In recognition of the widely varying environments of American/international schools, the AERO social studies standards and benchmarks have been written to give schools a high level of flexibility in developing curriculum. They focus on key ideas and principles in social studies without specifying the content that should be learned by students so they can gain understanding of the key ideas. At the same time, the AERO team also recognized the value of providing content suggestions to guide teachers and curriculum coordinators as they develop units that will bring students to accomplishment of the standards and benchmarks. For questions about this, please contact AERO project manager Naomi Woolsey at nswoolsey@gmail.com Back to Overview of Social Studies Standards

By the end of grade 2:

a. Differentiate between people, places, and events in the immediate and distant past, the present, and the future.

b. Know different stories about past events, people, places, or situations.

c. Know how knowledge of stories about past events, people, places, or situations helps our understanding of the past.

By the end of grade 5:

a. Understand patterns of change in society (e.g., religious rituals, governance, development of communication systems, etc).

b. Understand the concept of cause-and-effect and multiple causation in history.

c. Identify and use primary and secondary sources for reconstructing the past (e.g., letters, diaries, maps, photos, interviews with senior citizens or elders of the community, newspapers, films).

d. Know that people in different times and places view the world differently and why they held these views.

By the end of grade 8:

a. Use key concepts such as chronology, causality, and conflict to identify patterns of historical change.

b. Identify and use primary and secondary sources in historical research.

c. Understand how knowledge of the past and its trends can help explain current events.

d. Explain the causes of significant current and historical political events and issues.

e. Examine historical resources for a point of view, context, bias (including gender and race), distortion, or propaganda.

f. Analyze multiple interpretations of an historical or current event.

g. Differentiate between historical facts and historical interpretations.

h. Identify gaps in available historical resources.

i. Use quantitative data to answer questions about history.

By the end of grade 12:

a. Critique historians' interpretations of the past using a variety of sources.

b. Identify and evaluate long-term changes, enduring influences, and recurring patterns in world history.

c. Compare alternative models for organizing history into periods.

d. Perform analyses of quantitative historical data.

e. Analyze the impact of revolution on politics, economies, and societies.

f. Understand how ideals and institutions of freedom, equality, justice, and citizenship have changed over time and from one society to another.

2.	(Connections and Conflict) Students will understand causes and effects of interaction among societies, including trade, systems of international exchange, war, and diplomacy.

By the end of grade 2:

a. Give examples of conflict, cooperation among individuals and groups.

b. Identify and describe factors that contribute to cooperation and factors that may cause conflict.

c. Identify ways that language, art, music, and other cultural elements may facilitate global understanding.

d. Understand that some ways of dealing with disagreements work better than others and that people who are not involved in a disagreement may be helpful in solving it.

By the end of grade 5:

a. Explain causes and consequences of conflict and cooperation among individuals, groups, societies and nations in the following categories:

• Environment
• Belief systems (e.g., religion, politics)
• Economics
• Geography/land
• Ethnicity/race/gender
• Culture

b. Describe how the satisfaction of personal wants and needs has implications beyond the self.

c. Explain the major ways groups, societies, and nations interact with one another (e.g., trade, cultural exchanges, international organizations).

By the end of grade 8:

a. Explain forces for change that result in increasing world interaction:

• Environment
• Belief systems (e.g., religion, politics)
• Economics
• Geography/land
• Ethnicity/race/gender
• Culture
• Balance of power

b. Explain how historical legacies have facilitated global understanding or caused misunderstanding.

c. Understand the primary effects of world trade and global patterns of resource distribution and use in terms of connections and conflict.

d. Explain the relationships and tensions between national sovereignty and global interest.

e. Identify issues and standards related to human rights.

f. Explain how events and conditions in one region might affect other regions in the area and across the world.

By the end of grade 12:

The following categories are the foundation of the content for grade 12:

• Environment
• Belief systems (e.g., religion, politics)
• Economics
• Geography/land
• Ethnicity/race/gender
• Culture
• Balance of power

a. Understand how trans-regional alliances and multinational organizations can encourage or discourage solidarity and diversity.

b. Evaluate issues concerning historical and contemporary disparities between ideals and realities.

c. Evaluate examples in the history of conflict and its effects.

d. Analyze how cooperation and conflict influence the development and control of political, economic, and social entities.

e. Analyze effects of differing national foreign policy positions on international competition and cooperation.

f. Evaluate effects of political conflict on national unity.

g. Analyze ways in which trade has contributed to connections and conflict in and among selected societies.

h. Evaluate relationships between political systems and the development of multi-national alliances.

i. Understand types of world powers (e.g., military, corporations, religions) and how they influence connections and conflicts in the world.

j. Evaluate the effectiveness of international organizations.

