What does a student learn in StateVirginia,GradeGrade 9,SubjectSocial Studies?

The student will apply history and social science skills to the content by

selecting and synthesizing evidence from information sources, including, but not limited to artifacts, primary and secondary sources, charts, graphs, and diagrams related to events in world history;

applying geographic skills to determine and predict patterns and trends of people, places, and events;

questioning to construct arguments, using evidence from multiple sources;

investigating and analyzing evidence from multiple sources to construct arguments and draw conclusions;

comparing and contrasting historical, cultural, economic, and political perspectives;

determining cause and effect to analyze connections;

using economic decision-making models to analyze and explain the incentives for and consequences of a specific choice;

engaging and communicating as a civil and informed individual with different perspectives;

developing products that reflect an understanding of research and content; and

contextualizing and corroborating sources to evaluate sources for credibility, propaganda, and bias to determine patterns and trends to understand the ancient world.

The student will apply history and social science skills to describe the period from the Paleolithic Era into the Neolithic Era by

describing the archaeological evidence of the first human and their geographic locations;

explaining the effect that geography had on the emergence and migration of hunter-gatherer societies;

describing characteristics of hunter-gatherer societies, including their use of tools and fire;

analyzing how technological and social developments gave rise to sedentary settlements; and

analyzing how archaeological discoveries change current understanding of early societies.

The student will apply history and social science skills to describe early societies in the Fertile Crescent by

locating and explaining the development of Egypt and Nubia;

locating and explaining the development of Mesopotamia;

describing the development of the Israelites and the origins, beliefs, traditions, customs, persecution, and spread of Judaism; and

describing the development of the Phoenicians.

The students will apply history and social science skills to describe ancient Asian societies by

analyzing the impact of geography on the development of ancient India and China, including locating them in time and place and describing their major geographic features;

describing the social, cultural, political, and economic characteristics that define the societies of the Indian subcontinent, including, but not limited to contributions and the concepts of Varna and Jati;

describing the origins, beliefs, customs, and spread of Hinduism;

describing the origins, beliefs, customs, and spread of Buddhism;

describing the social, cultural, political, and economic development of ancient China; and

describing the influence of Confucianism, Taoism, and Legalism.

The student will apply history and social science skills to understand Persia and Greece by

describing the major geographic features of the region and analyzing the effect that geography had on its development;

describing the social, cultural, political, and economic aspects of ancient Persia;

describing the social, cultural, political, and economic development of Greece, including, but not limited to the significance of Athens and Sparta, the development of citizenship, and the different forms of democracy;

evaluating the causes and consequences of the Persian and Peloponnesian wars;

evaluating the significance of Alexander the Great’s conquest of Greece and the formation and the spread of Hellenistic culture; and

explaining the influence of ancient Greek contributions, including, but not limited to science, art, architecture, philosophy, and mathematics in the present day.

The student will apply history and social science skills to understand Rome and the Byzantine Empire by

describing the influence of geography on Rome’s development and the factors that threatened territorial cohesion;

comparing and contrasting the political, social, and religious structure and development of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire;

describing the social, cultural, political, and economic development of the Byzantine Empire, including, but not limited to the establishment of Constantinople, and the eventual division of the Roman Empire;

describing the origins, beliefs, customs, and spread of Christianity, including the persecution and eventual adoption and transmission of Christianity and the New Testament, differences between the Eastern and Western churches, and the influence of Christianity throughout Europe, Middle Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa; and

explaining the influence of Rome, including, but not limited to citizenship, slavery, Roman law and guaranteed rights, Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy.

The student will apply history and social science skills to understand Islamic societies by

identifying the physical features and describing the relationship between climate, land and surrounding bodies and water, and nomadic and sedentary ways of life of the Arabian peninsula;

describing the origins, beliefs, traditions, customs, persecution, and spread of Islam;

explaining the significance of the Qur’an and the Sunnah as the primary sources of Islamic beliefs, practice, and law, and their influence in Muslims’ daily life;

describing the expansion of territory under Muslim rule, the spread of Islam and the Arabic language among people in these territories, and the cultural and religious acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language; and

describing the growth of cities and the role of merchants in Muslim society and the expansion of trade routes in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Indian Ocean and identifying the products and inventions that traveled along these routes, including spices, textiles, paper, steel, and new crops.

