Colorado Academic Standards Online

Colorado Essential Skills:

1. Apply knowledge, skills, and habits gained from experiences to address issues, affect change, and/or solve problems (Civic Engagement).
2. Use interpersonal skills to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships to learn from and work with individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds in order to understand or impact a policy. (Interpersonal Communication).
3. Analyze how, why and for what purpose media messages are constructed, and the reliability of those messages, in order to support a stance on an issue (Media Literacy).
4. Collaborate with individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds and/or cultures to address national and global issues, and to develop workable solutions (Global and Cultural Awareness).

Inquiry Questions:

1. What are possible forms of civic participation in a democratic republic?
2. How can people act individually and collectively to hold elected officials accountable?
3. What strategies can people use most effectively to influence public policy? For example: Running for public office, lobbying, civil disobedience, and peaceful protests.
4. How do people remain civil and engage in discourse when there is dissonance?
5. Why should you participate in government?
6. What kinds of participation would be most effective on the policy issues you care about the most?
7. Why have or do some groups find it necessary to organize (i.e., unions, boycotts, peaceful protests, or strikes, as a means of civic participation)?
8. What barriers exist to civic participation? Who is most impacted by these barriers? What is the best way to challenge these barriers?

Nature and Skills of Civics:

1. Civic-minded individuals research civic issues and act appropriately using a variety of sources from multiple perspectives and communicating views in a reasonable manner.
2. Civic-minded individuals communicate with stakeholders using logical reasoning with relevant, accurate data and evidence to influence policy.
3. Civic-minded individuals can verbally express their position on issues involving their community and/or nation in meaningful and thoughtful ways. For example: Community members speak at a school board, or city council meetings, or running for office.
4. Civic-minded individuals can listen to multiple perspectives as part of civil discourse.
5. Civic-minded individuals can work effectively individually, and in groups, to influence public policy and the actions of government.

Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:

1. Decision-making involves researching an issue, listening to multiple perspectives, and weighing potential consequences of alternative actions. For example: Citizens research the issues before voting which may include using the Bluebook in Colorado.
2. Participation in a local, state, tribal, or national issue involves research, planning, and implementing appropriate civic engagement.
3. Social media can be a tool for researching civic issues, advocating for ideas, and expressing views to elected officials.
4. Conduct research by gathering, organizing, and evaluating the credibility and bias of information from a variety of online, print, and non-print sources.
5. Seek information from varied sources and perspectives to develop informed opinions and creative solutions.
6. Demonstrate the ability to locate, evaluate, and apply reliable evidence.
7. Demonstrate the ability to responsibly use a variety of media sources as a tool for civic participation. For example: Social media, print media, broadcast media.
8. Critically analyze messages in the media to detect propaganda, censorship, and bias.
9. Demonstrate responsible behaviors when using technology and discuss consequences of inappropriate use.

Colorado Essential Skills:

1. Apply knowledge of governmental origins and structures to solve problems by gathering information and weighing possible solutions, including making choices rooted in understanding patterns, cause-and-effect relationships, and the impacts that a decision can have on the individual and others (Critical Thinking and Analysis).
2. Interpret information and draw conclusions about the origins of the structures of America’s governmental institutions (Civic Engagement).
3. Apply knowledge of government to develop workable solutions that address complex local, state, tribal, national, and global problems using interdisciplinary perspectives (Civic Engagement).

Inquiry Questions:

