Summary of Skills

Unit 1: Revolution [SS]

Social Studies

• Analyze how the American Revolution affected other nations, especially France.
• Analyze the important geographic, political, economic, and social aspects of life in the region prior to the Revolutionary Period.
• Assess the impact of geography on the settlement and developing economy of the Carolina colony.
• Compare political, economic, religious, and social reasons for the establishment of the 13 English colonies.
• Describe how religion and virtue contributed to the growth of representative government in the American colonies.
• Describe the contributions of key personalities from the Revolutionary War era and assess their influence on the outcome of the war including Abigail Adams, John Adams, Wentworth Cheswell, Samuel Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, James Armistead, Benjamin Franklin, Bernardo de Gálvez, Crispus Attucks, King George III, Haym Salomon, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Paine, and George Washington.
• Describe the contributions of key personalities from the Revolutionary War era and assess their influence on the outcome of the war — including Abigail Adams, John Adams, Wentworth Cheswell, Samuel Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, James Armistead, Benjamin Franklin, Bernardo de Gálvez, Crispus Attucks, King George III, Haym Salomon, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis de Lafayette, Thomas Paine, and George Washington.
• Describe the factors that led to the founding and settlement of the American colonies including religious persecution, economic opportunity, adventure, and forced migration.
• Describe the impact of documents such as the Mecklenburg Resolves, the Halifax Resolves, the Albany Plan of Union, the Declaration of Independence, the State Constitution of 1776, the Articles of Confederation, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights on the formation of the state and national governments.
• Describe the relationship between the moral and political ideas of the Great Awakening and the development of revolutionary fervor.
• Describe the relationship between the moral and political ideas of the Great Awakening and the development of revolutionary fervor. Describe how religion and virtue contributed to the growth of representative government in the American colonies.
• Describe the roles and contributions of diverse groups, such as American Indians, African Americans, European immigrants, landed gentry, tradesmen, and small farmers to everyday life in various colonies.
• Evaluate the impact of the Columbian Exchange on the cultures of American Indians, Europeans, and Africans.
• Examine the reasons for the colonists' victory over the British, and evaluate the impact of military successes and failures, the role of foreign interventions, and ongoing political and economic domestic issues.
• Examine the role of an individual state or region in the Revolutionary War.
• Explain the issues surrounding important events of the American Revolution, including declaring independence; writing the Articles of Confederation; fighting the battles of Lexington, Concord, Saratoga, and Yorktown; enduring the winter at Valley Forge; and signing the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
• Identify and describe American Indians who inhabited various colonies and assess their impacts on those colonies.
• Identify geographic and political reasons for the creation of various colonies and evaluate the effects on the government and economics of the colony.
• Trace the causes and effects of the Revolutionary War, and assess the impact of major events, problems, and personalities during the Constitutional Period in individual states and the new nation.
• Trace the events leading up to the Revolutionary War and evaluate their relative significance in the onset of hostilities, including the Proclamation of 1763, the Intolerable Acts, the Stamp Act, mercantilism, lack of representation in Parliament, and British economic policies following the French and Indian War.
• Understand significant political and economic issues of the revolutionary era.
• Understand the causes of exploration and identify reasons for European exploration and colonization of North America.

Unit 1: Atoms [S]

Science

• Be able to describe the structure and parts of an atom and identify the properties of an atom including mass and electrical charge.
• Classify elements by their properties, including their melting temperature, density, hardness, and thermal and electrical conductivity.
• Classify matter as elements, compounds, or mixtures based on how the atoms are packed together in arrangements.
• Compare the physical properties of pure substances that are independent of the amount of matter present including density, melting point, boiling point, and solubility to properties that are dependent on the amount of matter present to include volume, mass and weight.
• Evaluate evidence that elements combine in a multitude of ways to produce compounds that account for all living and nonliving substances.
• Explain how the periodic table is a model for classifying elements and identifying the properties of elements.
• Identify the properties of an atom including mass and electrical charge.
• Know each element has a specific number of protons in the nucleus (the atomic number), and each isotope of the element has a different but specific number of neutrons in the nucleus.
• Know how to identify metals and nonmetals.
• Know how to use the periodic table to identify elements.
• Know that atoms of the same element are all alike but are different from the atoms of other elements.
• Know that in gases the atoms and molecules are free to move independently, colliding frequently.
• Know that in liquids the atoms and molecules are more loosely connected and can collide with and move past one another.
• Know that in solids the atoms are closely locked in position and can only vibrate.
• Know that the properties of the elements reflect the structure of atoms.
• Know that the states of matter (solid, liquid, gas) depend on molecular motion.
• Recognize that all matter is made up of atoms.
• Recognize the basis for the organization of the periodic table.
• Understand the organization of the periodic table based on the properties of the elements: identify regions corresponding to metals, nonmetals, and inert gases.
• Understand the structure, classifications, and physical properties of matter.

