New York State Standards for Social Studies: Grade 6

NY.1. History of the United States and New York: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

1.1. The study of New York State and United States history requires an analysis of the development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context, and the ways people are unified by many values, practices, and traditions.

1.1.1. Students explore the meaning of American culture by identifying the key ideas, beliefs, and patterns of behavior, and traditions that help define it and unite all Americans. 22
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.1.1.

1.1.2. Students interpret the ideas, values, and beliefs contained in the Declaration of Independence and the New York State Constitution and United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, and other important historical documents. 24
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.1.2.

1.2. Important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions from New York State and United States history illustrate the connections and interactions of people and events across time and from a variety of perspectives.

1.2.1. Students describe the reasons for periodizing history in different ways. 58
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.2.1.

1.2.2. Students investigate key turning points in New York State and United States history and explain why these events or developments are significant. 73
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.2.2.

1.2.3. Students understand the relationship between the relative importance of United States domestic and foreign policies over time. 48
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.2.3.

1.2.4. Students analyze the role played by the United States in international politics, past and present. 48
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.2.4.

1.3. Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments in New York State and United States history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.

1.3.1. Students complete well-documented and historically accurate case studies about individuals and groups who represent different ethnic, national, and religious groups, including Native American Indians, in New York State and the United States at different times and in different locations. 637
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.3.1.

1.3.2. Students gather and organize information about the important achievements and contributions of individuals and groups living in New York State and the United States. 80
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.3.2.

1.3.3. Students describe how ordinary people and famous historic figures in the local community, State, and the United States have advanced the fundamental democratic values, beliefs, and traditions expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the New York State and United States Constitutions, the Bill of Rights, and other important historic documents. 25
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.3.3.

1.3.4. Students classify major developments into categories such as social, political, economic, geographic, technological, scientific, cultural, or religious. 45
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.3.4.

1.4. The skills of historical analysis include the ability to: explain the significance of historical evidence; weigh the importance, reliability, and validity of evidence; understand the concept of multiple causation; understand the importance of changing and competing interpretations of different historical developments.

1.4.1. Students consider the sources of historic documents, narratives, or artifacts and evaluate their reliability 32
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.4.1.

1.4.2. Students understand how different experiences, beliefs, values, traditions, and motives cause individuals and groups to interpret historic events and issues from different perspectives. 107
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.4.2.

1.4.3. Students compare and contrast different interpretations of key events and issues in New York State and United States history and explain reasons for these different accounts. 78
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.4.3.

1.4.4. Students describe historic events through the eyes and experiences of those who were there. (Taken from National Standards for History for Grades K-4). 463
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 1.4.4.

NY.2. World History: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of history from a variety of perspectives.

2.1. The study of world history requires an understanding of world cultures and civilizations, including an analysis of important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions. This study also examines the human condition and the connections and interactions of people across time and space and the ways different people view the same event or issue from a variety of perspectives.

2.1.1. Students know the social and economic characteristics, such as customs, traditions, child-rearing practices, ways of making a living, education and socialization practices, gender roles, foods, and religious and spiritual beliefs that distinguish different cultures and civilizations. 143
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.1.1.

2.1.2. Students know some important historic events and developments of past civilizations. 56
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.1.2.

2.1.3. Students interpret and analyze documents and artifacts related to significant developments and events in world history. 21
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.1.3.

2.2. Establishing timeframes, exploring different periodizations, examining themes across time and within cultures, and focusing on important turning points in world history help organize the study of world cultures and civilizations.

2.2.1. Students develop timelines by placing important events and developments in world history in their correct chronological order. 3
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.2.1.

2.2.2. Students measure time periods by years, decades, centuries, and millennia. 65
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.2.2.

2.2.3. Students study about major turning points in world history by investigating the causes and other factors that brought about change and the results of these changes. 89
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.2.3.

2.3. Study of the major social, political, cultural, and religious developments in world history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.

2.3.1. Students investigate the roles and contributions of individuals and groups in relation to key social, political, cultural, and religious practices throughout world history. 443
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.3.1.

