Students will-
~Explain why people form governments.
~Distinguish between government action and private action.
~Explain how local governments balance individual rights with the common good to solve local community problems.
~Describe how the Pledge of Allegiance reflects the core democratic value of patriotism.
~Give examples of how local governments make, enforce, and interpret laws in the local
community.
~Use examples to describe how local government affects the lives of its citizens.
~Distinguish between personal and civic responsibilities and explain why they are important in community life.
2). Geography and Environment Overview
Students will-
~Construct maps of the local community that contain symbols, labels, and legends denoting human and natural characteristics of place.
~Use maps to describe the spatial organization of the local community by applying concepts including relative location and using distance, direction, and scale.
~Compare the physical and human characteristics of the local community with those of another community.
~Describe how the local community is part of a larger region.
~Describe land use in the community.
~Describe the means people create for moving people, goods, and ideas within the local
community.
~Use components of culture to describe diversity in the local community.
~Suggest ways people can responsibly interact with the environment in the local community.
~Describe positive and negative consequences of changing the physical environment of the
local community.
~Design and participate in community improvement projects that help or inform
others.
~Participate in projects to help or inform others.
3). Economics Overview
Students will-
~Identify the opportunity cost involved in a consumer decision.
~Identify businesses in the local community.
~Describe how businesses in the local community meet economic wants of consumers.
~Describe the natural, human, and capital resources needed for production of a good or service in a community.
~Use examples to show that people cannot produce everything they want and depend on trade with others to meet their wants.
~Identify services commonly provided by local governments
~Describe how the local community is part of a larger region.
~Describe the means people create for moving people, goods, and ideas within the local community.
4). History Overview
Students will-
~Demonstrate chronological thinking by distinguishing among years and decades using a timeline of local community events.
~Use an example to describe the role of the individual in creating history.
~Describe changes in the local community over time.
~Identify a problem in a community’s past and describe how it was resolved.
~Construct a historical narrative about the history of the local community from a variety of sources.
~Describe how the local community is part of a larger region.
