Grade 7 Social Studies Oklahoma standards Standards

Content Standards

Practice Standards

The student will analyze data from a geographic perspective using the skills and tools of geography.

Describe the role of geographic factors on events, explaining the importance of spatial perspective and integrating specific geographic information to support analysis from primary and secondary sources.

Reinforce geographic skills through the routine practice and use of geographic tools (e.g., thematic maps, graphs, charts, satellite imagery, GIS technologies) in order to draw conclusions and make predictions from geographic data.

The student will analyze the physical systems of the major regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Identify on a physical map the major landforms and bodies of water of each region and compare climatic conditions, vegetation, and biomes using thematic maps and other geographic tools.

Describe how the physical environment can influence human population distribution, population growth, settlement patterns, land use, and economic activities.

Compare the characteristics and distribution of major renewable and nonrenewable resources of each region, identifying major nations in which natural resources (e.g., fossil fuels, minerals, agricultural crops) are the primary source of economic activities.

Identify examples of scarcity and how the availability of natural resources impacts regional economies, which can contribute to conflict and cooperation.

The student will analyze the interactions of humans and their environment.

Analyze how humans adapt to their environment, including the impact of weather patterns and natural disasters on human populations, resulting in displacement, scarcity of consumer goods, and loss of life.

Describe how humans adapt to and modify their environment for the purpose of food production.

Describe the differences among subsistence, cash crop, and commercial agriculture, including their impact on the economic development of a region.

Explain how agricultural innovations, such as the Green Revolution and modern irrigation systems, increase food production in developing countries.

Examine how agricultural practices in a region imprint the physical environment (e.g., desertification of the Aral Sea, terraced construction for rice farming, modern irrigation methods utilized in the Arabian Peninsula).

Evaluate the effects of human modification of the natural environment through processes related to industrialization.

Explain why places become major hubs of industrial activity by analyzing the relationship between the location of natural resources to various manufacturing industries.

Describe the importance of transportation infrastructure and its direct impact on people's access to resources and consumer goods.

Examine how the development of technology meets energy demands, as well as modifies the environment (e.g., extraction of raw materials, offshore drilling, nuclear power plants, water diversion, hydroelectric power plants).

Describe the role of citizens as responsible stewards of natural resources and the environment, through sound resource use and conservation.

The student will identify the distribution and demographic patterns of human populations of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Identify on a political map the major countries and population centers of each region, describing urban, rural, suburban, and metropolitan settlement patterns.

Describe the challenges of urbanization and urban sprawl (e.g., access to public services, affordability of housing, gentrification, pollution, transportation).

Examine how nations address population changes through government policies (e.g., education, health care, immigration).

Describe the reasons for emigration and immigration.

Examine the role of pull factors (e.g., economic opportunity, education, family) and the role of push factors (e.g., political unrest, religious persecution, war, famine, natural disasters) which motivate both emigration and immigration, differentiating between involuntary and voluntary migration.

Describe contemporary reasons and examples of migration (e.g., drought in agricultural eastern Africa resulting in urbanization, overpopulation of India’s cities due to employment options in high-tech industries).

The student will evaluate the development and impact of culture on the major regions and peoples of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Compare cultural traits of major cultural regions and explain how culture can change over time through the process of cultural diffusion.

Define and describe the legacy of the world’s major cultural hearths on a region’s ethnic heritage and history.

Examine how and why major cultural hearths developed along major river valleys and crossroads of trade (e.g., Mesopotamia's Fertile Crescent; the Nile, Indus, Huang He and Yangtze River Valleys; the kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai).

Explain that complex societies and civilizations in different regions share common characteristics (e.g., agricultural innovations, written language, and early systems of law and government).

Examine major religions of the world, including their belief systems and influence on contemporary societies.

Describe the origins and central features of Judaism, identifying its sacred texts (e.g., the Torah, Ten Commandments) and explaining its central features and teachings (e.g., monotheism, emphasis on individual worth, personal responsibility, and adherence to moral obligations) and its impact on modern and contemporary Western societies and culture.

Explain the origins and central features of Christianity, by identifying its sacred texts and teachings, explaining its basic beliefs (e.g., monotheism, eternal life, Jesus of Nazareth as the messiah), its relationship to Judaism, and its impact on modern societies and contemporary culture.