1. What are the most important democratic ideals and practices?
2. What are the natural rights and principles that Dr. Martin Luther King used to inform his leadership of The Civil Rights Movement?
3. How do various levels of government interact?
4. What would society look like if several landmark court cases had been decided differently?
5. How can U.S. and Colorado laws and policies best protect individual rights, and the rights of diverse or historically underrepresented groups? For example: African Americans, Latinos, Indigenous peoples, Asian Americans, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, LGBTQ, and religious minorities?
6. How has American federalism evolved and changed over time?
7. How has the concept of American democracy developed throughout history and how could it continue to develop in relationship to current events?
8. How have domestic and foreign policies impacted American Democracy?
9. Why should people in the U.S. be informed of issues related to foreign governments?
10. Who are the elected officials who impact your life and how?
11. What are the rights and responsibilities of people in the United States?
12. How do the structures of the United States, state, and local governments impact democratic decision making?
13. What is the impact of lifetime judicial appointments?
14. What is the role of the Electoral College in electing the U.S. President?
15. How does the Electoral College impact different demographic groups and geographic areas?
16. How did the Three-Fifths Clause impact the development of American democracy?
17. How is education policy made in the United States, Colorado, and in your local community?
18. Why has the U.S. government’s response to genocide and other acts of mass violence varied so widely?
19. What foreign policy tools does the U.S. government have to respond to mass spread violence and genocides around the world? What factors influence how the U.S. government responds?
20. What is the role of failed states and authoritarian regimes in genocide and other acts of mass violence?

Nature and Skills of Civics:

1. Civic-minded individuals know the facts and subject matter of the United States Citizenship test, the test that all foreign nationals must pass before becoming a U.S. citizen.
2. Civic-minded individuals understand the concept of “rule of law” and its role in policies and practices of the government.
3. Civic-minded individuals know the political theories that contributed to the foundation and development of the structures of government and their meaning today.
4. Civic-minded individuals understand how the U.S. system of government functions at the local, state, tribal, and federal level in respect to separation of powers and checks and balances and their impact on policy.
5. Civic-minded individuals understand the effectiveness of government institutions and the limits on government in addressing social and political problems.
6. Civic-minded individuals gather and analyze data from multiple sources to look for patterns and create hypotheses regarding national and foreign policy.
7. Civic-minded individuals understand the importance of the founding documents of the United States. Including but not limited to: the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Federalist Papers.

Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:

1. Ask meaningful questions to analyze and evaluate information and ideas.
2. Determine central ideas in a text to provide an accurate summary and connect the relationship between key details and ideas.
3. Seek information from varied sources and perspectives to develop informed opinions and creative solutions.
4. Use media literacy skills to locate multiple reliable sources of information regarding the foundations, structures, and functions of government.
5. Write content-specific arguments that state a claim, provide evidence from texts and sources to support the claim, and organize the evidence in well-reasoned, meaningful ways.
6. Synthesize information from multiple sources to demonstrate understanding of a topic.
7. Delineate a speaker’s argument, identify specific claims, and distinguish if claims are supported by reasons and evidence.

Colorado Essential Skills:

1. Analyze the reliability of information, claims, and sources presented in the various forms of media and from a variety of perspectives (Media Literacy).
2. Apply knowledge and skills gained from experiences to address issues and affect change (Civic Engagement).
3. Access and evaluate information through digital platforms and networks (Digital Literacy).

Inquiry Questions:

1. What are the different ways people can impact public policy at various levels as individuals or through groups?
2. What are the civic duties and responsibilities of citizens and non-citizens in the United States? Including but not limited to: jury duty, voting, and registration for selective service.
3. How have voting rights evolved over time?
4. What current issues surround voting rights at the local, state, and national level?
5. What are interest groups and how do they influence policy?
6. How have elections changed over time?
7. How have political parties responded to societal and policy changes over time?
8. How has the participation of different demographic groups changed over time in the U.S. and how has this influenced American politics and the system of government?
9. How do primaries and caucuses impact political parties in the United States?
10. How does the winner-take-all system help to maintain a two-party system?
11. What role does gerrymandering play in the political process?
12. How can people responsibly engage with local elected officials about issues that impact their communities?
13. What role have court decisions played in determining the political process in the United States? For example: Voting rights, campaign finance, gerrymandering, etc.
14. How have the courts interpreted and modified civil rights and civil liberties over time?

Nature and Skills of Civics:

1. Civic-minded individuals use appropriate deliberative processes in multiple settings, such as caucuses, civic organizations, or advocating for change at the local, state, tribal, national, or international levels.
2. Civic-minded individuals analyze the impact and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
3. Civic-minded individuals evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international levels.
4. Civic-minded individuals evaluate social and political systems, in different contexts, times, and places, that promote civic virtues and enact democratic principles.
5. Civic-minded individuals analyze how people can use civic organizations, and social networks, including media to challenge local, state, tribal, national, and international laws that address a variety of public issues.
6. Civic-minded individuals analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
7. Civic-minded individuals evaluate multiple procedures for making and influencing governmental decisions at the local, state, tribal, national, and international levels in terms of the civic purposes achieved.
8. Civic-minded individuals can work effectively, both individually and in groups, to influence public policy and the actions of government.

Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:

1. Identify the strategies that are used by political and civic entities to impact public opinion. For example: Interest groups, lobbying, political party platforms, social media networks, etc.
2. Identify how political issues are covered by the media, and how the media can influence public policy.
3. Identify ways in which various types of media can be evaluated for authenticity, validity, and reliability.
4. Evaluate the use of social media and crowdsourcing in political movements and campaigns.
5. Analyze content-specific texts to distinguish the factual evidence offered, reasoned judgments made, conclusions drawn, and speculative ideas offered in the text.
6. Synthesize information from multiple reliable sources to demonstrate understanding of a topic.
7. Present arguments or information in a logical sequence with a clear claim, supportive evidence, and effective presence that builds credibility.

Colorado Essential Skills:

1. Interpret geographic information and draw conclusions based on geo-spatial reasonings (Critical Thinking and Analysis).
2. Apply results of analysis to make a tangible and useful contribution to diverse communities (Civic Engagement).

Inquiry Questions:

1. What is the significance of spatial orientation, place, and location?
2. How have the tools of a geographer changed over time?
3. What can various types of data tell us about a place?
4. How can geographers support an argument with evidence?
5. Why is the concept of “where” important in the study of geography?

Nature and Skills of Geography:

1. Geographic thinkers understand how geographic reasoning brings societies and nature under the lens of spatial analysis, and aids in personal and societal decision making and problem solving.
2. Geographic thinkers gather, display, and analyze geographic information using geographic tools.
3. Geographic thinkers use absolute and relative location, mental maps, and spatial orientation in studying geographic questions.
4. Geographic thinkers predict how human activities will help shape Earth’s surface and ways that people might cooperate and compete for use of Earth’s resources.

Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:

1. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats.
2. Determine what a text states, make inferences, and cite specific textual evidence.
3. Formulate appropriate research questions.
4. Conduct research by gathering, organizing, and evaluating the credibility and bias of information from a variety of online, print, and non-print sources.
5. Analyze privacy policies in relation to the use of various websites as geographic tools. For example: Cookies, data, and location tracking.
6. Integrate accessibility principles to effectively communicate and meet the needs of one’s audience.
7. Understand how laws and rules apply to digital content and information.

Colorado Essential Skills:

1. Apply geographic knowledge and skills to implement sophisticated, appropriate, and workable ideas to address complex geographic interactions among multiple diverse groups using interdisciplinary perspectives independently or with others (Global and Cultural Awareness).
2. Interpret geographic variables and draw conclusions based on geo-spatial analysis (Critical Thinking and Analysis).
3. Design data/information collection and analysis strategies to facilitate geographic inquiry (Critical Thinking and Analysis, Creativity and Innovation).

Inquiry Questions:

1. How might the physical geography of Earth change in the future?
2. How might people and societies respond to changes in the physical environment?
3. What are the maximum limits of human activity the environment can withstand without deterioration?
4. What are push and pull factors that impact migration?

Nature and Skills of Geography:

1. Geographic thinkers study how the physical environment is modified by human activities, including how human societies value and use natural resources.
2. Geographic thinkers evaluate major areas of environmental and societal interaction.
3. Geographic thinkers understand that individual actions affect the local environment and global community such as the impact of recycling and consumption of resources.
4. Geographic thinkers understand how technology can support invention and influence how humans modify the environment in both positive and negative ways. For example: The renovation of existing buildings to “green” technologies, the prevention and prediction of natural hazards and disasters, and the use of satellite imagery to track water availability in the Middle East.

Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:

1. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats.
2. Determine what text states, make inferences, and cite specific textual evidence.
3. Read for a specific purpose. For example: Detect cause-and-effect relationships, compare and contrast information, identify fact and opinion, and author bias.
4. Process and effectively communicate and present information orally, in writing, and through development of websites, multimedia presentations, and other forms of technology.

