Grade 12 - North Carolina Social Studies

Core: North Carolina American History II (Credit: 0.50)

This course traces the nation's history from the end of the period of Reconstruction to the present. It describes the emergence of the United States as an industrial nation, highlighting social policy as well as its role in modern world affairs. Students evaluate the attempts to bind the nation together after Reconstruction while also exploring the growth of an industrial economy. Moving into the 20th and 21st centuries, students probe the economic and diplomatic interactions between the United States and other world players while investigating how the world wars, the Cold War, and the "information revolution" affected the lives of ordinary Americans. Woven through this chronological sequence is a strong focus on the changing conditions of women, African Americans, and other minority groups. The course emphasizes the development of historical analysis skills such as comparing and contrasting, differentiating between facts and interpretations, considering multiple perspectives, and analyzing cause-and-effect relationships. These skills are applied to text interpretation and in written assignments that guide learners step-by-step through problem-solving activities. The content is based on standards from the National Council for History Education (1997), the National Center for History in the Schools (1996), and the National Council for Social Studies (1994) and is aligned to state standards.

Core: North Carolina Civics & Economics (Credit: 1.00)

North Carolina Civics and Economics offers a tightly focused and scaffolded curriculum that uses the perspective of political institutions to explore the history, organization, and functions of the U.S. government and provides an introduction to key economic principles. The first semester begins with basic theories of government, moving to the Declaration of Independence, and continuing to the present day, the course explores the relationship between individual Americans and the governing bodies. It covers the political culture of the country and gains insight into the challenges faced by presidents, congressional representatives, and other political activists. It also covers the roles of political parties, interest groups, the media, and the Supreme Court. The second semester covers fundamental properties of economics, including an examination of markets from both historical and current perspectives; the basics of supply and demand; the theories of early economic philosophers such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo; theories of value; the concept of money and how it evolved; the role of banks, investment houses, and the Federal Reserve; Keynesian economics; the productivity, wages, investment, and growth involved in capitalism; unemployment, inflations, and the national debt; and a survey of markets in areas such as China, Europe, and the Middle East. North Carolina Civics and Economics is designed to fall in the fourth year of social studies instruction. Students perfect their analytic writing through a scaffolded series of analytic assignments and written lesson tests. They also apply basic mathematics to economic concepts. Students read selections from annotated primary documents and apply those readings to the course content. The content is based on standards from the College, Career, and Civil Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (2013), the National Council for History Education (1997), the National Center for History in the Schools (1996), and the National Council for Social Studies (1994) and is aligned to North Carolina state standards.