Ohio State Standards for Social Studies: Grade 12

OH.1. History: Students use materials drawn from the diversity of human experience to analyze and interpret significant events, patterns and themes in the history of Ohio, the United States and the world.

1.A. Explain patterns of historical continuity and change by challenging arguments of historical inevitability.

1.B. Use historical interpretations to explain current issues.

1.1. Grade Level Indicator: Analysis and Interpretation: Challenge arguments of historical inevitability by giving examples of how different choices could have led to different consequences (e.g., choices made during the Civil War, choices relating to immigration policy, or choices made during the Cuban Missile Crisis).

1.2. Grade Level Indicator: Analysis and Interpretation: Analyze primary source material to see if a historical interpretation is supported.

1.3. Grade Level Indicator: Analysis and Interpretation: Analyze cause-and-effect relationships and multiple causation including the influence of ideas, the role of chance and individual and collective action.

OH.2. People in Societies: Students use knowledge of perspectives, practices and products of cultural, ethnic and social groups to analyze the impact of their commonality and diversity within local, national, regional and global settings.

2.A. Analyze how issues may be viewed differently by various cultural groups.

2.B. Identify the causes of political, economic and social oppression and analyze ways individuals, organizations and countries respond to resulting conflicts.

2.C. Explain the role of diverse cultural institutions in shaping American society.

2.1. Grade Level Indicator: Cultures: Identify the perspectives of diverse cultural groups when analyzing current issues.

2.2. Grade Level Indicator: Cultures: Analyze proposed solutions to current issues from the perspectives of diverse cultural groups.

2.3. Grade Level Indicator: Interaction: Analyze ways countries and organizations respond to conflicts between forces of unity and forces of diversity (e.g., English only/bilingual education, theocracies/religious freedom, immigration quotas/open immigration policy, single-sex schools/coeducation).

2.4. Grade Level Indicator: Interaction: Evaluate the effectiveness of international governmental organizations (e.g., United Nations, European Union, World Court and Organization of American States), multinational corporations, and nongovernmental organizations (e.g., Amnesty International, Red Cross and World Council of Churches) in the global arena.

2.5. Grade Level Indicator: Diffusion: Evaluate the role of institutions in guiding, transmitting, preserving and changing culture.

OH.3 Geography: Students use knowledge of geographic locations, patterns and processes to show the interrelationship between the physical environment and human activity, and to explain the interactions that occur in an increasingly interdependent world.

3.A. Explain how the character and meaning of a place reflect a society's economics, politics, social values, ideology and culture.

3.B. Evaluate the consequences of geographic and environmental changes resulting from governmental policies and human modifications to the physical environment.

3.C. Use appropriate data sources and geographic tools to analyze and evaluate public policies.

3.1. Grade Level Indicator: Places and Regions: Explain how people create places that reflect culture, human needs, government policy, current values and ideals as they design and build specialized buildings, neighborhoods, shopping centers, urban centers and industrial parks.

3.2. Grade Level Indicator: Human Environmental Interaction: Describe the intended and unintended effects of human modifications to the physical environment and weigh the costs and benefits of alternative approaches to addressing environmental concerns (e.g., alternative sources of energy, mass transportation systems, or farmland and wetland preservation).

3.3. Grade Level Indicator: Human Environmental Interaction: Analyze policies and programs for natural resource use and management considering possible trade-offs between environmental quality and economic growth.

3.4. Grade Level Indicator: Application of Geography: Use appropriate data sources and tools to gather, manipulate, interpret and communicate geographic information related to civic/global issues.

OH.4. Economics: Students use economic reasoning skills and knowledge of major economic concepts, issues and systems in order to make informed choices as producers, consumers, savers, investors, workers and citizens in an interdependent world.

4.A. Analyze how scarcity of productive resources affects supply, demand, inflation and economic choices.

4.B. Identify factors which inhibit or spur economic growth and cause expansions or recessions.

4.C. Explain how voluntary worldwide trade, specialization and interdependence among countries affect standards of living and economic growth.

4.D. Analyze the role of fiscal and regulatory policies in a mixed economy.

4.E. Explain the use of a budget in making personal economic decisions and planning for the future.

4.1. Grade Level Indicator: Scarcity and Resource Allocation: Compare how values and beliefs influence economic decisions in different communities.

4.2. Grade Level Indicator: Scarcity and Resource Allocation: Explain the impact of marginal cost/marginal benefit analysis on decision-making.

4.3. Grade Level Indicator: Scarcity and Resource Allocation: Select a current issue; identify the costs and benefits of various choices to determine the impact of personal and social economic decisions on the allocation of productive resources.

4.4. Grade Level Indicator: Production, Distribution and Consumption: Use the circular flow model to explain the flow of money, goods, services and productive resources in the economy.

4.5. Grade Level Indicator: Markets: Identify reasons for and the impacts of multinational economic organizations: Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); European Monetary Union; North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); World Trade Organization (WTO); World Bank.

4.6. Grade Level Indicator: Government and the Economy: Analyze economic policy decisions made by governments that have resulted in intended and unintended consequences.