Unit 1: Abigail Adams [LA]

Language Arts

• Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general, academic, and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
• Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept.
• By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
• Differentiate between paraphrasing and plagiarism and identify the importance of using valid and reliable sources.
• Explain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.
• Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice.
• Form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood.
• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in verb voice and mood.
• Record bibliographic information (e.g., author, title, page number) for all notes and sources according to a standard format.
• Understand the idea of genre in literature, including adventure stories, historical fiction, mysteries, myths, science fiction, realistic fiction, allegories, parodies, satire, and graphic novels.
• Use subject-verb agreement and verb tense that are appropriate for the meaning of the sentence.
• Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the action; expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact).
• Utilize elements that demonstrate the reliability and validity of the sources used (e.g., publication date, coverage, language, point of view) and explain why one source is more useful and relevant than another.

Unit 2: Civics [SS]

Social Studies

• Analyze how the U.S. Constitution reflects the principles of limited government, republicanism, checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, and individual rights. Describe the principles of federalism, dual sovereignty, separation of powers, checks and balances, the nature and purpose of majority rule, and the ways in which the American idea of constitutionalism preserves individual rights.
• Analyze issues pursued through active citizen campaigns for change (e.g., voting rights and access to education, housing and employment).
• Analyze the arguments of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, including those of Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, James Madison, and George Mason.
• Analyze the issues of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, including the Great Compromise and the Three-Fifths Compromise, and analyze the arguments for and against ratification.
• Analyze the leadership qualities of elected and appointed leaders of the United States such as George Washington, John Marshall, and Abraham Lincoln.
• Define and give examples of unalienable rights; summarize rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights; explain the importance of personal responsibilities, including accepting responsibility for one's behavior and supporting one's family.
• Describe contemporary political, economic, and social issues at the state and local levels and evaluate their impact on the community.
• Describe opportunities for and benefits of civic participation.
• Describe the basic law-making process and how the Constitution provides numerous opportunities for citizens to participate in the political process and to monitor and influence government (e.g., function of elections, political parties, interest groups).
• Describe the impact of other significant Constitutional amendments such as the 18th and 21st amendments (Prohibition) and the 19th amendment affirming women's right to vote.
• Describe the nation's blend of civic republicanism, classical liberal principles, and English parliamentary traditions.
• Describe the political philosophy underpinning the Constitution as specified in the Federalist Papers (authored by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay) and the role of such leaders as Madison, George Washington, Roger Sherman, Gouverneur Morris, and James Wilson in the writing and ratification of the Constitution.
• Enumerate the powers of government set forth in the Constitution and the fundamental liberties ensured by the Bill of Rights.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches used to effect change in specific states and the United States (e.g., picketing, boycotts, sit-ins, voting, marches, holding elected office and lobbying).
• Evaluate the impact of selected landmark Supreme Court decisions, including Dred Scott v. Sandford, on life in the United States.
• Evaluate the major debates that occurred during the development of the Constitution and their ultimate resolutions in such areas as shared power among institutions, divided state-federal power, slavery, the rights of individuals and states (later addressed by the addition of the Bill of Rights), and the status of American Indian nations under the commerce clause.
• Explain the impact of human and civil rights issues throughout specific states and United States history.
• Explore examples of and opportunities for active citizenship, past and present, at the local and state levels.
• Identify colonial grievances listed in the Declaration of Independence and evaluate how successfully those grievances were addressed in the the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
• Identify different points of view of political parties and interest groups on important historical and contemporary issues.
• Identify examples of responsible citizenship, including obeying rules and laws, staying informed on public issues, voting, and serving on juries.
• Identify examples of responsible citizenship, including obeying rules and laws, staying informed on public issues, voting, and serving on juries; summarize the criteria and explain the process for becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States.
• Identify the influence of ideas from historic documents, including the Magna Carta, the English Bill of Rights, the Mayflower Compact, the Federalist Papers, and selected Anti-Federalist writings, on the U.S. system of government.
• Identify the origin of judicial review and analyze examples of congressional and presidential responses.
• Summarize the issues surrounding the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
• Summarize the issues, decisions, and significance of landmark Supreme Court cases, including Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden.
• Summarize the purposes for and process of amending the U.S. Constitution, and describe the impact of 19th-century amendments, including the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, on life in the United States.
• Summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation.
• Understand the dynamic nature of the powers of the national government and state governments in a federal system.
• Understand the functions and responsibilities of a free press.
• Understand the impact of landmark Supreme Court cases.
• Understand the importance of effective leadership in a constitutional republic.
• Understand the importance of the expression of different points of view in a constitutional republic.
• Understand the importance of voluntary individual participation in the democratic process.
• Understand the philosophical ideas represented in the nation's founding documents.
• Understand the process by which the U.S. Constitution can be and has, historically, been changed, and the impact of Constitutional changes on American society.
• Understand the rights and responsibilities of citizens of the United States.
• Understand the significance of Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom as a forerunner of the First Amendment and the origins, purpose, and differing views of the founding fathers on the issue of the separation of church and state.