Describe the origins and central features of Hinduism, including its basic beliefs (e.g., karma, reincarnation) and its influence on society of the Indian subcontinent.

Describe the origins and central features of Buddhism, including its basic beliefs (e.g., Four Noble Truths, Nirvana) and how its philosophy influenced other regions.

Explain the origins and central features of Islam, including its sacred text, basic beliefs (e.g., monotheism, Five Pillars) and describe its expansion and influence into Europe and North Africa.

Analyze systems of government by examining their source of authority, principles, structures, and processes.

Compare the source of authority and power of representative governments (republic, Constitutional monarchy) versus authoritarian systems (dictatorship, monarchy, totalitarian regime, oligarchy, theocracy) using contemporary or historical examples (e.g., the symbolic role of the British crown versus the authority of Saudi Arabia’s monarchy, the republics of western Europe to the Chinese Communist system).

Trace the historic roots of representative democracy.

Explain why the government of ancient Athens is considered the beginning of democratic government and examine Greek political concepts, including the “polis” or city-state, rule of law, liberty, civic participation and voting rights, legislative bodies, and written Constitutions.

Describe the government of the Roman Republic and its contribution to the development of representative self-government, including separation of powers, liberty, the rule of law, and the concept of civic duty.

Describe influences of early English tradition related to the principles of limited government and individual rights, such as found in the Magna Carta and established by the English Bill of Rights.

Compare the role of the citizen in modern representative governments to authoritarian systems (e.g., United Kingdom to Russia; India to Saudi Arabia; South Africa to China; United States to Iran).

Describe the involvement of citizens in the selection of government officials and the lawmaking process in different systems of government.

Compare civil liberties in representative to authoritarian systems of government, referencing the United States Bill of Rights.

Describe how contemporary authoritarian governments maintain power over citizens (e.g., denial of natural and civil rights, illegitimate elections, restrictions on free speech and the free exercise of religion, refusal of due process protections, corruption among government officials, unequal application of the law, and use of mob intimidation).

Analyze issues related to Indigenous sovereignty, including the management of natural resources and the preservation of Indigenous cultures (e.g., Scandinavia’s Saami, the Rohingya people of Myanmar, the Uyghur ethnic group of China, New Zealand’s Māori).

The student will examine and compare economic systems as means by which governments organize and distribute available resources, services, and goods.

Explain how people organize economic systems to address basic economic questions regarding which goods and services will be produced, how they will be distributed, and who will consume them.

Compare the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional, market, and command economic systems, including how government policies affect economic activities and trade relationships among nations.

Evaluate how the major sectors of economic activities contribute to the development of a country or region:

Extraction and harvesting of natural products (Primary Sector)

Production of goods through manufacturing and construction (Secondary Sector)

Businesses that provide services to consumers (Tertiary Sector)

Research and intellectual services such as technological advancement and innovation (Quaternary Sector).

Compare the economic measurements of productivity which inform nations of their economic health and growth (e.g., Gross Domestic Product and Gross National Product).

Distinguish between developed and developing regions by analyzing data used by geographers (e.g., the Human Development Index data, literacy rate, life expectancy, infant mortality, per capita income).

Analyze the role of government to finance a nation’s development (e.g., infrastructure, enforcement of contracts, law and safety, social programs, and education).

The student will analyze the physical and human characteristics of regions which create uniqueness and influence people’s perceptions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Define the concept of region and explain how regions change over time through physical and human processes, such as land use, urban growth, population, natural disasters, and trade.

Explain and summarize how common physical or human characteristics can link as well as divide regions (e.g., manmade canals linking European trading centers, the Sahara Desert as both a physical and cultural division of the African continent, religious and political differences leading to armed conflict in Southwest Asia).

Explain patterns of global interdependence, including the impact of changing technology on trade routes, dependence on resources, use of low-cost labor, and the outsourcing of technological and manufacturing jobs to developing regions.

Examine indicators of economic interdependence and world trade, including why nations are concerned with the balance of trade, and explain major trade patterns among regions of the Eastern Hemisphere.

Explain why countries enter into global trade agreements (e.g., Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries [OPEC], the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN] and the African Continental Free Trade Area [AfCFTA]).

Describe how political, economic, and cultural forces (e.g., civil wars, terrorism, genocide, ethnic separatism) have challenged political arrangements (e.g., political status of Taiwan to China, the Shoah [Jewish Holocaust], the division of Sudan and South Sudan).

