Social Studies
The Social Studies Program supports students in developing the attributes of the Empowered Citizen competency of Coventry Public School’s Portrait of the Graduate. Through the study of civics, all students engage in the study of civic processes, rules, and laws; examine civic and political institutions; and apply civic virtues and democratic principles. During their study of United States History, students explore people, events, and movements in United States History from the 1870s to the present with a focus on inquiry into the changes in society, economic development, and the emergence of the U.S. as a global power. An emphasis is placed on analyzing and evaluating a variety of documents, sources, and perspectives. In courses related to world history, students explore a variety of peoples, events, and movements in world history with a focus on inquiry-based learning. To achieve this focus, students are encouraged to explore cause/effect relationships within the context of history.
Courses
- AP European History
- AP Psychology
- AP United States History
- AP World History Modern
- Civics
- Contemporary Issues
- Foundations of World History
- Geography
- Sociology
- U.S. History
- World Understanding
- Youth and the Law
AP European History
Units
- Late Middle Ages
- Recovery and Rebirth
- Reformation
- Age of Exploration
- Nation States and Absolutism
- The Scientific Revolution
- The Enlightenment
- The French Revolution
- The Industrial Revolution
- Reaction, Revolution and Romanticism
- Naturalism and Realism
- The Age of Progress
- Modernity and Imperialism
- War and Revolution
- Between the Wars
- World War II
- The Cold War and the New Western World
- 1965-1985: Decades of Change
- The New Global Age
Late Middle Ages
- Students study the major events and innovations of the Late Middle Ages to determine if the events and ideas were responsible for lifting Western Europe out of the "Dark Ages" and to evaluate if the Renaissance was truly a "rebirth" of Classical culture.
- Students explore the balance of power and examine the power of the Catholic Church from its height during the High Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance through many crises of faith.
Recovery and Rebirth
- Students identify and explain ways in which European culture revisited the notions of logic, reason, and truth inherent during Classical Antiquity.
- Students analyze the Italian Renaissance artists and patrons to determine the purpose of the work and compare and contrast Northern Renaissance art work for their symbolism and difference in style.
Reformation
- Using primary and secondary sources, students analyze the various reformers and movements of the 16th Century that threatened the Catholic Church to determine the reason for dissension.
- Students evaluate the various reasons a widespread reform movement was not able to grow and be sustained until the 1500s.
Age of Exploration
- Students explain disparate evidence from primary sources and secondary works to determine the reasons for European exploration and colonization of the world and to create a series of maps that chronicle expansion by European nations.
- Students research the motives, directives and actions taken by various parties involved in exploration and expansion through the eyes of the conquerors and the conquered.
Nation States and Absolutism
- Students research the social, economic, and political crises that altered Europe during the first half of the 17th Century.
- Students examine the Thirty Years’ War to debate if the war was a significant turning point in European History.
- Students analyze the conflict between the English monarchy and Parliament to explain how the British arrive at a different solution than their European counterparts.
The Scientific Revolution
The Enlightenment
- Students examine the impact of the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers on the development of Modern Europe.
- Students apply concepts from history, culture, economics, and government to the understanding of individual rights and societal needs as expressed in the writings of selected Enlightenment thinkers by researching and portraying a thinker in a simulation of a Parisian salon.
- By comparing the relative successes of the "Enlightened monarchs" of the period, students demonstrate knowledge of how people create rules and laws to regulate the dynamic relationship between individual rights and societal needs.
The French Revolution
- Students identify the phases of the French Revolution and evaluate its significance in European History.
- Through the study of the radical phase of the revolution, students demonstrate knowledge of how people create rules and laws to regulate the relationship between individual rights and societal needs as well as demonstrate how the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship emerged over the course of the revolution.
The Industrial Revolution
- Students identify the factors that caused the progress of industrialization to differ from one European nation to the next.
- Students compare living and working conditions for men, women, and children before and after industrialization to describe the relationships among the individual, the groups, and the institutions in European society.
- Students explain the comparative successes of the trade union and the Chartist movements to demonstrate an understanding of how ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship emerged in response to industrialization.
Reaction, Revolution and Romanticism
- Students investigate the degree to which the rise of conservative ideology in Europe in the early 19th century was a response to the French Revolution.
- Students evaluate the impact of liberalism, nationalism, and early socialism as ideologies of change on the many uprisings that occurred.
- Students explore the complexity of relations among nations with respect to nationalism and analyze how the major ideas of Romanticism as a cultural movement were related to the political and social forces of the period.
