2020 Colorado Academic Standards Online
Use the options below to create customized views of the 2020 Colorado Academic Standards. For all standards resources, see the Office of Standards and Instructional Support.
Current selections are shown below (maximum of five)
clear Content Area: Social Studies // Grade Level: Seventh Grade // Standard Category: All Standards Categories
Social Studies
Seventh Grade, Standard 1. History
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Prepared Graduates:
- 1. Understand the nature of historical knowledge as a process of inquiry that examines and analyzes how history is viewed, constructed, and interpreted.
Grade Level Expectation:
1. Use a variety of primary and secondary sources from multiple perspectives to formulate an appropriate thesis supported by evidence.
Evidence Outcomes:
Students Can:
- Utilize primary and secondary sources to explain the interdependence and uniqueness among peoples in the Eastern Hemisphere during significant eras or events; including their influence on modern society. For example: the Silk Road and cultural diffusion, and the Chinese inventions of gunpowder and compass.
- Examine primary and secondary sources to identify points of view while formulating historical claims and questions. For example: art, eyewitness accounts, letters and diaries, artifacts, historical sites, charts, graphs, diagrams, and written texts.
Academic Contexts and Connections:
Colorado Essential Skills:
- Make connections between information gathered and personal experiences to generate a thesis. (Entrepreneurial Skills: Critical Thinking/Problem Solving)
- Engage in novel approaches, ideas, and/or perspectives while using inquiry and primary and secondary sources. (Entrepreneurial Skills: Creativity/Innovation)
- Look for different historical perspectives expressed in primary and secondary sources. (Personal Skills: Adaptability/Flexibility)
Inquiry Questions:
- Why is continued questioning of historical events beneficial?
- How can various primary and secondary perspectives in history be beneficial in understanding past and current issues?
- Why is it advantageous to identify historical roots of change?
- How can an artifact be utilized to interpret history?
Nature and Skills of History:
- Historical thinkers construct history through the gathering and analysis of historical sources.
- Historical thinkers construct the story of the past by interpreting events from multiple points of view and various perspectives.
- Historical thinkers defend a supported position with appropriate resources.
Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:
- Determine the main idea(s) or relevant information of a primary or secondary source.
- Analyze multiple points of view to establish a comparative approach to interpretation.
- Utilize valid reasoning to develop a supported position on a historic matter.
- Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
- Evaluate the reliability, accuracy, relevance, and bias of online and print sources.
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Prepared Graduates:
- 2. Analyze historical time periods and patterns of continuity and change, through multiple perspectives, within and among cultures and societies.
Grade Level Expectation:
2. The historical context of significant current events, individuals, groups, ideas, and themes within regions of the Eastern Hemisphere and their relationships with one another.
Evidence Outcomes:
Students Can:
- Identify and explain the historical context of key people, regions, events, and ideas; including the roots of current issues. For example: Mansa Musa, the conflicts in the Middle East, the Black Death, and Confucianism.
- Investigate and evaluate the social, political, cultural and technological development of regions in the Eastern Hemisphere. For example: the river valley civilizations, Hammurabi’s Code, the Hellenistic period, and the printing press.
- Describe the interactions and contributions of various peoples and cultures that have lived in or migrated within/to the Eastern Hemisphere. For example: conflicts over land and resources between countries, the foundations of world religions, East/West contact, settlement patterns, and the historical roots of current issues.
Academic Contexts and Connections:
Colorado Essential Skills:
- Examine how individuals interpret messages differently, how values and points of view are included or excluded, and how media can influence beliefs and behaviors. (Professional Skills: Information Literacy)
Inquiry Questions:
- How does the rise or collapse of a government affect surrounding societies over time?
- How have ideas fundamentally changed various cultures in the Eastern Hemisphere?
- How has technology shaped the development of civilizations?
- What key ideas from ancient Eastern Hemisphere eras continue to demonstrate importance in modern times?
Nature and Skills of History:
- Historical thinkers analyze patterns and themes throughout time to understand current events.
- Historical thinkers construct history using a variety of sources.
- Historical thinkers consider multiple points of view to interpret history and outcomes.
- Historical thinkers use chronology to organize time.
- Historical thinkers examine data for contextual meaning and various interpretations.
Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:
- Utilizing textual evidence, analyze the development and changes of people, events and ideas.
- Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, and orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
Social Studies
Seventh Grade, Standard 2. Geography
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Prepared Graduates:
- 3. Apply geographic representations and perspectives to analyze human movement, spatial patterns, systems, and the connections and relationships among them.
Grade Level Expectation:
1. Use geographic tools and resources to research topics in the Eastern Hemisphere to make geographic inferences and predictions.
