Kansas State Standards for Social Studies: Grade 6

KS.1. Civics-Government: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of governmental systems of Kansas and the United States and other nations with an emphasis on the United States Constitution, the necessity for the rule of law, the civic values of the American people, and the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of becoming active participants in our representative democracy.

1.1. The student understands the rule of law as it applies to individuals; family; school; local, state and national governments.

1.1.1. (K) The student recognizes that every civilization has a form of law or order. 6
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 1.1.1.

1.2. The student understands the shared ideals and diversity of American society and political culture.

1.2.1. This benchmark will be taught at another grade level.

1.3. The student understands how the United States Constitution allocates power and responsibility in the government.

1.3.1. This benchmark will be taught at another grade level.

1.4. The student identifies and examines the rights, privileges, and responsibilities in becoming an active civic participant.

1.4.1. (A) The student compares and contrasts the rights of people living in Ancient Greece (Sparta and Athens) and Classical Rome with the modern United States. 9
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 1.4.1.

1.5. The student understands various systems of governments and how nations and international organizations interact.

1.5.1. (K) The student identifies the basic features of systems of government (e.g., republic, democracy, monarchy, dictatorship, oligarchy, theocracy). 7
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 1.5.1.

1.5.2. (K) The student describes the ways political systems meet or fail to meet the needs and wants of their citizens (e.g., republic, democracy, monarchy, dictatorship oligarchy, theocracy). 7
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 1.5.2.

1.5.3. (K) The student defines the characteristics of nations (e.g., territory, population, government, sovereignty). 31
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 1.5.3.

KS.2. Economics: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of major economic concepts, issues, and systems, applying decision-making skills as a consumer, producer, saver, investor, and citizen of Kansas and the United States living in an interdependent world.

2.1. The student understands how limited resources require choices.

2.1.1. (K) The student explains how scarcity of resources requires communities and nations to make choices about goods and services (e.g., what foods to eat, where to settle, how to use land). 2
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 2.1.1.

2.1.2. (A) The student gives examples of international economic interdependence. (e.g., Europe depended on the Far East for spices & tea; Far East received silver and gem stones in exchange). 5
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 2.1.2.

2.2. The student understands how the market economy works in the United States.

2.2.1. This benchmark will be taught at another grade level.

2.3. The student analyzes how different incentives, economic systems and their institutions, and local, national, and international interdependence affect people.

2.3.1. (K) The student recognizes the economic conditions under which trade takes place among nations (e.g., students recognize that trade takes place when nations have wants or needs they cannot fulfill on their own). 5
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 2.3.1.

2.3.2. (K) The student identifies barriers to trade among nations (e.g., treaties, war, transportation, geography). 5
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 2.3.2.

2.4. The student analyzes the role of the government in the economy.

2.4.1. This benchmark will be taught at another grade level.

2.5. The student makes effective decisions as a consumer, producer, saver, investor, and citizen.

2.5.1. (A) The student determines the costs and benefits of a spending, saving, or borrowing decision. 2
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 2.5.1.

2.5.2. (K) The student explains that budgeting requires trade-offs in managing income and spending.

2.5.3. (K) The student identifies the opportunity cost that resulted from a spending decision. 2
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 2.5.3.

2.5.4. (A) The student analyzes how supply of and demand for workers in various careers affect income. 6
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 2.5.4.

KS.3. Geography: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of the spatial organization of Earth's surface and relationships between peoples and places and physical and human environments in order to explain the interactions that occur in Kansas, the United States, and in our world.

3.1. Geographic Tools and Location: The student uses maps, graphic representations, tools, and technologies to locate, use, and present information about people, places, and environments.

3.1.1. (A) The student explains and uses map titles, symbols, cardinal and intermediate directions, legends, latitude and longitude. 20
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.1.1.