Naturalism and Realism
The Age of Progress
Modernity and Imperialism
- Students explore the concept of Nationalism as it relates to the ideology of Social Darwinism, considering how it was reinterpreted by philosophers to justify colonialism.
- Students investigate the causes and justifications of Imperialism to determine common beliefs, actions, and policies among various European nations toward indigenous people.
War and Revolution
- Students study the causes of World War I in Europe and examine the role of nationalism, imperialism, and international rivalries between the powers.
- Students view events of the war through the lens of geographic knowledge, skills and concepts to explain human behavior in relation to the physical and cultural realities faced by the soldiers.
- Students study primary source documents to interpret how ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship emerged during the war.
Between the Wars
- Students apply knowledge of the structure of history to understand the events of the two decades leading to World War II.
- Students examine the causes and effects of the Great Depression in addition to the rise of Authoritarian/Fascist regimes in the states of Europe as contributors to the Second World War.
World War II
- Students analyze the historical roots of World War II and the adoption of the policy of appeasement.
- Students compare maps of World War I and World War II and explain how the nature of the fighting differed.
- Students study how the Holocaust reveals the relationships among the individual, the groups, and the institutions in German society in the 1930s and 1940s.
- Students learn how people organize systems from production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services during wartime.
The Cold War and the New Western World
- Students analyze the domestic politics of several European nations and demonstrate an understanding of culture and how different perspectives emerge from different cultures by identifying major social changes during the period.
- Students compare and contrast the political, social, and economic histories of Eastern and Western Europe, applying concepts from history, culture, economics, and government to the understanding of the relationships between individual rights and societal needs as well as describing how people organize systems for production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
1965-1985: Decades of Change
- Students analyze the relationship between East and West during the second half of the Cold War and research social, political, economic, and cultural development and trends to demonstrate an understanding of the role the media played for both the East and the West.
- Students examine primary and secondary sources to identify differences between life in an authoritarian society and life in the democratic West.
The New Global Age
AP Psychology
Units
- Scope, History, and Methodology
- Behaviorism
- Neuroscience
- Sensation and Perception
- Developmental Psychology
- Intelligence and Psychological Testing
- Consciousness, Memory, and Language
- Motivation and Emotions
- Personality
- Stress and Health
- Abnormal Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Learning
Scope, History, and Methodology
- Students study modern approaches to psychology including psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive, humanistic, evolutionary, and neuroscientific.
- They examine the nature of scientific inquiry and best research methods, including the importance of statistics and ethics in psychological research studies.
Behaviorism
Neuroscience
- Students learn about the biological bases of behavior.
- They explore topics related to neuronal and synaptic transmission and psychopharmacology, brain structure, function and development and aging; and the nervous and endocrine systems.
- Students explore the role of genetics and heritability in psychology.
Sensation and Perception
Developmental Psychology
Intelligence and Psychological Testing
Consciousness, Memory, and Language
- Students identify the characteristics of various states of consciousness such as waking, sleep and dreaming hypnosis, and altered states.
- They study memory and its accuracy and the components of information processing, storage, and retrieval.
- Students focus on cognition including the creation and storage of memories and language use.
Motivation and Emotions
- Students explore motivational concepts including instincts and drives. Students research the physiology of emotions-fear, anger, happiness, the theories of emotions, and the expression of emotions.
- Students study achievement and motivation and compare and contrast ideas related to intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivators.
Personality
Stress and Health
Abnormal Psychology
- Students identify the elements of the approaches to abnormality including historical approaches, the medical model, and the biopsychosocial model.
- Students compare and contrast the major categories of disorders and the treatment and ethics used in psychological practices including psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, behavioristic, humanistic, cognitive, group, and pharmacological.
Social Psychology
Learning
AP United States History
Units
- Native People and Exploration: 1491-1607
- The Europeans and North Americans: 1607-1754
- The American Republic Forms: 1754-1800
- Forging a National Identity: 1800-1848
- The Union in Crisis: 1844-1877
- America in the Gilded Age: 1865-1898
- The U.S. as a World Power: 1890-1945
- Cold War America: 1945-1980
- Modern America: 1980-Present
Native People and Exploration: 1491-1607
- Students examine how native populations developed a variety of social, political, and economic structures based on interactions with the environment and each other.
- Students explore how European settlers adapted to and transformed the environments in which they settled and analyze the impact of European expansion and empire-building on societies across the Atlantic.