3.	(People, Places, and Environment) Students will understand the concepts of geography and demography and how geography and demography influence and are influenced by human history.

By the end of grade 2:

a. Understand the concept of location.

b. Use maps and geographic graphs, tables, and diagrams to read and display geographic information.

c. Locate and distinguish among landforms and geographic features.

d. Know ways in which people depend on the physical environment.

e. Know ways (e.g., recycling, travel, transportation) in which people from different cultures think about and respond to the physical environment.

f. Describe how areas of a community have changed over time.

By the end of grade 5:

a. Explain and correctly use the elements of maps and globes.

b. Use appropriate resources and geographic tools to generate and interpret information about the earth.

c. Understand the spatial organization of places through such concepts as location, distance, direction, scale, movement and region.

d. Describe ways that the earth's physical and human features have changed over time.

e. Describe geographic factors that influence human migration.

f. Describe and explain various types and patterns of settlement and land use and reasons why particular locations are used for certain human activities.

g. Define regions by their human and physical characteristics.

By the end of grade 8:

a. Use appropriate data sources and geographic tools to generate, manipulate, and interpret information.

b. Know the relative location of, size of, and distances between places.

c. Describe social effects of environmental changes and crises resulting from natural phenomena.

d. Explain and give examples of voluntary and involuntary migration.

e. Explain how human migration affects the physical and human characteristics of a place.

f. Evaluate conventional and alternative uses of land and water resources in the community, region, and beyond.

g. Describe ways that human events have influenced, and been influenced by, physical and human geographic conditions in local, regional, national, and global settings.

h. Use key demographic concepts (e.g., population density, birth and death rates) to analyze the structure and characteristics of different populations and population patterns over time.

i. Identify and explain how changes people make in the physical environment in one place can cause changes in other places.

j. Describe geographic factors that can affect the creation, cohesiveness, and integration of countries.

By the end of grade 12:

a. Explain how the physical environment contributes to the development of distinct cultural identities.

b. Use spatial models to explain relationships between places and patterns of settlement and trade.

c. Explain how social, cultural, and economic factors shape physical and other human features of places and regions.

d. Evaluate the impact of migration on human systems (e.g., health care, education, government).

e. Evaluate the reciprocal influences of history and geography on a region.

4.

(Culture) Students will understand cultural and intellectual developments and interactions among and within societies. N.B.: In the benchmarks for this standard, the term "belief systems" refers to an ordered, established body of thinking and faith that influence one's perceptions of self and the world. It includes such concepts as religion, philosophies (including political and economic), and science.

By the end of grade 2:

a. Describe various forms of institutions (e.g., family, school, church, clubs) and how people in those organizations interact.

b. Know ways (e.g., use of resources, shelter, transportation) in which people from different cultures think about and respond to the physical environment.

c. Know ways (e.g., homes, family structures and roles, religion) in which people from different cultures think about and respond to the social environment.

d. Understand that cultures have different expectations of how to act.

e. Know regional folk heroes, stories, or songs that have contributed to the development of the cultural history of a region.

By the end of grade 5:

a. Understand the concept of culture.

b. Understand the components of a belief system (creed, code of behavior, rituals, community).

c. Identify and compare various belief systems and their principle tenets.

d. Identify and compare the cultural characteristics of different regions and people (e.g., in terms of their use of environment and resources, technology, food, shelter, beliefs and customs, schooling, etc.).

e. Describe advantages and disadvantages of cultural diversity.

f. Recognize how cultural contributions from various regions help to form a national identity.

g. Understand similarities and differences in the ways groups and cultures meet human needs and concerns.

h. Understand cultural differences regarding what is public and private.

i. Illustrate or retell the main ideas in folktales, legends, songs, myths and stories of heroism that describe the history and traditions of various cultures.

j. Describe the influence of arts, crafts, music, and language on various cultures.

By the end of grade 8:

a. Understand ways that social and environmental factors and culture are related.

b. Identify how patterns of behavior can reflect cultural values and attitudes.

c. Know the beliefs, practices, and institutions of the major religions of the world, and some examples of tribal religions.

d. Understand how certain texts come to be viewed as sacred.

e. Evaluate ethical questions from points of view of different belief systems.

f. Understand how taboos and publicly acceptable behavioral norms evolve.

g. Describe how different understandings of public and private behaviors evolve in their respective cultures.

h. Evaluate major movements in literature, music, and the visual arts and ways in which they expressed or shaped dominant social values.

i. Identify patterns of social and cultural continuity in various societies and analyze ways in which people maintained traditions and resisted external challenges.

j. Draw inferences from archaeological evidence.

k. Understand the tension between the ideals of diversity and community.

