Grade 6

Trace characteristics of various contemporary societies in regions that resulted from historical events or factors such as colonization, immigration, and trade.

Analyze the historical background of various contemporary societies to evaluate relationships between past conflicts and current conditions.

Identify and describe the historical influence of individuals or groups on various contemporary societies.

Describe the social, political, economic, and cultural contributions of individuals and groups from various societies, past and present.

Identify and explain the geographic factors responsible for patterns of population in places and regions.

Explain ways in which human migration influences the character of places and regions.

Identify and locate major physical and human geographic features such as landforms, water bodies, and urban centers of various places and regions.

Identify the location of major world countries for each of the world regions.

Explain the geographic factors responsible for the location of economic activities in places and regions.

Identify geographic factors such as location, physical features, transportation corridors and barriers, and distribution of natural resources that influence a society's political relationships.

Describe ways people have been impacted by physical processes such as earthquakes and climate.

Identify and analyze ways people have adapted to the physical environment in various places and regions.

Identify and analyze ways people have modified the physical environment such as mining, irrigation, and transportation infrastructure.

Describe ways in which the factors of production (natural resources, labor, capital, and entrepreneurs) influence the economies of various contemporary societies.

Identify problems that may arise when one or more of the factors of production is in relatively short supply.

Explain the impact of the distribution of resources on international trade and economic interdependence among and within societies.

Compare ways in which various societies organize the production and distribution of goods and services.

Compare and contrast free enterprise, socialist, and communist economies in various contemporary societies, including the benefits of the U.S. free enterprise system.

Understand the importance of ethics in maintaining a functional free enterprise system.

Define and give examples of agricultural, retail, manufacturing (goods), and service industries.

Describe levels of economic development of various societies using indicators such as life expectancy, gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, and literacy.

Describe and compare examples of limited and unlimited governments such as constitutional (limited) and totalitarian (unlimited).

Identify reasons for limiting the power of government.

Identify and describe examples of human rights abuses by limited or unlimited governments such as the oppression of religious, ethnic, and political groups.

Identify and give examples of governments with rule by one, few, or many.

Compare ways in which various societies such as China, Germany, India, and Russia organize government and how they function.

Identify historical origins of democratic forms of government such as Ancient Greece.

Describe and compare roles and responsibilities of citizens in various contemporary societies, including the United States.

Explain how opportunities for citizens to participate in and influence the political process vary among various contemporary societies.

Identify and explain the duty of civic participation in societies with representative governments.

Explain relationships among rights, responsibilities, and duties in societies with representative governments.

Identify and describe common traits that define cultures and culture regions.

Define a multicultural society.

Analyze the experiences and contributions of diverse groups to multicultural societies.

Identify and explain examples of conflict and cooperation between and among cultures.

Identify institutions basic to all societies, including government, economic, educational, and religious institutions.

Compare characteristics of institutions in various contemporary societies.

Analyze the efforts and activities institutions use to sustain themselves over time.

Identify and describe means of cultural diffusion such as trade, travel, and war.

Identify and describe factors that influence cultural change such as improvements in communication, transportation, and economic development.

Analyze the impact of improved communication technology among cultures.

Identify the impact of cultural diffusion on individuals and world societies.

Explain the relationships that exist between societies and their architecture, art, music, and literature.

Describe ways in which contemporary issues influence creative expressions.

Identify examples of art, music, and literature that convey universal themes such as religion, justice, and the passage of time.

Explain the relationship among religious ideas, philosophical ideas, and cultures.

Explain the significance of religious holidays and observances such as Christmas, Easter, Ramadan, the annual hajj, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, and Vaisakhi in various contemporary societies.

Identify examples of scientific discoveries, technological innovations, and scientists and inventors that have shaped the world.

Explain how resources, economic factors, and political decisions affect the use of technology.

Make predictions about future social, political, economic, cultural, and environmental impacts that may result from future scientific discoveries and technological innovations.

Differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such as oral, print, and visual material and artifacts to acquire information about various world cultures.

Analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions.

Organize and interpret information from outlines, reports, databases, and visuals, including graphs, charts, timelines, and maps.

Identify different points of view about an issue or current topic.

Formulate and communicate visually, orally, or in writing a claim supported by evidence and reasoning related to a social studies topic.

Evaluate a variety of historical and contemporary sources for validity, credibility, bias, and accuracy.

Answer geographic questions, including: Where is it located? Why is it there? What is significant about its location? How is its location related to the location of other people, places, and environments? Using latitude and longitude, where is it located?.

Pose and answer questions about geographic distributions and patterns for various world regions and countries shown on maps, graphs, and charts.

Compare various world regions and countries using data from maps, graphs, and charts.

Create and interpret regional sketch maps, thematic maps, graphs, and charts depicting aspects such as population, disease, and economic activities of various world regions and countries.

Use social studies terminology correctly.

Incorporate main and supporting ideas in verbal and written communication based on research.

Express ideas orally based on research and experiences.

Create written and visual material such as journal entries, reports, graphic organizers, outlines, and bibliographies based on research.

Use effective written communication skills, including proper citations to avoid plagiarism.

Apply foundational language skills to engage in civil discourse about social studies topics, including those with multiple perspectives.

Describe governmental and democratic processes such as voting, due process, and caucuses using simulations and models.

Use problem-solving and decision-making processes to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.