Unit 2: Chemical Reactions [S]

Science

• Demonstrate that new substances can be made when two or more substances are chemically combined and compare the properties of the new substances to the original substances.
• Demonstrate that substances may react chemically to form new substances.
• Describe and measure quantities related to chemical/physical changes within a system: gas production and precipitates.
• Describe and measure quantities related to chemical/physical changes within a system: temperature, volume, and mass.
• Describe risks and benefits of chemicals including medicines, food preservatives, crop yield, and sanitation.
• Describe the suitability of materials for use in technological design: electrical conductivity, magnetism, and solubility.
• Identify substances based on characteristic physical properties such as density, chemical reactivity, and specific heat.
• Identify that physical and chemical properties influence the development and application of everyday materials such as cooking surfaces, insulation, adhesives, and plastics.
• Interpret information on the periodic table to understand that physical properties are used to group elements.
• Know chemical reactions usually liberate heat or absorb heat.
• Know how to determine whether a solution is acidic, basic, or neutral.
• Know that chemical and physical properties are related to chemical/physical changes within a system.
• Know that chemical reactions are processes in which atoms are rearranged into different combinations of molecules.
• Know that substances have physical and chemical properties.
• Know that the idea of atoms explains the conservation of matter: in chemical reactions the number of atoms stays the same no matter how they are arranged, so their total mass stays the same.
• Knows that substances have chemical and physical properties.
• Recognize that compounds made of the same elements will have the same characteristics regardless of location.
• Recognize the importance of formulas and equations to express what happens in a chemical reaction.
• Understand that both naturally occurring and synthetic substances are chemicals.
• Understand that chemical reactions are processes in which atoms are rearranged into different combinations of molecules.
• Understand that matter is composed of atoms.
• Understand that physical processes in which a material changes are not the result of a chemical reaction.

Unit 2: Animal Farm [LA]

Language Arts

• Analyze and evaluate themes and central ideas in literature and other texts in relation to personal and societal issues.
• Analyze how the central characters' qualities influence the theme of a fictional work and resolution of the central conflict.
• Apply the parts of speech to clarify language usage.
• Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• Continue to identify and edit errors in spoken and written English by using correct spelling of words appropriate in difficulty for eighth graders and refining mastery of an individualized list of commonly misspelled words.
• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing and demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English usage in everyday speech and more formal oral presentations.
• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
• Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
• Independently practice formal oral presentations.
• Produce final drafts/presentations that demonstrate accurate spelling and the correct use of punctuation, capitalization, and format.
• Recognize and/or create an organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
• Self correct errors in everyday speech.
• Use pronouns correctly, including clear antecedents and case.
• Write a letter that reflects an opinion, registers a complaint, or requests information in a business or friendly context.

