Grade 8 Social Studies Washington standards Standards

History

Geography

Economics

Civics

Social Studies Skills

Understands key ideals and principles of the United States, including those in the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and other foundational documents.

Explain how early works such as the Code of Justinian or the Magna Carta contributed to foundational documents of the United States.

Explain the structure of and key ideals set forth in fundamental documents, including the Washington state constitution and tribal treaties with the United States government.

Explain key ideals and principles outlined in the Declaration of Independence, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; the U.S. Constitution, including the rule of law, separation of powers, representative government, and popular sovereignty; and, the Bill of Rights, including due process and freedom of expression.

Evaluate efforts to reduce discrepancies between key ideals and reality in the United States.

Understands the purposes, organization, and function of governments, laws, and political systems.

Explain a variety of forms of government from the past or present.

Distinguish the structure, organization, powers, and limits of government at the local, state, and tribal levels.

Analyze the structure and powers of government at the national level.

Use knowledge of the function of government to analyze and address a political issue.

Evaluate the effectiveness of the system of checks and balances in the United States based on an event.

Demonstrate that the U.S. government includes concepts of both a democracy and a republic.

Understands the purposes and organization of tribal and international relationships and U.S. foreign policy.

Analyze how societies have interacted with one another.

Analyze how international agreements have affected Washington state.

Recognize that, according to the United States Constitution, treaties are "the supreme law of the land;" consequently, treaty rights supersede most state laws.

Explain elements of the agreements contained in one or more treaty agreements between Washington tribes and the United States.

Identify early examples of foreign policy between the United States and other nations.

Analyze how the United States has interacted with other countries.

Understands civic involvement.

Describe the historical origins of civic involvement.

Describe the relationship between the actions of people in Washington state and the ideals outlined in the Washington state constitution.

Employ strategies for civic involvement that ad-dress a state or local issue.

Analyze how a claim on an issue attempts to balance individual rights and the common good.

Employ strategies for civic involvement that ad-dress a national issue.

Understands that people have to make choices between wants and needs and evaluates the outcomes of those choices.

Analyze the costs and benefits of economic choices made by groups and individuals in the past or present.

Evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to current economic issues of Washington state in terms of costs and benefits for different groups.

Analyze examples of how groups and individuals have considered profit and personal values in making economic choices in the past or present.

Understands the government's role in the economy.

Explain the role of government in the world's economies through the creation of money, taxation, and spending in the past or present.

Analyze the role of government in the economy of Washington state through taxation, spending, and policy setting in the past or present.

Analyze the influence of the U.S. government's taxation, creation of currency, and tariffs in the past or present.

Understands the economic issues and problems that all societies face.

Explain the distribution of wealth and sustainability of resources in the world.

Explain barriers to trade and how those barriers influence trade among nations.

Analyze the distribution of wealth and sustainability of resources in Washington state.

Explain the costs and benefits of trade policies to individuals, businesses, and society in Washington state.

Analyze the distribution of wealth and sustainability of resources in the United States.

Explain the costs and benefits of trade policies to individuals, businesses, and society in the United States.

Understands the physical characteristics, cultural characteristics, and location of places, regions, and spatial patterns on the Earth's surface.

Construct and analyze maps using scale, direction, symbols, legends, and projections to gather in-formation.

Identify the location of places and regions in the world and understand their physical and cultural characteristics.

Analyze maps and charts from a specific time period to understand an issue or event.

Explain how human spatial patterns have e-merged from natural processes and human activities.

Explain and analyze physical and cultural characteristics of places and regions in the United States.

Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their political, cultural, and economic dynamics.

Understands human interaction with the environment.

Explain and analyze how the environment has affected people and how people have affected the environment in world history.

Explain the geographic factors that influence the movement of groups of people in world history.

Explain and analyze how the environment has affected people and how human actions modify the physical environment, and in turn, how the physical environment limits or promotes human activities in Washington state in the past or present.

Explain the role of immigration in shaping societies in the past or present.