2.3.2. Students interpret and analyze documents and artifacts related to significant developments and events in world history. 21
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.3.2.

2.3.3. Students classify historic information according to the type of activity or practice: social/cultural, political, economic, geographic, scientific, technological, and historic. 45
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.3.3.

2.4. The skills of historical analysis include the ability to investigate differing and competing interpretations of the theories of history, hypothesize about why interpretations change over time, explain the importance of historical evidence, and understand the concepts of change and continuity over time.

2.4.1. Students explain the literal meaning of a historical passage or primary source document, identifying who was involved, what happened, where it happened, what events led up to these developments, and what consequences or outcomes followed (Taken from National Standards for World History). 21
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.4.1.

2.4.2. Students analyze different interpretations of important events and themes in world history and explain the various frames of reference expressed by different historians. 6
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.4.2.

2.4.3. Students view history through the eyes of those who witnessed key events and developments in world history by analyzing their literature, diary accounts, letters, artifacts, art, music, architectural drawings, and other documents. 46
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.4.3.

2.4.4. Students investigate important events and developments in world history by posing analytical questions, selecting relevant data, distinguishing fact from opinion, hypothesizing cause-and-effect relationships, testing these hypotheses, and forming conclusions. 6
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 2.4.4.

NY.3. Geography: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live - local, national, and global - including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth's surface.

3.1. Geography can be divided into six essential elements which can be used to analyze important historic, geographic, economic, and environmental questions and issues. These six elements include: the world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical settings (including natural resources), human systems, environment and society, and the use of geography. (Adapted from The National Geography Standards, 1994: Geography for Life).

3.1.1. Students map information about people, places, and environments. 35
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 3.1.1.

3.1.2. Students understand the characteristics, functions, and applications of maps, globes, aerial and other photographs, satellite-produced images, and models (Taken from National Geography Standards, 1994). 35
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 3.1.2.

3.1.3. Students investigate why people and places are located where they are located and what patterns can be perceived in these locations. 12
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 3.1.3.

3.1.4. Students describe the relationships between people and environments and the connections between people and places. 12
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 3.1.4.

3.2. Geography requires the development and application of the skills of asking and answering geographic questions; analyzing theories of geography; and acquiring, organizing, and analyzing geographic information. (Adapted from The National Geography Standards, 1994: Geography for Life).

3.2.1. Students formulate geographic questions and define geographic issues and problems. 32
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 3.2.1.

3.2.2. Students use a number of research skills (e.g., computer databases, periodicals, census reports, maps, standard reference works, interviews, surveys) to locate and gather geographical information about issues and problems (Adapted from National Geography Standards, 1994). 82
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 3.2.2.

3.2.3. Students present geographic information in a variety of formats, including maps, tables, graphs, charts, diagrams, and computer-generated models. 82
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 3.2.3.

3.2.4. Students interpret geographic information by synthesizing data and developing conclusions and generalizations about geographic issues and problems. 82
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 3.2.4.

NY.4. Economics: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the United States and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and nonmarket mechanisms.

4.1. The study of economics requires an understanding of major economic concepts and systems, the principles of economic decision making, and the interdependence of economies and economic systems throughout the world.

4.1.1. Students explain how societies and nations attempt to satisfy their basic needs and wants by utilizing scarce capital, natural, and human resources. 35
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.1.1.

4.1.2. Students define basic economic concepts such as scarcity, supply and demand, markets, opportunity costs, resources, productivity, economic growth, and systems. 38
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.1.2.

4.1.3. Students understand how scarcity requires people and nations to make choices which involve costs and future considerations. 2
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.1.3.

4.1.4. Students understand how people in the United States and throughout the world are both producers and consumers of goods and services. 3
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.1.4.

4.1.5. Students investigate how people in the United States and throughout the world answer the three fundamental economic questions and solve basic economic problems. 5
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.1.5.

4.1.6. Students describe how traditional, command, market, and mixed economies answer the three fundamental economic questions. 4
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.1.6.

4.1.7. Students explain how nations throughout the world have joined with one another to promote economic development and growth. 2
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.1.7.

