SOCIAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT

Students need to successfully complete three years of History and Social Studies instruction in order to be eligible for graduation.  To comply with the Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework, all students must take a two-year sequence in world history starting in their freshman year.  This two-year sequence is designed to prepare students for the MCAS test given in the spring of the sophomore year. Entering freshman in the fall of 1999 will be the first class to take the “high stakes” test in the spring of 2000. As juniors, all students are required to take United States History from 1877 to the present.  Seniors have the choice of several courses but must first see that they have passed all of their requirements.

Five-Credit Courses

WORLD HISTORY I  (Grade 9) 

Students in Grade 9 will study the history and geography of the civilizations and nations that occurred in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia from the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the modern era (500 A. D. to 1815).  After an introductory unit on world religions, students will study the history and geography of great civilizations that were developing concurrently throughout the world during medieval and early modern times.  Students will examine the growing economic interaction within and between civilizations, as well as the exchange of ideas, beliefs, technologies, commodities and cultures.  They will learn about the growth of Enlightenment Philosophy in Europe and the roots of the Scientific and subsequent Industrial Revolution, as well as the changes brought on by the American and French Revolutions.

Standard – 5 Credits – 5 Periods per Cycle – Full Year

WORLD HISTORY II  (Grade 10) 

After a brief review of the last unit of Grade 9, this course will study the major turning points that have shaped the modern world (from 1800 to the present).  The course will begin with a study of the evolution and revolutions of European nation states and then continue with a study of European nationalism and imperialism, the emergence of modern China and Japan and the dawn of 20th century, the turmoil that led to WWI, the Russian Revolution, and the Great Depression and its world wide consequences.  Also included will be the rise of fascism, WWII, the Cold War, the Revolution of Rising Expectations, and the changing scientific, economic, social, cultural, and political events that are shaping the 21st century.  Students will be able to put historical events in proper perspective and apply concepts and themes from all of the Social Sciences in order to make sense of the world they are about to inherit.  Students will also receive further instruction and practice in MCAS open-response questions in preparation for the actual state test in the spring of their sophomore year.

Standard – 5 Credits – 5 Periods per Cycle – Full Year

UNITED STATES HISTORY  (Grade 11)

This course is required for graduation and conforms to the outline provided by the Massachusetts History and Social Science Framework. Students in Grade 11 will study the major turning points in American History in the 20th century.  After a brief review of the causes, events and results of the Civil War and Reconstruction, this course will examine the rise of Industrial America and the labor movement, Immigration and the shift in population to the cities, along with the changing ethnic composition of America.  Also included will be the position of the United States in a changing and hostile world of the 20th century, adjustments brought on by the Great Depression and the New Deal, the Civil Rights struggle and achievements, and the changing scientific, cultural, economic and political developments of the late 20th century.  Underlying the treatment of all core knowledge topics will be a featured examination of The Constitution, our governmental system of checks and balances, assorted case studies, as well as the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Standard – 5 Credits – 8 Periods per Cycle – Full Year