By the end of grade 12:

a. Analyze sources and characteristics of cultural, religious, and social reform movements.

b. Compare the development of Greco-Roman philosophies and science to the origins of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Hinduism and Buddhism; and Confucianism.

c. Understand the tension between the two roots of the Western intellectual tradition: Middle Eastern monotheism and Greek philosophy and science.

d. Examine different theories of religion.

e. Understand the origins and diffusion of modern science and the intellectual developments and the events that have led to a weakening of confidence in modern science.

f. Examine examples of syncretism, acculturation, and assimilation in the context of belief systems and culture.

g. Evaluate the religious dimensions (creed, code of behavior, rituals, community) of non-religious belief systems (e.g. communalism, patriotism, activism, consumerism).

h. Examine the epistemological complexities of the post-modern age.

i. Understand how art, literature, and traditional customs both shape and are shaped by society.

5.	(Society and Identity) Students will understand social systems and structures and how these influence individuals.

By the end of grade 2:

a. Recognize that individual people are part of a group.

b. Recognize appropriate and inappropriate social behavior and the impact of making choices about behavior.

c. Identify roles and patterns of behavior that people demonstrate in group situations.

d. Understand why people live in social groups.

e. Recognize that society stereotypes males and females.

By the end of grade 5:

a. Recognize how families influence the individual.

b. Understand how groups and cultures are similar and different in meeting needs and concerns of their members.

c. Describe the various forms of institutions (e.g., family, school, church, clubs) and how they influence the individual.

d. Identify and describe ways that ethnicity and cultures influence people's daily lives.

e. Understand how social systems (e.g., schools, media, religions, families) prescribe gendered identities.

By the end of grade 8:

a. Explain how cultural attitudes, values, and beliefs influence personal behavior and the development of personal identity.

b. Recognize the foundations of one's own and others' viewpoints.

c. Understand the impact of stereotyping, conformity, and non-conformity on individuals and groups.

d. Analyze the accuracies and inaccuracies of gender stereotyping.

By the end of grade 12:

a. Analyze how sociological circumstances (e.g., class, heritage, ethnicity) influence an individual's perceptions of and reactions to the world.

b. Analyze the socialization of individuals by groups, organizations, and institutions.

c. Understand how and why cultures reflect and reinforce oppositional ideas of gender (e.g., hard and soft, strong and weak, "sun" and "moon").

d. Understand why cultural definitions of gender identity persist and are resistant to change.

e. Understand circumstances and consequences that arise from differences between cultural norms and personal gender identity and/or sexual orientation.

f. Understand limits of socialization and the power of choice in personal identity.

6.	(Governance and Citizenship) Students will understand why societies create and adopt systems of governance and how these systems address human needs, rights, and citizen responsibilities.

By the end of grade 2:

a. Give examples of rights and responsibilities of the individual in relation to his or her social group.

b. Identify sources and purposes of authority in various settings.

c. Explain reasons for the importance of leadership and service.

d. Identify qualities that leaders need in order to meet their responsibilities.

e. Identify the characteristics of good citizens.

f. Describe elements (e.g., mayor, chief, rules) of familiar governance systems.

By the end of grade 5:

a. Identify issues involving the rights, roles and status of individuals in relation to the general welfare.

b. Describe how governments meet needs and wants of individuals and society.

c. Identify community leaders and local and national government representatives.

d. Explain the organization and major responsibilities of the various levels of governments.

e. Know the elements of major political systems (e.g., monarchy, democracy, dictatorship).

f. Explain what citizenship means in terms of membership in, and allegiance to, a country.

g. Identify and describe means by which citizens can monitor and influence actions of their government.

By the end of grade 8:

a. Explain and analyze strengths and weaknesses of various kinds of government systems in terms of the purposes they are designed to serve.

b. Explain how different types of government acquire, use, and justify power.

c. Describe major issues involving rights, responsibilities, roles, and status of the individual in relation to the general welfare.

d. Know functions and responsibilities of government leaders and public servants.

e. Explain how public agendas are set and shaped.

f. Explain issues related to basic freedoms (e.g., those contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights).

g. Explain how public policy is formed and carried out at various levels of government.

h. Define citizenship in terms of its legal and political status and criteria used to grant naturalized citizenship.

i. Explain the significance of important personal, economic, and political rights and identify their major documentary sources.

j. Analyze effects of participation in civic and political life.

k. Identify how governments acquire and use revenue.

