SOCIAL STUDIES

NCHS Social Studies Pathway

WORLD HISTORY

Get ready to go global! Welcome to World History! This course begins at year 1200 history to examine how the world became what it is today. This course will challenge students to explore as historians practicing historical thinking skills. Students will continue to build upon the investigation and analyzing skills they developed as freshmen historians, so that they may construct their own arguments and support their claims with evidence using historical documents. In World History, we move beyond memorization and encourage students to think critically and to reason for themselves. History students will be challenged to consider different perspectives on our global society because we explore the world as a whole with many small parts. World History Modern topics include: Earliest Civilizations across the Global Tapestry, Major World Religions, Reformation and Revolutions, Imperialism and Colonialism, World Wars, & Globalization.

*Graduation Requirement
Grade 9-10
Credit 1

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT & CIVICS

This course focuses on the development of historical thinking skills (chronological reasoning, comparing and contextualizing, crafting historical arguments using historical evidence, and interpreting and synthesizing historical narrative) and the development of students’ abilities to think conceptually about U.S. history from approximately 1787-1940.

PREREQUISITE: World History
*Graduation Requirement
Grade 10 (Only if not previously taken)
Credit 1

US HISTORY

PREREQUISITE: World History & American Government & Civics
*Graduation Requirement
Grade 11
Credit 1

AP HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

This course is equivalent to an introductory college-level course in human geography. The course introduces students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine socio-economic organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their research and applications. College credit is earned with a qualifying score on an AP exam.

*This course may be taken as a one graduation requirement for social studies
Grade 9-12
2 weighted credits (1 Social Studies credit, 1 elective credit)

HISTORY 109

This course is an overview of the history from Reconstruction through current events; American and world affairs.

*This course may be taken as a one graduati requirement for social studies
*Course is taught by a NCHS teacher
Grade 11-12
1 weighted credit

AMERICAN POP: A JOURNEY THROUGH 20TH CENTURY POP CULTURE

This course explores the vast world of popular culture in the United States throughout the 20th century. This course delves into the evolution of American society, reflecting its values, struggles, triumphs, and transformations through the lens of popular culture.

PREREQUISITE: Grades 10-12.
Elective credit only
Credit 1

LAW & JUSTICE

Law and Justice is a study of law-civil, criminal, constitutional, and international; the legal and justice systems. Students will examine the need for rules and regulations; interpretations of the constitution, both state and federal; Supreme Court decisions; the Bill of Rights, and individual rights law, criminal law, family law, and consumer law. The study of the basic social contracts of society will enable students to understand the preferred democratic values: justice, equality, responsibility, freedom, rule of law, human rights, honesty, equity, rational process and human dignity.If this course is selected as one of the three credits for social studies needed for graduation, the standards used for the course would have to be supplemented to ensure that a student receives all of the essential high school social studies standards within the three credit requirements. Meaning, the district will need to ensure that students have the opportunity to access all of the standards found within the Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies. These credits must incorporate the inquiry practices of questioning, investigating, using evidence and communicating conclusions and the four social studies disciplines of civics, economics, geography and history and the standards therein.

PREREQUISITE: Grades 9-12.
Elective credit only
Credit 1

HISTORICAL & CULTURAL INFLUENCES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

The History and Literature of the Biblical Era: New Testament course focuses on the historical impact and literary style from texts of the New Testament era. Topics may include historical background and events of the period, the customs and cultures of the peoples and societies, and the influence of the texts on law, history, government, literature, art, music, customs, morals, values, culture and events, including recent and current events.This course could serve as a social studies elective for high school graduation, but not as one of the three required social studies courses to ensure students have access to all Kentucky Academic Standards for Social Studies.

PREREQUISITE: Grades 9-12.
Elective credit only
Credit 1

KENTUCKY STUDIES

The Kentucky Studies elective course brings together various elements of Kentucky Studies stressed in the earlier grades. The course focuses on the historical and cultural forces that have influenced the people and the institutions of the Commonwealth. The Kentucky Studies elective should give equal chronological coverage to Kentucky before and after the World Wars. It should stress the role of geography in the state's development and the importance of the regional variations across Kentucky.

PREREQUISITE: Grades 9-12.
Elective credit only
Credit 1