4.2. Economics requires the development and application of the skills needed to make informed and well-reasoned economic decisions in daily and national life.

4.2.1. Students identify and collect economic information from standard reference works, newspapers, periodicals, computer databases, textbooks, and other primary and secondary sources. 21
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.2.1.

4.2.2. Students organize and classify economic information by distinguishing relevant from irrelevant information, placing ideas in chronological order, and selecting appropriate labels for data. 34
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.2.2.

4.2.3. Students evaluate economic data by differentiating fact from opinion and identifying frames of reference. 4
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.2.3.

4.2.4. Students develop conclusions about economic issues and problems by creating broad statements which summarize findings and solutions. 3
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.2.4.

4.2.5. Students present economic information by using media and other appropriate visuals such as tables, charts, and graphs to communicate ideas and conclusions. 21
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 4.2.5.

NY.5. Civics, Citizenship, and Government: Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

5.1. The study of civics, citizenship, and government involves learning about political systems; the purposes of government and civic life; and the differing assumptions held by people across time and place regarding power, authority, governance, and law. (Adapted from The National Standards for Civics and Government, 1994).

5.1.1. Students analyze how the values of a nation affect the guarantee of human rights and make provisions for human needs. 23
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.1.1.

5.1.2. Students consider the nature and evolution of constitutional democracies. 9
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.1.2.

5.1.3. Students explore the rights of citizens in other parts of the hemisphere and determine how they are similar to and different from the rights of American citizens. 4
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.1.3.

5.1.4. Students analyze the sources of a nation's values as embodied in its constitution, statutes, and important court cases. 21
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.1.4.

5.2. The state and federal governments established by the Constitutions of the United States and the State of New York embody basic civic values (such as justice, honesty, self-discipline, due process, equality, majority rule with respect for minority rights, and respect for self, others, and property), principles, and practices and establish a system of shared and limited government. (Adapted from The National Standards for Civics and Government, 1994).

5.2.1. Students understand how civic values reflected in United States and New York State Constitutions have been implemented through laws and practices. 19
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.2.1.

5.2.2. Students understand that the New York State Constitution, along with a number of other documents, served as a model for the development of the United States Constitution. 8
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.2.2.

5.2.3. Students compare and contrast the development and evolution of the constitutions of the United States and New York State. 9
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.2.3.

5.2.4. Students define federalism and describe the powers granted the national and state governments by the United States Constitution. 46
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.2.4.

5.2.5. Students value the principles, ideals, and core values of the American democratic system based upon the premises of human dignity, liberty, justice, and equality. 6
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.2.5.

5.2.6. Students understand how the United States and New York State Constitutions support majority rule but also protect the rights of the minority. 8
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.2.6.

5.3. Central to civics and citizenship is an understanding of the roles of the citizen within American constitutional democracy and the scope of a citizen's rights and responsibilities.

5.3.1. Students explain what citizenship means in a democratic society, how citizenship is defined in the Constitution and other laws of the land, and how the definition of citizenship has changed in the United States and New York State over time. 7
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.3.1.

5.3.2. Students understand that the American legal and political systems guarantee and protect the rights of citizens and assume that citizens will hold and exercise certain civic values and fulfill certain civic responsibilities. 18
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.3.2.

5.3.3. Students discuss the role of an informed citizen in today's changing world. 4
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.3.3.

5.3.4. Students explain how Americans are citizens of their states and of the United States. 9
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.3.4.

5.4. The study of civics and citizenship requires the ability to probe ideas and assumptions, ask and answer analytical questions, take a skeptical attitude toward questionable arguments, evaluate evidence, formulate rational conclusions, and develop and refine participatory skills.

5.4.1. Students respect the rights of others in discussions and classroom debates regardless of whether or not one agrees with their viewpoint. 5
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.4.1.

5.4.2. Students explain the role that civility plays in promoting effective citizenship in preserving democracy. 18
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.4.2.

5.4.3. Students participate in negotiation and compromise to resolve classroom, school, and community disagreements and problems. 8
Suggested Titles for New York Social Studies State Standard 5.4.3.