Middle School Social Studies

Middle School Social Studies incorporates world history, geography, civics education, cultural studies, economic principles, and global awareness development.

23 lessons

Grade 6 Social Studies

8 lessons

  • Ancient China

    The learner explains the Mandate of Heaven, compares the teachings of Confucius, Daoism and Legalism, and explains how the Qin unified China and how the Han empire governed, traded along the Silk Roads and invented…

  • Ancient Greece

    The learner compares Greek city-states, explains Athenian democracy and citizenship, and describes Greek achievements in science, philosophy, theatre and the arts and their influence today.

  • Budgeting and Saving

    The learner plans a personal budget, tracks income and spending, sets saving goals and decides between spending now and saving for later.

  • Latitude, Longitude and Time Zones

    The child locates places with latitude and longitude, names the tropics and polar circles, and explains why the time differs around the world.

  • Needs and Wants

    The learner explains scarcity, distinguishes needs, wants, goods and services, and uses opportunity cost to explain everyday choices by people, firms and governments.

  • North America Regions

    The learner describes the physical regions, population, cities and economy of North America, and its links with the rest of the world.

  • First Civilizations

    The learner explains why the first cities and states arose in Mesopotamia, the Indus valley and early China, and what writing, law, trade and religion meant for them.

  • Thinking Like a Historian

    The learner uses sources as evidence, places events in chronological order and periods, and explains causes, consequences, change and continuity, significance and different interpretations.

Grade 7 Social Studies

8 lessons

  • Budgeting and Saving

    The learner plans a personal budget, tracks income and spending, sets saving goals and decides between spending now and saving for later.

  • Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities

    The learner explains how people become US citizens by birth or naturalization, the difference between the obligations of citizens (obeying laws, paying taxes, jury duty, Selective Service registration) and their…

  • Roots of American Democracy

    The learner traces the ideas behind American government, from Athenian democracy and the Roman republic, Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights to colonial self-government and the writings of Locke, Montesquieu and…

  • Maya, Aztec and Inca

    The learner describes the Maya, Aztec and Inca states and the diversity of other Indigenous peoples of the Americas, including those of present-day Brazil, and their achievements.

  • Principles of the Constitution

    The learner explains the Preamble, the seven articles and the principles of the Constitution (popular sovereignty, limited government, rule of law, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, republicanism),…

  • US Foreign Policy

    The learner explains the goals of US foreign policy, who makes it, the tools the US uses (diplomacy, treaties, aid, trade and sanctions, alliances and military force) and how the US works in international organizations.

  • What Government Spends Money On

    The learner explains why governments provide some goods and services, how they raise money through taxes, and how a public budget is decided.

  • What Is Money

    The learner explains the functions and forms of money, how banks keep and move it, and compares cash, cards, transfers and mobile payments.

Grade 8 Social Studies

10 lessons

  • Budgeting and Saving

    The learner plans a personal budget, tracks income and spending, sets saving goals and decides between spending now and saving for later.

  • Colonial America

    The learner explains how Native nations, European empires and African captives shaped colonial North America, compares the economies, societies and governments of the New England, Middle and Southern colonies, and…

  • Constitutional Convention

    The learner explains the weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation, analyses the debates and compromises of the Constitutional Convention, and compares Federalist and Anti-Federalist arguments in the ratification…

  • Markets and Prices

    The learner explains how buyers and sellers meet in markets, why prices rise and fall with demand and supply, and how competition affects consumers.

  • American Civil War

    The learner explains how conflict over slavery and its expansion divided the United States, why the Southern states seceded, and how the Union won a war that became a war to end slavery.

  • American Revolution

    The learner explains how the Seven Years' War led to an imperial crisis, how colonial resistance became a war for independence, what the Declaration of Independence claimed, and how and at what cost the United States…

  • Atlantic Slave Trade and Abolition

    The learner explains how the transatlantic slave trade worked, the lives and resistance of enslaved people in the Americas, and how abolition movements ended the trade and slavery.

  • Westward Expansion and Manifest Destiny

    The learner explains how the idea of Manifest Destiny, settlers and wars pushed the United States to the Pacific, and evaluates the consequences for Native nations, Mexico and the balance between free and slave states.

  • What Government Spends Money On

    The learner explains why governments provide some goods and services, how they raise money through taxes, and how a public budget is decided.

  • Work, Jobs and Income

    The learner describes economic sectors and jobs, explains why wages differ, and reads the difference between gross and net income in outline.

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