Unit 3: The Antebellum West [SS]

Social Studies

• Analyze the reasons for the removal and resettlement of Cherokee Indians during the Jacksonian era, including the Indian Removal Act, Worcester v. Georgia, and the Trail of Tears. Compare and contrast different local and national perspectives on the national policy of Removal and Resettlement of American Indian populations.
• Analyze the relationship between the concept of Manifest Destiny and the westward growth of the nation.
• Describe and evaluate the geographic, economic, and social implications of the discovery of gold and other natural resources in various states and territories.
• Describe the country's physical landscapes, political divisions, and territorial expansion during the terms of the first four presidents.
• Describe the country's physical landscapes, political divisions, and territorial expansion during the terms of the first four presidents; describe major domestic problems faced by the leaders of the new republic such as maintaining national security, building a military, creating a stable economic system, setting up the court system, and defining the authority of the central government.
• Describe the purpose, challenges, and economic incentives associated with westward expansion, including the concept of Manifest Destiny (e.g., the Lewis and Clark expedition, accounts of the removal of American Indians, the Cherokees' "Trail of Tears," settlement of the Great Plains) and the territorial acquisitions that spanned numerous decades.
• Describe the purpose, challenges, and economic incentives associated with westward expansion, including the concept of Manifest Destiny (e.g., the Lewis and Clark expedition, accounts of the removal of Indians, the Cherokees' "Trail of Tears," settlement of the Great Plains) and the territorial acquisitions that spanned numerous decades.
• Describe the role of pioneer women and the new status that western women achieved (e.g., Laura Ingalls Wilder, Annie Bidwell; slave women gaining freedom in the West; Wyoming granting suffrage to women in 1869).
• Describe the Texas War for Independence and the Mexican-American War, including territorial settlements, the aftermath of the wars, and the effects the wars had on the lives of Americans, including Mexican Americans today.
• Discuss the election of Andrew Jackson as president in 1828, the importance of Jacksonian democracy and his actions as president (e.g., the spoils system, veto of the National Bank, policy of Indian removal, opposition to the Supreme Court).
• Examine the impact of national events such as the Louisiana Purchase, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the War with Mexico, the California Gold Rush, and technological advances.
• Examine the importance of the great rivers and the struggle over water rights.
• Explain how the Northwest Ordinance established principles and procedures for orderly expansion of the United States; evaluate the impact of reform and expansion in specific locations and nationwide during the first half of the 19th century.
• Explain the causes and effects of the U.S.-Mexican War and its impact on the United States.
• Explain the policy significance of famous speeches (e.g., Jefferson's 1801 Inaugural Address, John Q. Adams's Fourth of July 1821 Address).
• Explain the political, economic, and social roots of Manifest Destiny.
• Identify areas that were acquired to form the United States, including the Louisiana Purchase.
• Identify the foreign policies of presidents Washington through Monroe and explain the impact of Washington's Farewell Address and the Monroe Doctrine.
• Know the changing boundaries of the United States and describe the relationships the country had with its neighbors (currently Mexico and Canada) and Europe, including the influence of the Monroe Doctrine, and how those relationships influenced westward expansion and the Mexican-American War.
• Know the changing boundaries of the United States and describe the relationships the country had with its neighbors (currently Mexico and Canada) and Europe.
• Outline the major treaties with American Indian nations during the administrations of the first four presidents and the varying outcomes of those treaties.
• Understand the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders in the early years of the republic and the Age of Jackson and understand the aspirations and ideals of the people of the new nation.
• Understand westward expansion and its effects on the political, economic, and social development of the nation.

Unit 3: Energy and Matter [S]