The student will apply history and social science skills to understand the civilizations of China in the Middle Ages by

describing the reunification of China under the Tang Dynasty and reasons for the spread of Buddhism in Tang China, Korea, and Japan;

describing agricultural, technological, and commercial developments during the Tang and Sung periods;

analyzing the influences of Confucianism and changes in Confucian thought during the Sung and Mongol periods;

explaining the importance of overland trade and maritime expeditions between China and other civilizations in the Mongol Ascendancy and Ming Dynasty;

tracing the historic influence of the tea trade, the manufacture of paper, woodblock printing, the compass, and the invention of gunpowder; and

describing the development of the imperial state and the scholar-official class.

The student will apply history and social science skills to describe the sub-Saharan civilizations of Ghana and Mali in Medieval Africa by

describing the Niger River and the relationship of vegetation zones of forest, savannah, and desert to trade in gold, salt, food, and enslaved people, as well as the growth of the Ghana and Mali empires;

analyzing the importance of family, labor specialization, and regional commerce in the development of states and cities in West Africa;

describing the role of the trans-Saharan caravan trade in the changing religious and cultural characteristics of West Africa and the influence of Islam;

tracing the growth of the Arabic language in government, trade, and Islam; and

describing the importance of written and oral traditions in the transmission of African history and culture.

The student will apply history and social science skills to understand the civilizations of Medieval Japan by

describing the significance of Japan’s proximity to China and Korea and the intellectual, linguistic, religious, and philosophical influence of those countries on Japan;

discussing the reign of Prince Shotoku of Japan and the characteristics of Japanese society and family life during his reign;

describing the values, social customs, and traditions prescribed by the lord-vassal system consisting of shogun, daimyo, and samurai and the lasting influence of the warrior code in the 20th century;

tracing the development of distinctive forms of Japanese Buddhism;

examining the ninth and tenth centuries’ golden age of literature, art, and drama and its lasting effects on culture today, including Murasaki Shikibu’s Tale of Genji; and

analyzing the rise of a military society in the late 12th century and the role of the samurai in that society.

The student will apply history and social science skills to understand the civilizations of Medieval Europe by

describing the geography of the European and Eurasian landmass, including location, topography, waterways, vegetation, and climate, and their relationship to ways of life in Medieval Europe;

describing the spread of Christianity north of the Alps and the roles played by the early church and by monasteries in its diffusion after the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire; and

explaining the development and role of feudalism in the medieval European economy and the role of the manor as the center of feudal relationships at the foundation of the political order; and

describing the growth of towns and trade as Europe emerged from feudalism.

The student will apply history and social science skills to analyze the conflict and cooperation between the Papacy and European monarchs by

explaining the significance of developments in medieval English legal and constitutional practices, including, but not limited to the Magna Carta, parliaments, development of habeas corpus, and independent judiciary in England;

analyzing the reasons for the Great Schism in 1054;

tracing the causes and course of the Crusades and the effects on the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish populations in Europe and territorial claims;

describing the decline of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula that resulted in the expansion of Christian rule and the rise of Spanish and Portuguese kingdoms; and

explaining the importance of the Catholic church as a political and intellectual institution and its effects on education, religious orders, preservation of languages and texts, and philosophy.

The student will apply history and social science skills to understand the Meso-American and Andean civilizations by

describing the locations, landforms, and climates of Mexico, Central America, and South America and their effects on Mayan, Aztec, and Incan economies, trade, and the development of urban societies;

explaining how and where each empire arose and how the Aztec and Incan empires were defeated by the Spanish;

describing the artistic and oral traditions and architecture in the three civilizations;

describing the Meso-American achievements in astronomy and mathematics, including the development of the calendar and the Meso-American knowledge of seasonal changes to the civilizations’ agricultural systems; and

examining the roles of people in each society, including class structures, family life, warfare, religious beliefs and practices, and slavery.

The student will apply history and social science skills to understand the factors contributing to the European Renaissance by

determining the economic, political, philosophical, and cultural foundations of the Italian Renaissance;

sequencing events related to the rise of Italian city-states and their political development, including Machiavelli’s theory of governing; and

analyzing the contributions of artists and philosophers of the Italian Renaissance, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Petrarch.