4.7. Grade Level Indicator: Government and the Economy: Identify public policies that may cost more than the benefits they generate, assess who enjoys the benefits, who bears the cost and explain why the policies exist.

OH.5. Government: Students use knowledge of the purposes, structures and processes of political systems at the local, state, national and international levels to understand that people create systems of government as structures of power and authority to provide order, maintain stability and promote the general welfare.

5.A. Evaluate, take and defend positions about issues concerning the alignment of the characteristics of American democracy with realities in the United States today.

5.B. Explain how the U.S. Constitution has evolved including its philosophical foundations, amendments and court interpretations.

5.C. Analyze how citizens participate in the election process in the United States.

5.1. Grade Level Indicator: Role of Government: Identify and analyze an issue related to domestic or foreign policy in the United States (e.g., human rights, intervention in conflicts between other countries, or health care).

5.2. Grade Level Indicator: Role of Government: Explain how individuals and groups, both governmental and non-governmental, influence domestic and foreign policy and evaluate how these actions reflect characteristics of American democracy.

5.3. Grade Level Indicator: Rules and Laws: Explain the key arguments made for and against the ratification of the Constitution and illustrate how those arguments influence contemporary political debate.

5.4. Grade Level Indicator: Systems of Government: Identify and analyze issues related to the election process in the United States (e.g., election board policies, technology used in elections, media reporting of election results).

OH.6. Citizenship Rights and Responsibilities: Students use knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in order to examine and evaluate civic ideals and to participate in community life and the American democratic system.

6.A. Evaluate various means for citizens to take action on a particular issue.

6.B. Explain how the exercise of a citizen's rights and responsibilities helps to strengthen a democracy.

6.1. Grade Level Indicator: Participation: Practice forms of civic discussion and participation consistent with the ideals of citizens of a democratic republic: Persuasive speech; Panel discussion; Debate.

6.2. Grade Level Indicator: Participation: Evaluate policies that have been proposed as ways of dealing with social changes resulting from new technologies (e.g., censorship of the media, intellectual property rights, or organ donation).

6.3. Grade Level Indicator: Participation: Analyze relationships and tensions between national sovereignty and international accords and organizations (e.g., international agreements on environmental issues, trade agreements, arms agreements, European Union or NATO).

6.4. Grade Level Indicator: Participation: Explain and demonstrate knowledge of federal and Ohio freedom of information and open meeting laws.

6.5. Grade Level Indicator: Participation: Explain how to file a request for public information using either the appropriate federal or Ohio freedom of information statute.

6.6. Grade Level Indicator: Participation: Prepare a plan of action that defines a community issue and suggest alternative solutions or courses of action based on appropriate criteria.

6.7. Grade Level Indicator: Participation: Analyze the causes, consequences and possible solutions to persistent, contemporary and emerging world problems (e.g., health, security, resource allocation, economic development or environmental quality).

6.8. Grade Level Indicator: Participation: Analyze how democracy, the free flow of information, global economic interdependence, or human rights movements can cause change within a country.

6.9. Grade Level Indicator: Rights and Responsibilities: Compare elements, proceedings and decisions related to the right to a fair trial in criminal and civil courts and describe alternatives to litigation for maintaining order and resolving conflicts within the U.S. legal system including: Mediation; Arbitration; Alternative dispute resolution; Plea-bargaining.

OH.7. Social Studies Skills and Methods: Students collect, organize, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources to draw logical conclusions. Students communicate this information using appropriate social studies terminology in oral, written or multimedia form and apply what they have learned to societal issues in simulated or real-world settings.

7.A. Obtain and evaluate information from public records and other resources related to a public policy issue.

7.B. Critique data and information to determine the adequacy of support for conclusions.

7.C. Develop a research project that identifies the various perspectives on an issue and explain a resolution of that issue.

7.D. Work in groups to analyze an issue and make decisions.

7.1. Grade Level Indicator: Obtaining Information: Obtain and evaluate information from public records and other resources related to a public policy issue.

7.2. Grade Level Indicator: Thinking and Organizing: Construct an action plan for presenting a position to the appropriate decision-making body.

7.3. Grade Level Indicator: Thinking and Organizing: Research an issue or topic by gathering, recording, evaluating and interpreting relevant data.

7.4. Grade Level Indicator: Communicating Information: Develop a research project and make formal presentations to the class and/or community members using: Key terms; Support for main ideas; Examples; Statistics and other evidence; Visual aids; Formal citation of sources.

7.5. Grade Level Indicator: Communicating Information: Respond to questions and feedback about presentations knowledgeably and civilly.

7.6. Grade Level Indicator: Problem Solving: Build consensus within a group by: Finding points of agreement; Identifying points individuals are willing to concede; Making sure that all voices are heard; Attempting to understand the view of others.

7.7. Grade Level Indicator: Problem Solving: Engage in group work on issues-analysis and decision-making: Identify a problem or dilemma; Analyze the interests, values and points of view; Identify causes of the problem or dilemma; Propose alternative solutions; Formulate a position or course of action; Evaluate the consequences of the action taken.