Science

• Analyze heat flow through materials or across space from warm objects to cooler objects until both objects are at equilibrium.
• Analyze sound as an example of how vibrating materials generate waves that transfer energy.
• Conclude that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only changed from one form into another.
• Conclude that the amount of energy stays the same, although within the process some energy is always converted to heat.
• Determine how conduction and radiation transfer energy.
• Determine how conduction, convection, and radiation transfer energy.
• Evaluate data for qualitative and quantitative relationships associated with energy transfer and/or transformation.
• Explain how energy can be transformed from one form to another (specifically potential energy and kinetic energy) using a model or diagram of a moving object (roller coaster, pendulum, or cars on ramps as examples).
• Explain how kinetic and potential energy contribute to the mechanical energy of an object.
• Explain how simple machines such as inclined planes, pulleys, levers and wheel and axles are used to create mechanical advantage and increase efficiency.
• Explain the effects of electromagnetic waves on various materials to include absorption, scattering, and change in temperature.
• Explain the suitability of materials for use in technological design based on a response to heat (to include conduction, expansion, and contraction) and electrical energy (conductors and insulators).
• Identify energy transformations occurring during the production of energy for human use such as electrical energy to heat energy and heat energy to electrical energy.
• Illustrate examples of potential and kinetic energy in everyday life such as objects at rest, movement of geologic faults, and falling water.
• Illustrate the transfer of heat energy from warmer objects to cooler ones using examples of conduction and convection and the effects that may result.
• Illustrate the transfer of heat energy from warmer objects to cooler ones using the example of radiation and the effects that may result.
• Know how sound travels through different materials.
• Know that complex interactions occur between matter and energy.
• Know that sources of energy and materials differ in amounts, distribution, usefulness, and the time required for their formation.
• Recognize that energy can be transferred from one system to another when two objects push or pull on each other over a distance (work).
• Research and describe energy types from their source to their use and determine if the type is renewable, non-renewable, or inexhaustible.
• Research and describe energy types from their source to their use and determine if they are renewable, non-renewable, or sustainable.
• Some systems transform energy with less loss of heat than others.
• Understand the form and function of the human ear.

Unit 3: Einstein Adds a New Dimension [LA]

Language Arts

• Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
• Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to an understanding of the topic.
• By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
• Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
• Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
• Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6-8 texts and topics.
• Determine, locate, and explore the full range of relevant sources addressing a research question and systematically record the information gathered.
• Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.
• Differentiate between paraphrasing and plagiarism and identify the importance of using valid and reliable sources.
• Distinguish among facts, reasoned judgment based on research findings, and speculation in a text.
• Establish and maintain a formal style.
• Gather relevant information from a wide variety of print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source.
• Gather relevant information from a wide variety of print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
• Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
• Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories.
• Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
• Produce final drafts/presentations that demonstrate accurate spelling and the correct use of punctuation, capitalization, and format.
• Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.
• Quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
• Record bibliographic information (e.g., author, title, page number) for all notes and sources according to a standard format.
• Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
• Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain a topic.
• Utilize elements that demonstrate the reliability and validity of the sources used (e.g., publication date, coverage, language, point of view) and explain why one source is more useful and relevant than another.
• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

Unit 4: Antebellum America [SS]

Social Studies

• Analyze the divergent paths of the American people from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced, with emphasis on the Northeast.
• Analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the Northeast and the South from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced.
• Analyze the divergent paths of the American people in the South from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced.
• Analyze the rise of capitalism and the economic problems and conflicts that accompanied it (e.g., Jackson's opposition to the Bank of the United States; early decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court that reinforced the sanctity of contracts and a capitalist economic system of law).
• Describe the development of the agrarian economy in the South, identify the locations of the cotton-producing states, and discuss the significance of cotton and the cotton gin.
• Describe the development of the institution of slavery in specific states and nation, and assess its impact on the economic, social, and political conditions.
• Discuss the influence of industrialization and technological developments on the region, including human modification of the landscape and how physical geography shaped human actions (e.g., growth of cities, deforestation, farming, mineral extraction).
• Examine the women's suffrage movement (e.g., biographies, writings, and speeches of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Margaret Fuller, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony).
• Identify common themes in American art as well as transcendentalism and individualism (e.g., writings about and by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Louisa May Alcott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).
• List the reasons for the wave of immigration from Northern Europe to the United States and describe the growth in the number, size, and spatial arrangements of cities (e.g., Irish immigrants and the Great Irish Famine).
• Outline the physical obstacles to and the economic and political factors involved in building a network of roads, canals, and railroads (e.g., Henry Clay's American System).
• Study the lives of black Americans who gained freedom in the North and founded schools and churches to advance their rights and communities.
• Summarize arguments regarding protective tariffs, taxation, and the banking system.
• Trace the development of the American education system from its earliest roots, including the roles of religious and private schools and Horace Mann's campaign for free public education and its assimilating role in American culture.
• Trace the origins and development of slavery; its effects on black Americans and on the region's political, social, religious, economic, and cultural development; and identify the strategies that were tried to both overturn and preserve it.
• Understand the challenges confronted by the government and its leaders in the early years of the republic and the Age of Jackson, and understand the aspirations and ideals of the people of the new nation.