The Europeans and North Americans: 1607-1754
- Students analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during the early colonial era.
- Students study the ways in which the English, French, and Spanish colonies developed differently.
- Students explore the extent to which mercantilism affected the political and economic development of England’s 13 American colonies.
The American Republic Forms: 1754-1800
- Students analyze the complex causes and effects of events in the past by identifying the consequences of the conclusion of the French and Indian War.
- Students integrate evidence from historical sources and interpretations in a reasoned argument about the extent to which the American Revolution fundamentally changed American society.
- Students examine whether the Constitution corrected problems created in the Articles of Confederation.
Forging a National Identity: 1800-1848
The Union in Crisis: 1844-1877
- Students compare and contrast the economic and cultural characteristics of the North and South in the pre-Civil War era.
- Students explore the reasons behind the Union victory in the Civil War and the ways in which the victory settled issues of slavery and secession but left unresolved questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights.
America in the Gilded Age: 1865-1898
The U.S. as a World Power: 1890-1945
Cold War America: 1945-1980
Modern America: 1980-Present
AP World History Modern
Units
- Global Tapestry and Networks of Exchange: 600-1450 C.E.
- Land Empires/TransOceanic Connections: 1450-1750
- Revolutions and Consequences of Industry: 1750-1900
- Conflict and Decolonization/Globalism
Global Tapestry and Networks of Exchange: 600-1450 C.E.
- In a unit focused on civilizations, students study the rise and spread of Islam, African civilizations, Eastern Europe and Byzantium and Orthodox Europe, and Western Europe.
- Students examine reunification and renaissance in Chinese civilization, the spread of Chinese civilization in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, and the Mongol Empire.
Land Empires/TransOceanic Connections: 1450-1750
Revolutions and Consequences of Industry: 1750-1900
Conflict and Decolonization/Globalism
- Students analyze continuity and change from the beginning of World War I to determine what events led to the war and what were the inevitable outcomes.
- Students study the global institutions that emerged charged with overseeing international politics, finance, and business. They analyze the impact globalization had on both developed and developing nations.
Civics
Units
- Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens
- Democratic Principles and the Rule of Law
- The Constitution and the Amendments
- State and Local Governments
- Transitions in Government
Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens
Democratic Principles and the Rule of Law
- Students analyze the impact and appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
- Students study how American democracy functions at the national level and identify the roles of the branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
The Constitution and the Amendments
State and Local Governments
Transitions in Government
Contemporary Issues
Units
- Ideologies: Understanding Liberal and Conservative
- Ideologies: Nationalism and Globalism
- Ideologies: Major Economic Systems
- Ideologies: Radicalism and Fundamentalism
- Civics and Politics: The Federal Level of Government
- Civics and Politics: State and Local Government
- Civics and Politics: Influence of Special Interest Groups and Political Action Committees
- Constitutional Controversies: Freedom of Speech
- Constitutional Controversies: The Gun Debate
- Constitutional Controversies: Privacy
- Constitutional Controversies: The Death Penalty
- International Conflicts
- Tolerance: Race
- Tolerance: Gender
- Tolerance: Sexuality
Ideologies: Understanding Liberal and Conservative
Ideologies: Nationalism and Globalism
Ideologies: Major Economic Systems
- Students learn the history behind the development of major economic ideologies. Beginning with the concept of mercantilism and considering the impact of the Industrial Revolutions, students identify and compare and contrast the characteristics and advantages and disadvantages of major economic systems.
Ideologies: Radicalism and Fundamentalism
- Students identify the characteristics of fundamentalism and radicalism, studying the impact on today’s society of both ideologies.
- Students identify a radical or fundamental contemporary movement for in-depth research and study and evaluate its impact on civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
Civics and Politics: The Federal Level of Government
Civics and Politics: State and Local Government
Civics and Politics: Influence of Special Interest Groups and Political Action Committees
- Students identify the characteristics and functions of SIGs and PACS, evaluating their influence on local and statewide politics.
- Students analyze politically motivated advertisements to determine the message of the advertisement, the target audience, the group sponsoring the advertisement, the purpose of the advertisement, and approximate expense of the advertisements.
Constitutional Controversies: Freedom of Speech
- Students study the First Amendment and its five clauses: speech, press, religion, petition, and assembly.
- Students conduct a sustained research project related to student speech in public schools, answering a question, narrowing or broadening the inquiry when appropriate, and synthesizing multiple sources on the subject.