3.1.2. (K) The student locates major physical and political features of Earth from memory (e.g., China, Egypt, Greece, Central America, Mediterranean Sea, Nile River, Persian Gulf, Rome, India, Sahara Desert, Saudi Arabia, Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Constantinople (modern Istanbul), Ganges River, Himalayan Mountains, Huan He (Yellow River), Indus River, Jerusalem, Mecca, Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), Persia (modern Iran), Red Sea, Tigris River, Yangtze River, Chile, Brazil, Peru, Amazon River, Andes Mountains). 15
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.1.2.

3.1.3. (A) The student identifies major patterns of world populations, physical features, ecosystems, and cultures using historic and contemporary geographic tools (e.g., maps, illustrations, photographs, documents, data). 15
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.1.3.

3.2. Places and Regions: The student analyzes the human and physical features that give places and regions their distinctive character.

3.2.1. (A) The student identifies types of regions (e.g., climatic, economic, cultural). 7
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.2.1.

3.2.2. (K) The student describes how places and regions may be identified by cultural symbols (e.g., Acropolis in Athens, Muslim minaret, Indian sari). 41
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.2.2.

3.2.3. (K) The student identifies and describes the location, landscape, climate, and resources of early world civilizations (e.g., Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece, Rome, Middle/South America, Western Europe, West Africa, Japan). 25
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.2.3.

3.2.4. (A) The student compares and contrasts early world civilizations in terms of human characteristics (e.g., people, religion, language, customs, government, agriculture, industry, architecture, arts, education). 45
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.2.4.

3.2.5. (A) The student traces the movement (diffusion) from one region or center of civilization to other regions of the world (e.g., people, goods, and ideas). 9
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.2.5.

3.3. Physical Systems: The student understands Earth's physical systems and how physical processes shape Earth's surface.

3.3.1. (K) The student explains the distribution patterns of ecosystems within hemispheres to define climatic regions. 3
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.3.1.

3.3.2. (K) The student identifies renewable and nonrenewable resources and their uses (e.g., fossil fuels, minerals, fertile soil, waterpower, forests). 9
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.3.2.

3.4. Human Systems: The student understands how economic, political, cultural, and social processes interact to shape patterns of human populations, interdependence, cooperation, and conflict.

3.4.1. (A) The student examines reasons for variation in population distribution (e.g., environment, migration, government policies, birth and death rates). 7
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.4.1.

3.4.2. (K) The student describes the forces and processes of conflict and cooperation that divide or unite people (e.g., uneven distribution of resources, water use in ancient Mesopotamia, building projects in ancient Egypt and Middle/South America, the Greek city-states, empire building, movements for independence or rights). 3
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.4.2.

3.5. Human-Environment Interactions: The student understands the effects of interactions between human and physical systems.

3.5.1. (A) The student explains how humans modify the environment and describes some of the possible consequences of those modifications (e.g., Greeks clearing the vegetation of the hillsides, dikes on the Nile and in the Mesopotamia raising the level of the river, terracing in Middle America and Asia). 42
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.5.1.

3.5.2. (K) The student describes the impact of natural hazards on people and their activities (e.g., floods: Egypt-Nile, Mesopotamia-Tigris/Euphrates; volcanic eruptions: Mt. Vesuvius). 21
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.5.2.

3.5.3. (A) The student explains the relationship between the availability and use of natural resources and advances in technology using historical and contemporary examples (e.g., clay tablets, papyrus, paper-printing press, computer).

3.5.4. (A) The student explains the relationship between resources and the exploration, colonization and settlement patterns of different world regions (e.g., mercantilism, imperialism, and colonialism). 7
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 3.5.4.

KS.4. History (Kansas, United States, and World History): The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of significant individuals, groups, ideas, events, eras, and developments in the history of Kansas, the United States, and the world, utilizing essential analytical and research skills.

4.1. The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of individuals, groups, ideas, eras, developments, and turning points in the history of the world from the emergence of human communities to 500BC.

4.1.1. (K) The student explains the importance of the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution in moving people from Nomadic to settled village life (e.g., food production, changing technology, domestication of animals). 3
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.1.1.