Colorado Essential Skills:

1. Apply knowledge and skills to implement sophisticated, appropriate, and workable solutions to address complex global problems using interdisciplinary perspectives independently or with others (Global and Cultural Awareness).
2. Apply a fundamental understanding of the ethical/legal issues in the interconnected nature of the world for effective civic participation (Social Awareness, Civic Engagement).
3. Interpret geographic information and draw conclusions based on geo-spatial analysis (Critical Thinking and Analysis).
4. Develop and apply knowledge, skills, and habits gained from experiences to address issues, affect change, and/or solve problems (Civic Engagement).

Inquiry Questions:

1. What is the role of people in the world?
2. How does globalization influence the interactions of people on Earth?
3. How do cooperation and conflict influence the division and control of the social, economic, and political spaces on Earth?
4. What does it mean to support human rights?
5. What predictions can be made about human migration patterns?
6. How do technologies influence both positive and negative social change and modern movements as a result of the increasing speed and global reach of social networking?

Nature and Skills of Geography:

1. Geographic thinkers evaluate global systems such as culture, diffusion, interdependence, migration, population pyramids, regional alliances, development of competition and trade, and the impact of population changes on society.
2. Geographic thinkers study the interconnection between physical processes and human activities that help shape the Earth’s surface.
3. Geographic thinkers analyze how people’s lives and identities are rooted in time and place.
4. Geographic thinkers understand that the world is geographically interconnected, affecting daily life in such ways as the spread of disease, global impact of modern technology, and the impact of cultural diffusion.
5. Geographic thinkers understand that the responsible use of technology creates new life choices, new interconnections between people, new opportunities, and unintended consequences.
6. Geographic thinkers make predictions and apply knowledge to evaluate economic systems, political systems, and social systems by measuring the desirability of each society and/or country based on human migration patterns.

Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:

1. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats.
2. Determine what text states, make inferences, and cite specific textual evidence.
3. Evaluate the hypotheses, data, analysis, and conclusions in a science or technical text, verifying the data when possible and corroborating or challenging conclusions with other sources of information.
4. Synthesize information from a range of sources such as texts, experiments, and simulations into a coherent understanding of a process, phenomenon, or concept, resolving conflicting information, when possible.
5. Analyze the reliability of information, claims, and sources presented in the various forms of media.

Colorado Essential Skills:

1. Articulate thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written, and nonverbal communication skills in a variety of forms and contexts, including multilingual (Interpersonal Communication).
2. Interpret, analyze, and draw conclusions using historical sources (Critical Thinking and Analysis).
3. Synthesize ideas in original and innovative ways (Creativity and Innovation).

Inquiry Questions:

1. How does the point of view of a historian affect how history is interpreted?
2. Do historians come to agreement on the historical significance of events? If so, how?
3. How does studying a variety of perspectives allow us to construct a more complete record of the past?
4. Why are historical questions important?
5. How do historical thinkers use primary and secondary sources to formulate historical arguments?
6. How might historical inquiry be used to better understand and make decisions about contemporary issues?

Nature and Skills of History:

1. Historical thinkers use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.
2. Historical thinkers evaluate historical sources for audience, purpose, point of view, context, and authenticity.
3. Historical thinkers use primary and secondary sources to evaluate and develop hypotheses and diverse interpretations of historical events and figures and patterns and trends.
4. Historical thinkers evaluate the credibility of a source by examining how experts value the source.
5. Historical thinkers use information and context to interpret, evaluate, and inform decisions or policies regarding such issues which societies find contentious or worthy of debate and discussion.
6. Historical thinkers consider what perspectives or information is left out of an argument and why that might be important to know.
7. Historical thinkers understand that societal values change over time; therefore, a period of time under study should not be judged using present day values.

Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:

1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of a text as a whole.
2. Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
3. Analyze in detail how a complex primary and/or secondary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.
4. Evaluate historians' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence.
5. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
6. Individually and with others, students construct compelling questions, and explain points of agreement and disagreement about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a compelling question.
7. Explain how compelling questions contribute to an inquiry and how, through engaging source work, new compelling and supporting questions emerge.
8. Interpret, analyze, and detect bias in historical sources.
9. Write content-specific arguments in which they state a claim, provide evidence from texts and sources to support the claim, and organize the evidence in well-reasoned, meaningful ways.
10. Integrate multimedia as effective tools for presenting and clarifying information.