Analyze reasons for conflict and cooperation among regions, evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of international organizations and alliances (e.g., European Union, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, International Red Cross) as they relate to mutual defense, the resolution of disputes, and the response to humanitarian needs.

The student will apply critical thinking skills to address authentic civic issues.

Demonstrate an understanding of the virtue of civil discourse to analyze and address real- world problems.

Analyze why the acknowledgement of different perspectives can contribute to civil discourse and solutions to civic issues.

Apply a range of deliberative and democratic procedures to discuss, make decisions, and propose action about real-world problems in and out of school.

Use information to analyze how a specific problem can manifest itself in regional and global issues, describing options for solutions.

Develop practices which demonstrate an understanding that social studies involves the evaluation of evidence.

Investigate and propose answers to essential questions representing complex enduring issues across the social studies disciplines.

Answer supporting questions related to social studies content knowledge and make connections to different interpretations.

Develop deeper critical thinking skills by questioning assumptions and identifying inconsistencies or errors in reasoning.

Demonstrate understanding of social studies content through the development of self-driven inquiries and the completion of authentic tasks and assessments.

The student will use interdisciplinary tools to acquire, apply, and evaluate content understanding of the four strands of social studies.

Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of government, the benefits of democratic systems, and their responsibilities as citizens.

Compare and analyze civic virtues and democratic principles in historic and global settings, explaining how they influence political institutions.

Compare the powers and responsibilities of the United States government to other forms of government, including the roles and rights of citizens.

Examine the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements on the limits of government, including the concepts of sovereignty and the rule of law.

Develop skills which demonstrate an understanding of historical events and the people who shaped our history.

Gather and draw conclusions from sources of evidence, identifying plausible author, occasion, audience, purpose, and possible bias.

Describe multiple factors and explain how they can influence the perspectives of individuals and groups on events from history and the modern era.

Distinguish multiple causation, including immediate versus long-term cause-effect relationships; construct timelines of related events.

Demonstrate a mastery of geographic concepts and the use of geographic tools to understand the impact of geography on the past and present.

Answer geographic questions and conduct investigations by acquiring, organizing, and interpreting information about the modern world and historical events.

Use multiple mapping techniques, data visuals, satellite images, and geographic technology to analyze spatial patterns of physical and human characteristics, making connections between regions.

Explain how the environment affects cultural patterns and historical events, providing opportunities and challenges for human development.

Identify the principles of economic systems and develop an understanding of the benefits of a market system in local, national, and global settings.

Analyze, interpret, and compare economic data from multiple charts and graphs.

Identify different types of economic systems, comparing advantages and disadvantages for citizens and the growth of a nation’s economy.

Explain how technology and trade impact standard of living and economic interdependence, using historical or contemporary examples.

The student will engage in critical, active reading of primary and secondary sources related to social studies concepts.

Comprehend, evaluate, and synthesize textual sources to acquire and refine knowledge in the social studies.

Paraphrase the main idea and cite evidence from primary and secondary sources; provide an accurate summary of a source distinct from prior knowledge or opinion.

Integrate the use of visual information (e.g., maps, charts, photographs, videos, political cartoons, artwork) with textual information from primary and secondary sources to draw conclusions.

Apply critical reading and thinking skills to interpret, evaluate, and respond to a variety of complex texts and perspectives.

Analyze works written on the same topic and compare methods the authors use to achieve similar or different purposes.

Evaluate textual evidence to determine whether a claim is substantiated.

Engage in collaborative discussions about information presented in social studies texts, expressing ideas clearly while building on the ideas of others.

The student will develop a variety of evidence-based written products designed for multiple purposes.

Summarize and paraphrase, integrate evidence, and cite sources to create written products, research projects, and presentations for multiple purposes related to social studies content.

Compose informative essays and other written products using and citing evidence (e.g. facts, examples, details) from multiple sources and maintaining an organized structure.

Compose argumentative written products by introducing a claim, recognizing an opposing viewpoint, and organizing evidence and reasoning from credible sources.

Engage in authentic research to acquire, refine, and share knowledge through written presentations and products.

Refine and formulate viable research questions related to social studies investigations, using well- developed theses or claims.

Quote, paraphrase, and summarize findings, avoiding plagiarism.

Organize and create presentations or products using research from a variety of formats and encompassing different points of view.