Unit 4: Biochemistry [S]

Science

• Describe factors that determine the effects a chemical has on a living organism including exposure, potency, and dose and the resultant concentration of chemical in the organism.
• Describe factors that determine the effects a chemical has on a living organism including: immune response, individual susceptibility, and possible treatments to eliminate or reduce effects.
• Describe risks and benefits of chemicals.
• Identify evidence that some substances may contribute to human health conditions including autoimmune disease.
• Identify feedback mechanisms that maintain equilibrium of systems such as body temperature (fever, hypothermia, homeostasis) and water pressure (plants: wilting; diffusion/osmosis).
• Know that carbon, because of its ability to combine in many ways with itself and other elements, has a central role in the chemistry of living organisms.
• Know that living organisms are made of molecules consisting largely of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur.
• Know that living organisms have many different kinds of molecules: inorganic molecules, e.g. water, salt, and others; and organic, macromolecules, e.g. carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and DNA.
• Understand that principles of chemistry underlie the functioning of biological systems.

Unit 4: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn [LA]

Language Arts

• Analyze how dialogue propels the action and reveals the personality of the characters.
• Analyze how differences in points of view of the characters and audience impact the story.
• Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script itself, evaluating choices made by the director and actors.
• Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
• Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• Compare and contrast persuasive texts that reached different conclusions about the same topic, analyzing the evidence presented.
• Conduct short research projects to answer a question about the type of writing examined and show knowledge of the different types of writing by examining and researching styles of writing and identifying their purpose and type.
• Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
• Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone.
• Establish and maintain a formal style.
• Evaluate the power of dialects in standard/nonstandard English usage.
• Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.
• Interpret figures of speech (e.g., verbal irony, puns) in context.
• Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories.
• Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the argument presented.
• Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text.
• Use narrative techniques such as dialogue and description to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
• Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and reflection to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.

Science

• Support claim with logical reasoning and relevant evidence, using accurate, credible sources and demonstrating an understanding of the topic or text. (LA)

Unit 5: Civil War [SS]

Social Studies

• Analyze Abraham Lincoln's ideas about liberty, equality, union, and government as contained in his first and second inaugural addresses and the Gettysburg Address and contrast them with the ideas contained in Jefferson Davis's inaugural address.
• Analyze the early and steady attempts to abolish slavery and to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
• Analyze the impact of slavery on different sections of the United States.
• Analyze the political, economic, and social character and lasting consequences of Reconstruction. Identify the reasons why Reconstruction came to an end.
• Analyze the significance of the Missouri Compromise (1820), the Compromise of 1850, Henry Clay's role in the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), the Dred Scott v. Sandford decision (1857), and the Lincoln-Douglas debates (1858).
• Analyze the social and economic impact of the war on specific locations and explain how the war affected combatants, civilians, the physical environment, and future warfare.
• Compare the effects of political, economic, and social factors on slaves and free blacks.
• Describe critical developments and events in the war, including the major battles, geographical advantages and obstacles, technological advances, and General Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
• Describe the lives of free blacks and the laws that limited their freedom and economic opportunities.
• Discuss Abraham Lincoln's presidency and his significant writings and speeches and their relationship to the Declaration of Independence, such as his "House Divided" speech (1858), Gettysburg Address (1863), Emancipation Proclamation (1863), and inaugural addresses (1861 and 1865).
• Discuss the abolition of slavery in early state constitutions.
• Discuss the importance of the slavery issue as raised by the annexation of Texas and California's admission to the union as a free state under the Compromise of 1850.
• Explain the causes of the Civil War, including sectionalism, states' rights, and slavery.
• Explain the economic, political, and social problems during Reconstruction and evaluate their impact on different groups.
• Explain the significant events of the Civil War, including the firing on Fort Sumter; the battles of Antietam, Gettysburg, and Vicksburg; the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation; Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House; and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
• Identify and analyze the significance of the causes of secession from the Union, and compare reactions in specific states to reactions in other regions of the nation. Compare the conflicting interpretations of state and federal authority as emphasized in the speeches and writings of statesmen such as Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun.
• Identify the constitutional issues posed by the doctrine of nullification and secession and the earliest origins of that doctrine.
• Identify the provisions and compare the effects of congressional conflicts and compromises prior to the Civil War, including the roles of John Quincy Adams, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster.
• Identify the push-pull factors in the movement of former slaves to the cities in the North and to the West and their differing experiences in those regions (e.g., the experiences of Buffalo Soldiers).
• Know the leaders of the movement (e.g., John Quincy Adams and his proposed constitutional amendment, John Brown and the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Benjamin Franklin, Theodore Weld, William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass).
• List the original aims of Reconstruction and describe its effects on the political and social structures of different regions. Evaluate legislative reform programs of the Radical Reconstruction Congress and reconstructed state governments.
• Study the views and lives of leaders (e.g., Ulysses S. Grant, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee) and soldiers on both sides of the war, including those of black soldiers and regiments. Explain the roles played by significant individuals during the Civil War, including Jefferson Davis, Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, and Abraham Lincoln, and heroes such as congressional Medal of Honor recipients William Carney and Philip Bazaar.
• Trace the boundaries constituting the North and the South, the geographical differences between the two regions, and the differences between agrarians and industrialists.
• Trace the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and describe the Klan's effects.
• Understand how political, economic, and social factors led to the growth of sectionalism and the Civil War.
• Understand individuals, issues, and events of the Civil War.
• Understand the effects of the Freedmen's Bureau and the restrictions placed on the rights and opportunities of freedmen, including racial segregation and "Jim Crow" laws.
• Understand the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and analyze their connection to Reconstruction.

