Grade 6

History

Geography

Civics and Government

Economics

Students are able to identify important people and events in order to analyze significant patterns, relationships, themes, ideas, beliefs, and turning points in New Mexico, United States, and world history in order to understand the complexity of the human experience. Students will:

Students understand how physical, natural, and cultural processes influence where people live, the ways in which people live, and how societies interact with one another and their environments. Students will

Students understand the ideals, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship and understand the content and history of the founding documents of the United States with particular emphasis on the United States and New Mexico constitutions and how governments function at local, state, tribal, and national levels. Students will:

Students understand basic economic principles and use economic reasoning skills to analyze the impact of economic systems (including the market economy) on individuals, families, businesses, communities, and governments. Students will:

New Mexico: explore and explain how people and events have influenced the development of New Mexico up to the present day:

United States: analyze and interpret major eras, events and individuals from the periods of exploration and colonization through the civil war and reconstruction in United States history:

World: compare and contrast major historical eras, events and figures from ancient civilizations to the age of exploration:

Skills: research historical events and people from a variety of perspectives:

analyze and evaluate the characteristics and purposes of geographic tools, knowledge, skills and perspectives and apply them to explain the past, present and future in terms of patterns, events and issues:

explain the physical and human characteristics of places and use this knowledge to define regions, their relationships with other regions, and their patterns of change:

understand how human behavior impacts man-made and natural environments, recognize past and present results and predict potential changes:

explain how physical processes shape the earth's surface patterns and biosystems:

explain how economic, political, cultural and social processes interact to shape patterns of human populations and their interdependence, cooperation and conflict:

understand the effects of interactions between human and natural systems in terms of changes in meaning, use, distribution and relative importance of resources

demonstrate understanding of the structure, functions and powers of government (local, state, tribal and national):

explain the significance of symbols, icons, songs, traditions and leaders of New Mexico and the United States that exemplify ideals and provide continuity and a sense of unity:

compare political philosophies and concepts of government that became the foundation for the American revolution and the United States government:

explain how individuals have rights and responsibilities as members of social groups, families, schools, communities, states, tribes and countries:

explain and describe how individuals, households, businesses, governments and societies make decisions, are influenced by incentives (economic as well as intrinsic) and the availability and use of scarce resources, and that their choices involve costs and varying ways of allocating:

explain how economic systems impact the way individuals, households, businesses, governments and societies make decisions about resources and the production and distribution of goods and services:

describe the patterns of trade and exchange in early societies and civilizations and explore the extent of their continuation in today's world:

Describe the relationships among ancient civilizations of the world (e.g., scientific discoveries, architecture, politics, cultures and religious systems) and their connection to the early development of New Mexico.

Explain and describe the origins, obstacles and impact of the age of exploration, to include: improvements in technology (e.g., the clock, the sextant, work of Prince Henry the navigator), voyages of Columbus to the new world and the later searches for the northwest passage, introduction of disease and the resulting population decline (especially among indigenous peoples), exchanges of technology, ideas, agricultural products and practices.

Describe and compare the characteristics of the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia and China and explain the importance of their contributions to later civilizations, to include:<ol type="a"><li>significance of river valleys; early irrigation and its impact on agriculture</li><li>forms of government (e.g., the theocracies in Egypt, dynasties in China)</li><li>effect on world economies and trade</li><li>key historical figures</li><li>religious traditions, cultural, and scientific contributions (e.g., writing systems, calendars, building of monuments such as the pyramids)</li></ol>

Describe and analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of early civilizations of India, to include:<ol type="a"><li>location and description of the river systems and other topographical features that supported the rise of this civilization</li><li>significance of the Aryan invasions</li><li>structure and function of the caste system</li><li>important aesthetic and intellectual traditions (e.g., Sanskrit literature, medicine, metallurgy, mathematics including Hindu-Arabic numerals and the number zero)</li></ol>

Describe and analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the early civilizations in China, to include:<ol type="a"><li>location and description of the origins of Chinese civilization in the Huang-He valley, Shang dynasty, geographical features of China that made governance and movement of ideas and goods difficult and served to isolate the country</li><li>life of Confucius and the fundamental teachings of Confucianism and Taoism</li><li>rule by dynasties (e.g., Shang, Qin, Han, Tang, and Ming)</li><li>historical influence of China on other parts of the world (e.g., tea, paper, wood-block printing, compass, gunpowder)</li></ol>

Describe major religions of the world to include Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam (e.g., founding leaders, traditions, customs, beliefs);

Compare and contrast the geographic, political, economic, and social characteristics of the ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Ottoman, Indian, Arabic, African and middle eastern civilizations and their enduring impacts on later civilizations, to include:<ol type="a"><li>influence of Mediterranean geography on the development and expansion of the civilizations</li><li>development of concepts of government and citizenship (e.g., democracy, republic, codification of laws, Code of Hammurabi)</li><li>scientific and cultural advancements (e.g., networks of roads, aqueducts, art, architecture, literature, theater, philosophy)</li><li>contributions and roles of key figures (e.g., Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Augustus)</li></ol>

Compare and contrast the political and economic events and the social and geographic characteristics of medieval European life and their enduring impacts on later civilizations, to include:<ol type="a"><li>creation and expansion of the Byzantine empire</li><li>reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire</li><li>new forms of government, feudalism and the beginning of limited government with the Magna Carta</li><li>role of the roman catholic church and its monasteries</li><li>causes, course and effects of the Crusades; impact of the black plague; contributions and roles of key figures (e.g., Charlemagne, Joan of Arc, Marco Polo)</li></ol>

Organize information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing and contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, drawing inferences and conclusions;

Identify different points of view about an issue or topic

Use a decision-making process to identify a situation that requires a solution; gather information, identify options, predict consequences and take action to implement that solution.

Identify the location of places using latitude and longitude;

Draw complex and accurate maps from memory and interpret them to answer questions about the location of physical features.

Explain how places change due to human activity;

Explain how places and regions serve as cultural symbols and explore the influences and effects of regional symbols;

Identify a region by its formal, functional or perceived characteristics.

Compare and contrast the influences of man-made and natural environments upon ancient civilizations.

Describe how physical processes shape the environmental patterns of air, land, water, plants and animals.

Explain how human migration impacts places, societies and civilizations;

Describe, locate and compare different settlement patterns throughout the world;

Explain how cultures create a cultural landscape, locally and throughout the world, and how these landscapes change over time.

Understand how resources impact daily life

Describe the concept of democracy as developed by the Greeks and compare the evolution of democracies throughout the world;

Describe the concept of republic as developed by the Romans and compare to other republican governments.

Describe the significance of leadership in democratic societies and provide examples of local, national and international leadership, to include: qualities of leadership; names and contributions of New Mexico leaders; names and contributions of national leaders.

Explain how Greek and Roman societies expanded and advanced the role of citizen;

Identify historical origins of democratic forms of government (e.g., early civilizations, Native American governments).

Understand that the nature of citizenship varies among societies

Explain and predict how people respond to economic and intrinsic incentives.

Describe the characteristics of traditional, command, market and mixed economic systems

Explain how different economic systems affect the allocation of resources;

Understand the role that "factors of production" play in a society's economy (e.g., natural resources, labor, capital, entrepreneurs).

Compare and contrast the trade patterns of early civilizations;

Analyze the impact of the Neolithic agricultural revolution on mankind, and the impact of technological changes in the bronze age and the iron age.