MSAD
#55
Social
Studies
Benchmarks/Performance
Indicators
Social
Studies Skills A-M
Grade
4
12-02-05
A. Students will understand the rights and responsibilities of civic life and will employ the skills of effective civic participation. Students will be able to:
1. Identify
important individual rights (e.g., freedom of religion, speech, ownership
of
property).
3. Identify
the functions of governments at school, locally, and at the state level.
q
a. Explain the function of the Maine
state government.
q
b. Explain
the function of our local government.
B. Students will understand the types and purposes of governments, their evolution, and their relationships with the governed. Students will be able to:
1. Describe
why we need governments (e.g., law and order, defense, roads, schools).
q
a. Identify the responsibilities of
government and how they impact society.
2. Describe
the basic structure of local and state governments.
q
a. Identify the members of local
government.
q
b. Identify the various branches of
state government.
Civics and Government - Fundamental Principles of Government and Constitutions
C. Students will understand the constitutional principles and the democratic foundations of the political institutions of the United States. Students will be able to:
1. Explain how the Constitution protects individual rights (e.g. Bill of Rights).
q
a. Recognize the Constitution and how
it protects individual rights.
q
b. Identify individual rights and
explain why they are important.
A. Students
will use the chronology of history and major eras to demonstrate the
relationships of events and people.
Students will be able to:
2. Place
in chronological order, significant events, groups, and people in the history
of Maine.
B. Students will develop historical knowledge of major events, people, and enduring themes in the United States, in Maine, and throughout world history. Students will be able to:
2. Demonstrate
an awareness of major events and people in United States and Maine history
(e.g., Who lives here and how did they get here? (immigrants, demographics, ethnic religious groups),
important people in United States and Maine history, different kinds of
communities in Maine, the United States, and selected world regions).
q
a. Identify individuals and explain
how they have historically influenced Maine.
A. Students will know how to construct and interpret maps and use globes and other geographic tools to locate and derive information about people, places, regions, and environments. Students will be able to:
1. Construct
and compare maps of Maine, the United States, and regions of the world to
interpret geographical feature and draw conclusions about physical patterns.
q
a. Identify geographical features on
maps of ME, the U.S., and other regions of the world.
q
b. Label a map of continents, oceans,
hemispheres, the Equator, and Prime Meridian.
q
c.
Define latitude and longitude.
B. Students will understand and analyze the relationships among people and their physical environment. Students will be able to:
1.
Demonstrate an understanding of why
certain areas of the world are more densely populated than others.
q
a. Identify areas with dense
population.
q
b. Identify the pros and cons of
living in an area that is densely populated.
2. Explain
ways in which communities reflect the backgrounds of their inhabitants.
q
a. Recognize that communities are made
up of individuals who have varied backgrounds (e.g., ethnic, economic)
q
b. Provide examples of the various
backgrounds in their own community.
q
c. Identify communities built up on
individuals from specific backgrounds.
3. Use
a variety of materials and geographic tools to explain how the physical
environment supports and constrains human activities (e.g., explain how the
founders of a settlement might have evaluated a site, in terms of its resources
and environmental characteristics, relative to their needs.
q
a. Explain how communities are built
around a resource or geographical region relative to their needs.
A. Students will understand that economic decisions are based on the availability of resources and the costs and benefits of choices. Students will be able to:
1. Describe
barter and money and how each is used in the exchange of resources, goods, and
services.
q
a. Identify and recognize that
bartering and money are used to obtain resources, goods, and services.
2. Identify
a situation in which a personal decision is made about the use of scarce
resources (e.g., deciding to use allowance to go to the movies instead of
buying a gift for a family member).
q
a. Recognize how scarce resources
influence a personal decision.
B. Students will understand the economic system of the United States, including its principles, development, and institutions, Students will be able to:
1. Identify
the three basic economic questions all economic systems must answer: What to produce? how? and for whom?
2. Explain
how the economy of Maine affects families and communities.
q
a. Identify major industries that
influence the economy of ME.
D. Students will understand the patterns and results of international trade. Students will be able to:
1. Describe,
with examples, how the exchange of goods and services helps to create economic
interdependence between people in different places and countries.