, transportation, leadership, and technology).

Compare and contrast the approaches of Congress and Presidents Lincoln and Johnson toward the reconstruction of the South.

Analyze the economic impact of Reconstruction on the South from different perspectives.

Construct an argument that prioritizes the causes and events that led to the Civil War using multiple sources from different perspectives.

Analyze how the leadership of George Washington during the American Revolution and as president allowed for the establishment of American democracy.

Analyze a variety of sources to make evidence-based inferences about how prominent individuals and other nations contributed to the causes, execution, and outcomes of the American Revolution.

Use primary sources as evidence to explain why the Declaration of Independence was written and how its key principles evolved to become unifying ideas of American democracy.

Examine the roles and perspectives of various socioeconomic groups (e.g., rural farmers, urban craftsmen, northern merchants, and southern planters), African Americans, Native Americans, and women during the American Revolution, and determine how these groups were impacted by the war.

Analyze how the terms of the Treaty of Paris affected United States relations with Native Americans and with European powers that had territories in North America from multiple perspectives.

Analyze the effectiveness of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution from multiple perspectives.

Examine the roles of women, African Americans, and Native Americans in the Civil War.

Explain how and why the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address continue to impact American life.

Compare and contrast the American legal system with the legal systems of classical civilizations and determine the extent to which these early systems influenced our current legal system (e.g., Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, Roman Justinian Code, Israelite Jewish Law).

Use evidence to describe the impact of Athenian democracy and the Roman Republic on the development of the United State Constitution.

Cite evidence of the influence of medieval English legal and constitutional practices on modern democratic thought and institutions (i.e., the Magna Carta, parliament, the development of habeas corpus, and an independent judiciary).

Determine the role of slavery in the economic and social structures of early river valley civilizations.

Compare and contrast the rights and responsibilities of free men, women, slaves, and foreigners in the political, economic, and social structures of classical civilizations.

Explain how/why different early river valley civilizations developed similar forms of government and legal structures.

Compare and contrast the methods (i.e., autocratic rule, philosophies, and bureaucratic structures) used by the rulers of Rome, China, and India to control and unify their expanding empires.

Analyze the role of religion and other means rulers used to unify and centrally govern expanding territories with diverse populations. The principles of the United States government are based on political philosophies, ideas, and experiences of earlier governments.

Analyze the impact of expanding land and sea trade routes as well as a uniform system of exchange in the Mediterranean World and Asia.

Explain how classical civilizations used technology and innovation to enhance agricultural/ manufacturing output and commerce, to expand military capabilities, to improve life in urban areas, and to allow for greater division of labor.

Compare and contrast the Japanese and European systems of feudalism and the effectiveness of each in promoting social, economic, and political order.

Explain how technological advancements led to greater economic specialization, improved weaponry, trade, and the development of a class system in early river valley civilizations.

Determine how Africa's physical geography and natural resources presented challenges and opportunities for trade, development, and the spread of religion.

Determine the extent to which geography influenced settlement, the development of trade networks, technological innovations, and the sustainability of early river valley civilizations.

Explain how geography influenced the development of the political, economic, and cultural centers of each empire as well as the empires' relationships with other parts of the world.

Use geographic models to determine the impact of environmental modifications made by earlier civilizations on the current day environmental challenges.

Explain how the geographies and climates of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas influenced their economic development and interaction or isolation with other societies.

Explain why the Arabian Peninsula's physical features and location made it the epicenter of Afro-Eurasian trade and fostered the spread of Islam into Africa, Europe, and Asia.

Assess how maritime and overland trade routes impacted urbanization, transportation, communication, and the development of international trade centers (i.e., the African caravan and Silk Road).

Use maps to show how the interaction between the Islamic world and medieval Europe increased trade, enhanced technology innovation and impacted science, thought, and the arts.

Compare and contrast the social organization, natural resources, and land use of early hunters/gatherers and those who lived in early agrarian societies.

Use maps to examine the impact of the various migratory patterns of hunters/gatherers that moved from Africa to Eurasia, Australia, and the Americas.

Use geographic models to describe how the availability of natural resources influenced the development of the political, economic, and cultural systems of each of the classical civilizations and provided motivation for expansion.

Explain how geography and the availability of natural resources led to both the development of classical civilizations and to their decline.

Compare and contrast physical and political maps of early river valley civilizations and their modern counterparts and determine the geopolitical impact of these civilizations, then and now (i.e., Mesopotamia and Iraq; Ancient Egypt and Modern Egypt; Indus River Valley and Modern Pakistan/India; Ancient China and Modern China).