Explain examples of cultural diffusion in the world from the past or present.

Analyze how the environment has affected people and how people have affected the environment in the United States in the past or present.

Explain cultural diffusion in the United States from the past or in the present.

Explain and analyze migration as a catalyst for the growth of the United States in the past or present.

Understands the geographic context of global issues and events.

Explain how learning about the geography of the world helps us understand global issues such as diversity, sustainability, and trade.

Explain how learning about the geography of Washington state helps us understand global issues such as diversity, sustainability, and trade.

Explain how learning about the geography of the United States helps us understand global issues such as diversity, trade, and sustainability.

Understands historical chronology.

Analyze different cultural measurements of time.

Explain how the rise of civilizations defines eras in world history in two or more regions of the world.

Explain how the rise of civilizations defines two or more eras, such as:<ul><li>8,000 BCE to 500 BCE</li><li>500 BCE to 500 CE</li><li>500 CE to 1600 CE</li></ul>

Analyze a major historical event and how it is represented on timelines from different cultural perspectives, including those of indigenous people.

Explain how themes and developments have de-fined eras in Washington state history from 1854 to the present:<ul><li>Territory and treaty-making (1854-1889)</li><li>Railroads, reform, immigration, and labor (1889-1930)</li><li>Turmoil and triumph (1930-1974)</li><li>New technologies and industries in contemporary Washington (1975-present)</li></ul>

Explain how themes and developments help to define eras in United States history from 1763 to 1877, including:<ul><li>Fighting for independence (1763-1783)</li><li>Establishing the new nation (1781-1815)</li><li>Slavery, expansion, removal, and reform (1801-1850)</li><li>Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)</li></ul>

Understands and analyzes causal factors that have shaped major events in history.

Explain and analyze how individuals, movements, cultural and ethnic groups, and technology from past civilizations have shaped world history.

Explain and analyze how individuals and movements have shaped Washington state history since statehood.

Explain and analyze how cultures and ethnic groups contributed to Washington state history since statehood.

Explain and analyze how technology and ideas have impacted Washington state history since state-hood.

Explain and analyze how individuals and movements have shaped United States history (1763-1877).

Explain and analyze how cultures and cultural and ethnic groups have contributed to United States history (1763-1877).

Explain and analyze how technology and ideas have impacted United States history (1763-1877).

Understands that there are multiple perspectives and interpretations of historical events.

Analyze and interpret historical materials from a variety of perspectives in world history.

Analyze multiple causal factors to create and support a claim about major events in world history.

Explain, analyze, and develop an argument about how Washington state has been impacted by:<ul><li>Individuals and movements.</li><li>Cultures and cultural groups.</li><li>Technology and ideas.</li></ul>

Analyze and interpret historical materials from a variety of perspectives in United States history (1763-1877).

Analyze multiple causal factors to create positions on major events in United States history (1763-1877).

Understands how historical events inform analysis of contemporary issues and events.

Analyze how a historical event in world history helps us to understand contemporary issues and events.

Analyze how a historical event in Washington state history helps us to understand contemporary issues and events.

Analyze how a historical event in United States history helps us to understand contemporary issues and events.

Uses critical reasoning skills to analyze and evaluate claims.

Analyze positions and evidence supporting an issue or an event.

Evaluate the logic of reasons for a position on an issue or event.

Uses inquiry-based research.

Create and use research questions to guide inquiry on an issue or event.

Evaluate the breadth, reliability, and credibility of primary and secondary sources to determine the need for new or additional information when researching an issue or event.

Deliberates public issues.

Engage in discussion, analyzing multiple view-points on public issues.

1: (PSO) Patterns & Spatial Organization: I can explain relationships and patterns among and between places related to social, political, economic, environmental, and demographic factors.