Unit 5: Microbiology and Cell Theory [S]

Science

• All living organisms are composed of cells, from just one to many trillions, whose details usually are visible only through a microscope.
• Analyze data to determine trends or patterns to determine how an infectious disease may spread including carriers, vectors, and conditions conducive to disease.
• Analyze structures, functions, and processes within animal cells for specialized needs.
• Analyze structures, functions, and processes within animal cells for the capture and release of energy, feedback information, the disposal of wastes, reproduction, movement, and specialized needs.
• Calculate reproductive potential of bacteria.
• Compare and contrast microbes' size, shape, and structure.
• Compare the structures and life functions of single-celled organisms that carry out all of the basic functions of life including Euglena, Amoeba, Paramecium, and Volvox.
• Conclude that animal cells carry on complex chemical processes to balance the needs of the organism.
• Describe diseases caused by microscopic biological hazards including viruses, bacteria, parasites, contagions, and mutagens.
• Determine whether microbes are living cells.
• Evaluate the human attempt to reduce the risk of and treatments for microbial infections including solutions with anti-microbial properties, antibiotic treatment, and research.
• Evaluate the human attempt to reduce the risk of and treatments for microbial infections.
• Investigate aspects of biotechnology including specific genetic information available, careers, economic benefits, ethical issues, and the impact for agriculture.
• Know that as multicellular organisms develop their cells differentiate.
• Know that cells divide to increase their numbers through a process of mitosis, which results in two daughter cells with identical sets of chromosomes.
• Know that cells provide structure and carry on major functions to sustain life.
• Know that cells take in materials that the cell or an organism needs.
• Understand that cell function is similar in all living things.
• Understand that cells take in nutrients to make the energy for the work cells do.
• Understand that some organisms are single celled; other organisms, including humans, are multi-cellular.

Unit 5: Elijah of Buxton [LA]

Language Arts

• Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.
• Analyze the effects of elements such as plot, theme, characterization, style, mood, and tone.
• Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.
• Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
• Discuss how authors develop character in writing: character traits, physical appearance, character quotes, thoughts and actions of other characters toward the character.
• Discuss the effects of such literary devices as flashback, allusion, irony, and symbolism.
• Employ narrative and descriptive strategies that use relevant dialogue, specific action, physical description, background description, comparison or contrast of characters.
• Engage and orient the reader by establishing a context and point of view and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally and logically.
• In narrative writing, use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences in events.
• Interpret figures of speech (e.g. verbal irony, puns) in context.
• Provide a conclusion that follows from and reflects on the narrated experiences or events.
• Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence, signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another, and show the relationships among experiences and events.
• Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a words position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
• Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, and reflection, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
• Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.
• Use remembered feelings, select details that best illuminate the topic, and connect events to self/society.
• Write biographies, autobiographies, short stories, or narratives that relate a clear, coherent incident, event, or situation by using well-chosen details, reveal the significance of, or the writer's attitude about the subject.
• Write biographies, autobiographies, short stories, or narratives that relate a clear, coherent incident, event, or situation by using well-chosen details, reveal the significance of, or the writer's attitude about, the subject, and employ narrative and descriptive strategies.
• Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.