Grade 7

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:

Compare and contrast the contributions of the civilizations of the western hemisphere (e.g., Aztecs, Mayas, Toltecs, mound builders) with the early civilizations of the eastern hemisphere (e.g., Sumerians, Babylonians, Hebrews, Egyptians) and their impact upon societies, to include:<ol type="a"><li>effect on world economies and trade</li><li>roles of people, class structures, language</li><li>religious traditions and forms of government</li><li>cultural and scientific contributions (e.g., advances in astronomy, mathematics, agriculture, architecture, artistic and oral traditions, development of writing systems and calendars)</li></ol>

Describe the characteristics of other indigenous peoples that had an effect upon New Mexico's development (e.g., pueblo farmers, great plains horse culture, nomadic bands, etc. - noting their development of tools, trading routes, adaptation to environments, social structure, domestication of plants and animals);

Explain the significance of trails and trade routes within the region (e.g., Spanish trail, Camino Real, Santa Fe trail);

Describe how important individuals, groups and events impacted the development of New Mexico from 16th century to the present (e.g., Don Juan de Oñate, Don Diego de Vargas, pueblo revolt, Popé, 1837 revolt, 1848 rebellion, treaty of Guadalupe Hildago, William Becknell and the Santa Fe trail, buffalo soldiers, Lincoln county war, Navajo long walk, Theodore Roosevelt and the rough riders, Robert Goddard, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Smokey Bear, Dennis Chavez, Manuel Lujan, Manhattan project, Harrison Schmitt, Albuquerque international balloon fiesta);

Explain how New Mexicans have adapted to their physical environments to meet their needs over time (e.g., living in the desert, control over water resources, pueblo structure, highway system, use of natural resources)

Explain the impact of New Mexico on the development of the American west up to the present, to include: availability of land (e.g., individual, government, railroad, tribal, etc.); government land grants/treaties; transportation (e.g., wagons, railroads, automobile); identification and use of natural and human resources; population growth and economic patterns; and cultural interactions among indigenous and arriving populations and the resulting changes.

Analyze United States political policies on expansion of the United States into the southwest (e.g., Mexican cession, Gadsden purchase, broken treaties, long walk of the Navajos).

Compare and contrast the influence of Spain on the western hemisphere from colonization to the present.

Analyze and evaluate information by developing and applying criteria for selecting appropriate information and use it to answer critical questions;

Demonstrate the ability to examine history from the perspectives of the participants;

Use the problem-solving process to identify a problem; gather information, list and consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution using technology to present findings.

Describe ways that mental maps reflect attitudes about places;

Describe factors affecting location of human activities, including land-use patterns in urban, suburban and rural areas.

Select and explore a region by its distinguishing characteristics;

Describe the role of technology in shaping the characteristics of places;

Explain how and why regions change, using global examples;

Describe geographically-based pathways of inter-regional interaction (e.g., the Camino Real's role in establishing a major trade and communication route in the new world, the significance of waterways).

Explain how differing perceptions of places, people and resources have affected events and conditions in the past;

Interpret and analyze geographic information obtained from a variety of sources (e.g., maps, directly witnessed and surveillanced photographic and digital data, personal documents and interviews, symbolic representations - graphs, charts, diagrams, tables, etc.);

Recognize geographic questions and explain how to plan and execute an inquiry to answer them

Explain a contemporary issue using geographic knowledge, tools and perspectives.

Explain how physical processes influence the formation and location of resources;

Use data to interpret changing patterns of air, land, water, plants and animals;

Explain how ecosystems influence settlements and societies.

Analyze New Mexico settlement patterns and their impact on current issues;

Describe and analyze how the study of geography is used to improve our quality of life, including urban and environmental planning;

Explain the accessibility to the New Mexico territory via the Santa Fe trail and the railroad, conflicts with indigenous peoples and the resulting development of New Mexico.

Describe and evaluate the use and distribution of resources and their impact on countries throughout the world;

Describe how environmental events (e.g., hurricanes, tornados, floods) affect human activities and resources

Explain the structure and functions of New Mexico's state government as expressed in the New Mexico constitution, to include:<ol type="a"><li>roles and methods of initiative, referendum and recall processes</li><li>function of multiple executive offices</li><li>election process (e.g., primaries and general elections)</li><li>criminal justice system (e.g., juvenile justice)</li></ol>

Explain the roles and relationships of different levels of the legislative process, to include:<ol type="a"><li>structure of New Mexico legislative districts (e.g., number of districts, students' legislative districts, representatives and senators of the students' districts)</li><li>the structure of the New Mexico legislature and leaders of the legislature during the current session (e.g., bicameral, house of representatives and senate, speaker of the house of representatives, senate pro tem)</li></ol>

Compare the structure and functions of the New Mexico legislature with that of the state's tribal governments (e.g., pueblo Indian council; Navajo, Apache and Hopi nations).

Explain the concept of diversity and its significance within the political and social unity of New Mexico;

Describe ways in which different groups maintain their cultural heritage;

Explain how New Mexico's state legislature and other state legislatures identify symbols representative of a state;

Identify official and unofficial public symbols of various cultures and describe how they are or are not exemplary of enduring elements of those cultures.

Compare and contrast New Mexico's entry into the United States with that of the original thirteen colonies;

Understand the structure and function of New Mexico government as created by the New Mexico constitution and how it supports local, tribal and federal governments.

Explain the obligations and responsibilities of citizenship (e.g., the obligations of upholding the constitution, obeying the law, paying taxes, jury duty)

Explain the roles of citizens in political decision-making (e.g., voting, petitioning public officials, analyzing issues).

Explain how economic and intrinsic incentives influence how individuals, households, businesses, governments and societies allocate and use their scarce resources;

Explain why cooperation can yield higher benefits.

Identify governmental activities that affect local, state, tribal and national economies;

Analyze the impact of taxing and spending decisions upon individuals, organizations, businesses and various government entities;

Explain the relationship of New Mexico with tribal governments regarding compact issues (e.g., taxes, gambling revenue, rights of way).

Explain how specialization leads to interdependence and describe ways most Americans depend on people in other households, communities and nations for some of the goods they consume;

Understand the interdependencies between the economies of New Mexico, the United States and the world;

Understand the factors that currently limit New Mexico from becoming an urban state, including: the availability and allocation of water, and the extent to which New Mexico relies upon traditional economic forms (e.g., the acequia systems, localized agricultural markets);

Describe the relationship between New Mexico, tribal and United States economic systems;

Compare and contrast New Mexico commerce with that of other states' commerce.