Evidence Outcomes:
Students Can:
- Use maps and geographic tools to find patterns in human systems and/or physical features.
- Collect, classify, and analyze data to make geographic inferences and predictions.
- Apply inquiry and research utilizing geographic tools. For example: GPS and satellite imagery.
- Interpret maps to make inferences and predictions.
Academic Contexts and Connections:
Colorado Essential Skills:
- Test hypotheses/prototype with planned process for getting feedback. (Entrepreneurial Skills: Inquiry/Analysis).
- Evaluate information through the use of spatial technologies. (Professional Skills: Use Information/Communication Technologies).
Inquiry Questions:
- How are different types of maps important in understanding various types of information?
- How could geographic data be used for both positive and negative results?
- What is the importance of using various geographic tools to analyze topics?
Nature and Skills of Geography:
- Spatial thinkers use geographic tools to discover and investigate geographic patterns.
- Spatial thinkers use knowledge about the environment to study its influence on individuals and groups.
Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:
- Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source.
- Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis reflection, and research.
- 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.
- Conduct an inquiry-based research project that applies critical-thinking skills (analysis, synthesis, evaluation, organization) to information and knowledge in order to construct new understandings, draw conclusions, and create new knowledge.
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Prepared Graduates:
- 4. Examine the characteristics of places and regions, and the changing nature among geographic and human interactions.
Grade Level Expectation:
2. Regional differences and perspectives in the Eastern Hemisphere impact human and environmental interactions.
Evidence Outcomes:
Students Can:
- Determine how physical and political features impact cultural diffusion and regional differences. For example: modern environmental issues, cultural patterns, trade barriers, and economic interdependence.
- Examine the geographic location and distribution of resources within a region to determine the economic and social impact on its people. For example: Middle Eastern water rights, the acceptance of refugees from other countries, and the Salt Trade.
Academic Contexts and Connections:
Colorado Essential Skills:
- Look for and find value in different perspectives expressed by others. (Personal Skills: Adaptability/Flexibility)
- Plan and evaluate complex solutions to global challenges using multiple disciplinary perspectives such as cultural, historical, and scientific. (Civic/Interpersonal Skills: Global/Cultural Awareness)
Inquiry Questions:
- How do geographers apply information from a variety of sources?
- How can a location be in different regions at the same time?
- How do regional issues affect larger areas?
- How do geographic characteristics impact regional issues?
Nature and Skills of Geography:
- Geographic thinkers study cultural groups in order to explain how they view a region and evaluate the use of resources in a region to predict and propose future uses.
- Geographic thinkers study the various definitions of regions.
Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:
- Analyze informational text(s) to better understand and evaluate the author's perspective and purpose.
- Evaluate the reasons and evidence that authors use to support their arguments and specific claims in informational text(s).
- Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
- Identify propaganda, censorship, and bias in texts and other forms of media.
Social Studies
Seventh Grade, Standard 3. Economics
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Prepared Graduates:
- 5. Understand the allocation of scarce resources in societies through analysis of individual choice, market interaction, and public policy.
Grade Level Expectation:
1. Describe how economic systems in the Eastern Hemisphere address the problem of scarcity.
Evidence Outcomes:
Students Can:
- Describe how different societies developed economic systems. For example: the barter system, traditional, command, market, and mixed.
- Evaluate the different economic systems in the Eastern Hemisphere, utilizing economic data. For example: economic growth, per capita income, and standard of living.
- Explain how trade affects the production of goods and services in different regions.
Academic Contexts and Connections:
Colorado Essential Skills:
- Innovate from failure, connect learning across domains, and recognize new opportunities. (Entrepreneurial Skills: Informed Risk Taking)
Inquiry Questions:
- How do different types of economic systems affect societies?
- How can economic systems be reflected using data?
- When goods and services are scarce what might happen to price? Why?
Nature and Skills of Economics:
- Economic thinkers study the relationship between local consumers and global producers.
- Economic thinkers investigate and inform government actions to reduce or solve social issues.
- Economic thinkers compare different economics systems to determine their impact on producers and consumers.
Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:
- 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).
- Read, view, and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning.
- Explain how a question represents key ideas of a discipline.
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Prepared Graduates:
- 6. Apply economic reasoning skills to make informed personal financial decisions (PFL).
Grade Level Expectation:
2. Investigate the role of consumers within the Eastern Hemisphere (PFL).
Evidence Outcomes:
Students Can:
- Define resources from an economic and personal finance perspective.
- Summarize how the distribution of resources impacts consumerism.