Analyze the immediate and long-term impact on China and Europe of the open exchange between Europe and the Yuan (Mongol) Dynasty.

Analyze the factors that led to the rise and fall of various early river valley civilizations and determine whether there was a common pattern of growth and decline.

Evaluate the importance and enduring legacy of the major achievements of Greece, Rome, India, and China over time.

Determine common factors that contributed to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, Gupta India, and Han China.

Describe the influence of the agricultural revolution on population growth and the subsequent development of civilizations (e.g., the impact of food surplus from farming).

Determine the impact of technological advancements on hunter/gatherer and agrarian societies.

Describe how the development of both written and unwritten languages impacted human understanding, development of culture, and social structure.

Demonstrate an understanding of pre-agricultural and post-agricultural periods in terms of relative length of time.

Evaluate the importance and enduring legacy of the major achievements of the early river valley civilizations over time.

Analyze the impact of religion on daily life, government, and culture in various early river valley civilizations.

Explain how the development of written language transformed all aspects of life in early river valley civilizations.

Determine the extent to which religion, economic issues, and conflict shaped the values and decisions of the classical civilizations.

Determine which events led to the rise and eventual decline of European feudalism.

Explain how and why the interrelationships among improved agricultural production, population growth, urbanization, and commercialization led to the rise of powerful states and kingdoms (i.e., Europe, Asia, Americas).

Assess the demographic, economic, and religious impact of the plague on Europe.

Analyze the causes and outcomes of the Crusades from different perspectives, including the perspectives of European political and religious leaders, the crusaders, Jews, Muslims, and traders.

Determine the extent to which the Byzantine Empire influenced the Islamic world and western Europe.

Analyze the role of religion and economics in shaping each empire's social hierarchy and evaluate the impact these hierarchical structures had on the lives of various groups of people.

Evaluate the importance and enduring legacy of the major achievements of the people living Asia, Africa (Islam), Europe and the Americas over time.

Explain how archaeological discoveries are used to develop and enhance understanding of life prior to written records.

Compare and contrast social hierarchies in classical civilizations as they relate to power, wealth, and equality.

Compare the status of groups in the Ancient World to those of people today and evaluate how individuals perceived the principles of liberty and equality then and now (i.e., political, economic, and social).

Compare and contrast the tenets of various world religions that developed in or around this time period (i.e., Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and Taoism), their patterns of expansion, and their responses to the current challenges of globalization.

Identify an issue of inequality, develop multiple solutions, and communicate the best one to an appropriate government body.

Make a claim based on evidence to determine the extent and the limitations of First Amendment rights (e.g., U.S. Supreme Court decisions).

Use historical case studies and current events to explain why due process is essential for the protection of individual rights and maintenance of limited government.

Construct an argument as to the source of human rights and how they are best protected.

Deliberate on a public issue affecting an upcoming election, consider opposing arguments, and develop a reasoned conclusion.

Propose and defend a position regarding a public policy issue at the appropriate local, state, or national level.

Construct a claim as to why it is important for democracy that individuals are informed by facts, aware of diverse viewpoints, and willing to take action on public issues.

Evaluate, take, and defend a position on why government is necessary, and the purposes government should serve.

Evaluate the extent to which different forms of government reflect the history and values of various societies (e.g., monarchy, democracy, republic, dictatorship).

Use a variety of sources from multiple perspectives to examine the role of individuals, political parties, interest groups, and the media in a local or global issue and share this information with a governmental or nongovernmental organization as a way to gain support for addressing the issue.

Investigate the roles of political, civil, and economic organizations in shaping people's lives and share this information with individuals who might benefit from this information.

Analyze primary sources to explain how democratic ideas in the United States developed from the historical experiences of ancient societies, England, and the North American colonies.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the fundamental principles of the Constitution (i.e., consent of the governed, rule of law, federalism, limited government, separation of powers, checks and balances, and individual rights) in establishing a federal government that allows for growth and change over time.

Take a position on an issue in which fundamental ideals and principles are in conflict (e.g., liberty, equality).

Use evidence and quantitative data to propose or defend a public policy related to climate change.

Engage in simulated democratic processes (e.g., legislative hearings, judicial proceedings, elections) to understand how conflicting points of view are addressed in a democratic society.

Seek the perspectives of multiple stakeholders with diverse points of view regarding a local budget issue and take a position on proposed policy.

Compare how ideas become laws at the local, state, and national level.