8th Grade Social Studies

Government

Purposes of government The Legislative Branch
The Executive Branch
The Judicial Branch Checks and balances
State and local government

The Constitution

The Constitution: structure and principles

The Constitution: amendments
The Constitution: interpretation
The Bill of Rights

The legal system

Laws and courts

Citizenship

Citizenship and the naturalization process

Rights and responsibilities of active citizenship

Basic economic principles

What is economics?

Costs and benefits

Opportunity cost
Trade and specialization

What is a market?

Banking and finance

Banks

Supply and demand

Understand quantity supplied and quantity demanded

Understand overall supply and demand
Create and use supply and demand curves
Identify shortage and surplus

Identify shortage and surplus with graphs

Identify shortage and surplus with data

Early Modern Europe

Renaissance origins
Italian Renaissance: achievements in literature and art

The Reformation
The Enlightenment: origins and natural rights
The Enlightenment: influences on government

Age of Exploration

The Age of Exploration: origins

Portuguese and Spanish expeditions

French and English expeditions
The Columbian Exchange

Colonial America

Life as a colonist
Identify the Thirteen Colonies
Select the Thirteen Colonies
Name the Thirteen Colonies
New England Colonies: founding and government
New England Colonies: economy and interactions with Native Americans

Middle Colonies: founding and government
Middle Colonies: economy and society
Southern Colonies: founding and government
Southern Colonies: economy and slavery

The American Revolution

Causes of the American Revolution: the French and Indian War
Causes of the American Revolution: introduction to mercantilism and the Navigation Acts Causes of the American Revolution: new taxes and colonial response
The Revolutionary War: preparing for war
The Revolutionary War: struggle for independence

The Revolutionary War: turning the tide of war

The Revolutionary War: conclusion and aftermath

Source analysis: the Boston Massacre
Source analysis: the Declaration of Independence

The Early Republic

The Articles of Confederation
The Constitutional Convention
Washington’s presidency:
The first party system: Federalists and Democratic-Republicans The Marshall Court

The Louisiana Purchase

The Jacksonian period

Jacksonian Democracy
Tariff, nullification, and bank war Indian

Removal and the Trail of Tears

The Antebellum period

Industrial and Transportation Revolutions

Comparing the North and the South

Antebellum reform movements

Antebellum immigration

Slavery in the South
The abolitionists
Texas independence and annexation
The U.S.-Mexican War
Causes of the Civil War: Missouri Compromise to Bleeding Kansas

Causes of the Civil War: Dred Scott to secession

The Civil War

The Civil War: the beginning of the war
The Civil War: Bull Run to the Emancipation Proclamation

The Civil War: Gettysburg to the election of 1864
The Civil War: the conclusion of the war
Source analysis: the Gettysburg Address

Reconstruction

Radical Reconstruction
The end of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow

The Gilded Age

Industrialization in the Gilded Age

Social studies skills

Identify primary and secondary sources
Identify facts and opinions
Reading and creating timelines with BCE and CE

Physical Geography

Oceans and continents

The Americas: society and environment

Region profile: South America

The Americas: geography

Identify and select countries of Northern and Central America

Name countries of Northern and Central America
Identify and select countries of the Caribbean
Name countries of the Caribbean

Identify and select countries of South America

Name countries of South America

Europe: society and environment

Region profile: Europe

Europe: geography

Identify and select countries of Europe

Name countries of Europe

Africa: society and environment

Region profile: West and Central Africa

Africa: geography

Identify and select countries of Africa

Name countries of Africa

The Middle East: society and environment

Region profile: the Middle East

Asia: society and environment

Region profile: East Asia

Country profile: China

Asia: geography

Identify and select countries of Asia

Name countries of Asia

Oceania: geography

Identify and select countries of Oceania

Name countries of Oceania

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