4.1.2. (A) The student compares the origin and accomplishments of early river valley civilizations (e.g., Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia): city-states, Hammurabi's code; Nile Valley (Egypt): Pharaoh, centralized government; Indus Valley (India): Mohenjo Daro; Huang He (China): Shang Dynasty). 18
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.1.2.

4.1.3. (K) The student explains central beliefs of early religions (e.g., polytheism, monotheism, animism). 13
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.1.3.

4.2. The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of individuals, groups, ideas, eras, developments, and turning points in the history of the world from 500BC to 700AD.

4.2.1. (K) The student compares and contrast characteristics of classic Greek government (e.g., city-states, slavery, rule by aristocrats and tyrants, Athens: development of democracy, Sparta: city's needs come first). 8
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.2.1.

4.2.2. (K) The student describes the significant contributions of ancient Greece to western culture (e.g., philosophy: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle; literature/drama: Homer, Greek plays, architecture, sculpture). 16
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.2.2.

4.2.3. (K) The student explains the cultural interactions in the Hellenistic Age (e.g., Alexander the Great, Persian Empire). 1
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.2.3.

4.2.4. (K) The student describes key characteristics of classical Roman government (e.g., Roman Republic: senate, consuls, veto, written law; Roman Empire: emperors, expansion). 6
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.2.4.

4.2.5. (A) The student analyzes the reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. 7
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.2.5.

4.2.6. (A) The student examines the central beliefs of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and Islam. 23
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.2.6.

4.2.7. (A) The student traces the development and spread of Christianity. 5
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.2.7.

4.2.8. (K) The student describes key cultural accomplishments of classical India (e.g., Asoka, Sanskrit literature, the Hindu-Arabic numerals, the zero, Buddhism, Hinduism). 11
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.2.8.

4.2.9. (K) The student describes key accomplishments of ancient China (e.g., Great Wall of China, Shi Huangdi, dynastic cycle, Mandate of Heaven, Taoism, Confucianism, civil service, Silk Road). 5
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.2.9.

4.3. The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of individuals, groups, ideas, eras, developments, and turning points in the history of the world from 700-1400.

4.3.1. (K) The student describes the governmental/political, social, and economic institutions and innovations of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. 7
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.3.1.

4.3.2. (K) The student describes the governmental/political, social, and economic institutions and innovations of the Byzantine Empire. 5
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.3.2.

4.3.3. (K) The student describes the political and economic institutions of medieval Europe (e.g., manorialism, feudalism, Magna Carta, Christendom, rise of cities and trade). 5
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.3.3.

4.3.4. (K) The student describes Japanese feudalism and compares to European feudalism. 6
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.3.4.

4.3.5. (A) The student explains geographic, economic, political reasons for Islam's spread into Europe, Asia, and Africa (e.g., geographic, economic, political reasons). 10
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.3.5.

4.3.6. (A) The student discusses how the Crusades allowed interaction between the Islamic world and medieval Europe (e.g., science, education, architecture, mathematics, medicine, the arts, literature). 6
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.3.6.

4.3.7. (K) The student explains the impact of Mongol Empires (e.g., trade routes, Silk Road, horse, Ghengis Khan). 3
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.3.7.

4.4. The student engages in historical thinking skills.

4.4.1. (A) The student examines a topic in World history to analyze changes over time and makes logical inferences concerning cause and effect (e.g., spread of ideas and innovation, rise and fall of empires). 6
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.4.1.

4.4.2. (A) The student examines a variety of primary sources in World history and analyzes them in terms of credibility, purpose, and point of view (e.g., census records, diaries, photographs, letters, government documents). 21
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.4.2.

4.4.3. (A) The student uses at least three primary sources to interpret a person or event from World history to develop an historical narrative. 21
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.4.3.

4.4.4. (A) The student compares contrasting descriptions of the same event in World history to understand how people differ in their interpretations of historical events. 15
Suggested Titles for Kansas Social Studies State Standard 4.4.4.