1.2 (PSO) Thinking Geographically: I can explain how geographers study relationships and patterns among and between places. [Spatial Concepts, Human-Environmental Interaction, Scales of Analysis]

1.2 (PSO) Cultural Identity: I can explain how cultural practices vary across geographical locations because of social, political, economic, environmental, and demographic factors. [Intro to Culture, Cultural Landscapes, Cultural Patterns]

1.3 (PSO) Population & Migration: I can explain how global social, political, economic, environmental, and demographic patterns influence where and how people live. [Population Distribution, Consequences of Population Distribution, & Population Composition]

1.4 (PSO) Cities & Urban Land Use: I can explain how the presence and growth of cities vary across geographical locations because of social, political, economic, environmental, and demographic factors. [The Origin of Urbanization, Cities Across the World, Globalization, Size, Distribution and Structure of Cities]

2: (IMP) Impacts & Interactions: I can explain relationships of cause and effect among people and their environment in time, space, and scale

2.1 (IMP) Thinking Geographically: I can explain how geographers use maps and data to represent relationships of time, space, and scale. [Maps, Geographic Data]

2.2 (IMP) Cultural Identity: I can explain how the interaction of people contributes to the spread of cultural practices. [Types of Diffusion & Diffusion of Religion and Language]

2.3 (IMP) Population & Migration: I can explain how changes in population are due to mortality, fertility, and migration, which are influenced by the interplay of social, political, economic, environmental, and demographic factors. [Population Dynamics, Causes of Migration, Forced and Voluntary Migration, & Effects of Migration]

2.4 (IMP) Cities & Urban Land Use: I can explain how the attitudes and values of a population, as well as the balance of power within that population, are reflected in the built landscape. [Density and Land Use, Infrastructure, Urban Sustainability, & Urban Data]

3: (SPS) Spatial Process & Societal Change: I can explain complex processes and relationships among and between people and the environment that result in challenges and lead to change over time.

3.1 (SPS) Thinking Geographically: I can explain how geographers analyze complex issues and relationships with a distinctively spatial perspective. [Regional Analysis]

3.2 (SPS) Cultural Identity: Thinking Geographically: I can explain how and why cultural ideas, practices, and innovations change or disappear over time. [Historical and Contemporary Causes of Diffusion, Effects of Diffusion]

3.3 (SPS) Population & Migration: I can explain how changes in population have long- and short-term effects on a place’s culture, politics, economy, environment, and demography. [Population Policies, Women and Demographic Change, & Aging Populations]

3.4 (SPS) Cities & Urban Land Use: I can explain how urban areas face unique social, political, economic, environmental, and demographic challenges. [Challenges of Urban Changes & Sustainability]

4: (SA) Spatial Analysis: I can interpret maps, tables, charts, graphs, and other sources to identify geographic patterns, relationships, trends, and outcomes across geographic scales (local, tribal, national, regional, global).

5: (PPP) Sustainability: I can explain how the health of social, ecological, and economic systems determines the sustainability of natural and human communities at local, regional, national, tribal, and global scales (the triple bottom line of people, planet, and prosperity). I consider the impact of personal and collective action on current and future generations.

6: (E&I) Equity & Identity: I can explain the harmful impacts of bias, privilege, power, and injustice in the world and recognize diverse experiences in their social, political, economic, and historical contexts rather than in ways that are oversimplified. I am developing language and historical and cultural knowledge that recognize and accurately describe how people’s multiple identities interact and create unique and complex individuals.

7: (I&E) Inquiry & Evaluation: I can develop inquiry questions and identify sources that lead to accurate, sufficient, and complete answers by evaluating the reasoning behind claims; the credibility and validity of evidence; and considering multiple viewpoints.

8: (CER) Claim-Evidence-Reasoning: I can develop inquiry questions and identify sources that lead to accurate, sufficient, and complete answers by evaluating the reasoning behind claims; the credibility and validity of evidence; and considering multiple viewpoints.

9: (DPI) Deliberating Public Issues: I can engage in constructive civil dialogue characterized by listening respectfully and valuing diverse perspectives, responding with reasoned contributions, and building on others’ ideas to collectively deepen understanding or reach conclusions.