- Compare and contrast choices available to consumers within different cultures as they developed in the Eastern Hemisphere throughout history.
Academic Contexts and Connections:
Colorado Essential Skills:
- Demonstrate an understanding of cause and effect related to personal decisions. (Civic/Interpersonal Skills: Character)
- Identify and explain multiple perspectives (cultural and global) when exploring events, ideas, issues. (Civic/Interpersonal Skills: Global/Cultural Awareness)
Inquiry Questions:
- What are the similarities and differences between different markets in the Eastern Hemisphere?
Nature and Skills of Economics:
- Financially capable individuals understand that financial decisions have been impacted by the history, location, and distribution of resources of a place.
- Financially capable individuals study various factors that influence production such as resources, supply and demand, and price, which affect individual consumer choices over time.
- Financially capable individuals understand that the distribution of resources influences cultural growth and development over time and have impacted many of the different early civilizations around the world.
- Financially capable individuals understand that competition and wages are not just American concepts. These concepts have applied to individual financial decisions long before the birth of the nation.
- Financially capable individuals understand that populations within various cultures have made individual financial decisions differently throughout time and location.
Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:
- Explain how a question represents key ideas in the field.
- Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop.
- Explain points of agreement experts have about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a compelling question.
Social Studies
Seventh Grade, Standard 4. Civics
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Prepared Graduates:
- 7. Express an understanding of how civic participation affects policy by applying the rights and responsibilities of a citizen.
Grade Level Expectation:
1. Analyze the civic similarities and differences within governmental systems in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Evidence Outcomes:
Students Can:
- Describe civic virtues and principles that guide governments and societies. For example: citizenship, civic participation, and rule of law.
- Analyze the opportunities and limitations of civic participation in societies in the Eastern Hemisphere.
- Give examples illustrating the interactions between nations and their citizens. For example: Apartheid, human rights violations, and one-child policy of China.
- Identify public problems and research ways in which governments address those problems. For example: hunger, disease, poverty, and pollution.
Academic Contexts and Connections:
Colorado Essential Skills:
- Follow a process identified by others to help generate ideas, negotiate roles and responsibilities, and respect consensus in decision making. (Civic/Interpersonal Skills: Collaboration/Teamwork)
- Participate in social or community activities. (Civic/Interpersonal Skills: Civic Engagement)
Inquiry Questions:
- How do international laws and organizations help encourage ethical governmental practices?
- How do the aggressive actions of a nation influence other nations and international organizations?
- What factors lead to cooperation, competition, or aggression between societies?
- Why do governments form alliances and join international organizations?
Nature and Skills of Civics:
- Civic-minded individuals know the components of various systems of government.
- Civic-minded individuals develop criteria to apply standards of ethics and quality in evaluating the effectiveness of government.
- Civic-minded individuals understand the connections and complexities of interactions among nations.
Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:
- Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.
- Summarize the points an author/speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence.
- Conduct research by locating, gathering, organizing information and data, and evaluating online and print resources.
- Demonstrate positive social and ethical behaviors when using technology and discuss consequences of inappropriate use.
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Prepared Graduates:
- 8. Analyze the origins, structures, and functions of governments to evaluate the impact on citizens and the global society.
Grade Level Expectation:
2. Nations in various regions of the Eastern Hemisphere interact with international organizations, govern, organize, and impact their societies in different ways.
Evidence Outcomes:
Students Can:
- Explain the origins, functions, and structure of different governments. For example: dictatorship, totalitarianism, democracy, socialism, and communism.
- Evaluate and analyze how various governments and organizations interact, resolve their differences, and cooperate. For example: the African Union (AU), treaties, and diplomacy.
- Investigate examples of collaboration and interdependence between international organizations and countries. For example: the Red Cross, World Health Organization, and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Academic Contexts and Connections:
Colorado Essential Skills:
- Apply ethical perspectives/concepts to an ethical question/situation/scenario. (Civic/Interpersonal Skills: Character)
Inquiry Questions:
- What are fundamental human rights?
- How can governmental policy lead to problems or help solve problems?
- What is the purpose of government?
- How can governments encourage interaction between societies and international organizations?
Nature and Skills of Civics:
- Civic-minded individuals can interact, resolve their differences, and cooperate.
- Civic-minded individuals understand that governments have different functions.
Disciplinary, Information, and Media Literacy:
- Use technology for problem solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities.
- Use knowledge and research skills to engage in conversation and debate around issues of common concern.
- Present claims and findings, emphasizing main points in a focused manner with relevant descriptions, facts, details, and examples.
Need Help? Submit questions or requests for assistance to bruno_j@cde.state.co.us