By the end of grade 12:

a. Understand strengths and weaknesses of various kinds of political philosophies.

b. Analyze how and why governments distribute benefits and burdens.

c. Analyze how social, economic, and political conditions contribute to the establishment and preservation of governments.

d. Evaluate issues regarding distribution of powers and responsibilities within national governments.

e. Understand major responsibilities of national governments for domestic and foreign policy.

f. Evaluate how public opinion influences politics.

g. Explain the roots of contemporary political systems.

h. Evaluate advantages and disadvantages of alternative means of achieving specific political objectives.

i. Explain the importance of shared political and civic beliefs and values, and of economic prosperity, to the preservation of constitutional democracy.

j. Evaluate the role of voluntarism and organized groups in society and their relationship to the functions of government.

k. Evaluate the role of law in political systems.

l. Evaluate how the media communicate, shape, and control ideas in political life.

m. Evaluate functions and responsibilities of, and challenges to, government leaders and public servants.

7.	(Production, Distribution, and Consumption) Students will understand fundamental economic principles and ways in which economies are shaped by geographic and human factors.

By the end of grade 2:

a. Distinguish between needs and wants.

b. Understand why people make choices about how to satisfy wants and needs.

c. Know roles resources play in our daily lives.

d. Give examples of institutions that are part of economic systems.

e. Describe how we depend upon workers with specialized jobs.

f. Distinguish between goods and services and know how they can be exchanged.

By the end of grade 5:

a. Describe characteristics, locations, and uses of renewable and non-renewable resources.

b. Explain relationships between the locations of resources and patterns of population distribution.

c. Distinguish among human, natural, and capital resources.

d. Describe how changes in transportation and communication have affected trade and economic activities.

e. Explain and compare ways in which people satisfy their basic needs and wants through the production of goods and services.

f. Describe how trade affects the way people earn their living in regions of the world.

g. Describe changes in the division of labor from hunting and gathering societies to farming communities to urban societies.

h. Describe economic causes of human migration.

By the end of grade 8:

a. Describe economic effects of environmental changes and crises resulting from natural phenomena.

b. Explain economic reasons for voluntary migration.

c. Evaluate conventional and alternative uses of resources.

d. Describe historical and contemporary economic systems.

e. Understand primary causes of world trade.

f. Understand global patterns of resource distribution and use.

g. Describe how governments and institutions allocate limited resources among competing needs.

By the end of grade 12:

a. Understand basic economic concepts.

b. Explain the major economic systems and evaluate their relative merits.

c. Explain patterns of trade from ancient times to the present.

d. Analyze ways in which trade has contributed to economic change in selected societies or civilizations.

e. Analyze relationships between economic activity and patterns of trade and migration.

f. Analyze and evaluate economic issues from a geographical point of view.

g. Describe reciprocal influences of changes in transportation and communication and changes in trade and economic activities.

8.	(Science, Technology, and Society) Students will understand how societies have influenced and been influenced by scientific developments and technological developments.

By the end of grade 2:

a. Understand the concepts of "tool" and "technique".

b. Describe examples in which tools and techniques have changed the lives of people.

c. Identify requirements for making tools and developing techniques.

d. Name some of the most important tools and techniques in contemporary life.

By the end of grade 5:

a. Understand the difference between science and technology.

b. Examine ways in which tools and techniques make certain tasks easier.

c. Identify ways that tools and techniques can have both positive and negative effects.

d. Describe instances in which changes in values, beliefs, and attitudes have resulted from new scientific knowledge and from technological knowledge.

By the end of grade 8:

a. Understand that the prerequisites for the adoption of a particular technology are social need, social resources, and cultural attitude.

b. Describe the process whereby adoption of scientific knowledge and use of technologies influence cultures, the environment, economies, and balance of power.

c. Evaluate the need for laws and policies to govern technological applications.

d. Describe how technologies might have effects and uses other than those intended.

e. Evaluate the meaning and history of the word "technology".

f. Understand the differences among tools, techniques, and systems.

g. Understand the concept "pace of change".

By the end of grade 12:

a. Evaluate the ambiguity of the term technology.

b. Understand why different socio-economic groups within a culture may react differently to technological innovation.

c. Analyze effects of technology on the diffusion of culture and the preservation of cultural identity.

d. Evaluate whether changing technologies create new ethical dilemmas or make existing ethical dilemmas more acute.

e. Understand historical and current influences of modern science on technological innovation.

f. Evaluate whether confidence in modern science is strengthening or weakening.

g. Understand that the principal contexts of technological innovation and scientific research are commercial and military and understand the implications of these contexts.

h. Evaluate causes and consequences of the diffusion of the autocatalytic process of technological innovation.

i. Describe how values, beliefs, and attitudes have influenced and been influenced by scientific knowledge and technological knowledge.

j. Analyze instances in which economic conditions have influenced and been influenced by scientific developments and technological developments.

k. Explain the roles and effects of technology and of science in resource acquisition and use.

l. Analyze social, moral, ethical, religious, and legal issues arising from technological developments and scientific developments.