Colorado Essential Skills:

1. Make predictions and design data/information collection and analysis strategies to test historical hypotheses (Critical Thinking and Analysis, Data Literacy).
2. Apply knowledge and skills to implement sophisticated, appropriate, and workable solutions to address complex national problems using interdisciplinary perspectives independently or with others (Global and Cultural Awareness, Creativity and Innovation).

Inquiry Questions:

1. How does society decide what is important in United States history?
2. What ideas have united and divided the American people over time?
3. How does the consideration of multiple perspectives enable us to better understand change over time?
4. How have efforts to expand rights overcome barriers over the course of United States history?
5. Why is it important to understand the positive contributions made by the United States of America in advancing human freedom and prosperity?
6. How has the United States’ response to human rights abuses at home and abroad differed over time?
7. Why is it important to understand the contribution of the United States to the defeat of fascism and totalitarianism in World War II and the contribution made to the rebuilding of Europe through the Marshall Plan?
8. Why is it important to understand the contribution of the United States of America to the defense of democratic governments during the Cold War?

Nature and Skills of History:

1. Historical thinkers understand that the ability to negotiate the complex relationships among change, diversity, and unity throughout United States history, is an essential attribute for success in a more interconnected world.
2. Historical thinkers understand that the ability to negotiate the complex interrelationship among political, social, and cultural institutions throughout United States history, is essential to participation in the economic life of a free society and our civic institutions.
3. Historical thinkers analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
4. Historical thinkers analyze how historical events and spatial diffusion of ideas, technology, and cultural practices have influenced historical events.
5. Historical thinkers analyze The Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968, the natural rights and principles that the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King used to inform his leadership of The Civil Rights Movement, and the tactics and strategies of non-violence resistance he championed in response to the Jim Crow laws of that era.
6. Historical thinkers understand the founding principles upon which Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech were founded, specifically, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:

1. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
2. Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
3. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes.
4. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
5. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
6. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.
7. Collaborate with peers, experts, and others using contemporary media to contribute to a content related knowledge base to compile, synthesize, produce, and disseminate information.
8. Engage in civil discourse on historical topics using evidence as a basis for argument formation.

Colorado Essential Skills:

1. Make predictions and design data/information collection and analysis strategies to test historical hypotheses (Critical Thinking and Analysis, Data Literacy).
2. Apply knowledge and skills to implement sophisticated, appropriate, and workable solutions to address complex global problems using interdisciplinary perspectives independently or with others (Global and Cultural Awareness, Creativity and Innovation).

Inquiry Questions:

1. How have different cultures influenced world history?
2. How do historians work from/with cultural assumptions to decide what is important in world history?
3. What ideas transcend cultural, political, economic, and social differences in world history?
4. How does cultural, political, economic, and social diversity affect perceptions of change over time?
5. How are human rights violated and prosecuted in a world of different nations and cultures?
6. What role has censorship, propaganda, and media control played in modern genocides and other acts of mass violence?
7. How did Indigenous Peoples respond to and experience colonization?

Nature and Skills of History:

1. Historical thinkers understand that the ability to negotiate the complex relationships among change, diversity, and unity throughout world history is an essential attribute for success in a more interconnected world.
2. Historical thinkers understand that the ability to analyze the significance of interactions among eras, ideas, individuals, and groups is an essential skill in an increasingly globalizing world.
3. Historical thinkers analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
4. Historical thinkers analyze how historical events and spatial diffusion of ideas, technology, and cultural practices have influenced migration patterns and the distribution of human population.

Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:

1. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.
2. Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
3. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/experiments, or technical processes.
4. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for reflection and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
5. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
6. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.
7. Collaborate with peers, experts, and others using contemporary media to contribute to a content related knowledge base to compile, synthesize, produce, and disseminate information.
8. Engage in civil discourse on historical topics using evidence as a basis for argument formation.