Constitutional Controversies: The Gun Debate
Constitutional Controversies: Privacy
Constitutional Controversies: The Death Penalty
- Students review relevant information in the Fifth Amendment, the Eighth Amendment, the Tenth Amendment, and the Fourteenth Amendment to inform their evaluation of whether the death penalty is just and whether states should continue to use it. As part of this study, students evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes and related consequences.
International Conflicts
- Students study the cultural and historical origins of the conflict between Israel and Palestine and evaluate how those conflicts were exacerbated by Western influence.
- Students study the cultural origins of the conflict between India and Pakistan and the impact of this conflict on South Central Asia.
Tolerance: Race
Tolerance: Gender
Tolerance: Sexuality
Foundations of World History
Units
Early History-Evolution of Societies: 600 B.C.E.
- Students study the extent to which characteristics of the human population, such as size, location, shelter, and manner of accumulating food, change from the first appearance of the population to 600 B.C.E.
- Students study how natural environments in certain river valley civilizations influenced the development of technology, religious beliefs, and cultural achievements.
Classical Period: 600 B.C.E.-600 C.E.
Geography
Units
- Themes of Geography
- Land Use, Natural Resources and Urbanization
- Climate and Weather
- Vegetation and Biodiversity
- Population and Culture
- Regional Study: Africa
- Regional Study: Southwest Asia
- Regional Study: Latin America
Themes of Geography
Land Use, Natural Resources and Urbanization
Climate and Weather
- Students use spatial perspective to explain the physical processes that shape the Earth’s surface and its ecosystems.
- Using advanced technology, students select a continent and map all existing climates on the content, explaining why each climate exists and graphing weather information and statistics.
Vegetation and Biodiversity
Population and Culture
Regional Study: Africa
- Each student selects a country to study, researching the country’s population, culture, and customs and evaluating the impact of human activities on the environmental and cultural characteristics of the various places and regions.
- Students investigate problems faced by the countries they are researching and they engage in research and propose solutions to these problems.
Regional Study: Southwest Asia
Regional Study: Latin America
- Students explain how purposes served by the government have implications for the individual and society by comparing and contrasting various Latin American nations.
- Students identify the political and economic systems of Latin American nations and evaluate the extent to which the government is serving the citizens to determine if power is legitimate or exercise of power without authority.
Sociology
Units
- Fundamentals of Sociology
- Sociological Research
- Cultural Diversity
- Values and Change
- Socialization
- Social Institutions
- Adolescent in Society
Fundamentals of Sociology
- Students study the historical, economic, and social conditions that led to Sociology becoming a new social science.
- Students outline the origins and ideas of Functionalist, Conflict, and Interactionist perspectives.
- Students compare and contrast how different perspectives approach a variety of sociological problems.
Sociological Research
Cultural Diversity
Values and Change
Socialization
Social Institutions
- Students gather data on advertisements and analyze advertisement content for the concept, message, imperative/superlative statements, gender bias, etc to determine the target audience for the advertisement.
- Using the data, students write an argumentative essay addressing how advertising impacts family values in our society.
Adolescent in Society
U.S. History
Units
- Evolution of Democracy
- Westward Expansion
- Gilded Age and Progressivism
- Imperialism and World War I
- The 1920's
- The Great Depression and the New Deal
- World War II and the Birth of the Cold War
- The Revolutionary Sixties
- Cold War America
- Modern America
Evolution of Democracy
Westward Expansion
Gilded Age and Progressivism
- Students explore how various groups in American society responded to the second Industrial Revolution.
- To evaluate how effective the various progressive reform movements were in addressing the problems of the Gilded Age, students research a leading Progressive reformer acquiring significant and pertinent information about the strength and weaknesses of the individual and the individual’s impact on society.
Imperialism and World War I
- Students examine the impact of industrialization, imperialism, and isolationism on the foreign policy of the United States during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
- Students use the lenses of industrialism, imperialism, human rights, justice, and foreign policy goals to analyze and critique the role of the United States and other countries in World War I.
The 1920's
- Students analyze social, political, and economic issues of the 1920’s such as racism, nativism, consumerism, industrial growth, social and cultural roles, and the liberation of youth.
- Students explore the extent to which buying on margin, use of credit, speculation in the stock market, overproduction, and collapsing foreign markets led to the economic collapse and subsequent Great Depression.
The Great Depression and the New Deal
World War II and the Birth of the Cold War
- Students examine the rise of totalitarianism in Europe and explain the reluctance of the United State to enter the conflict.
- Students explore the social, political, economic, and geographic implications of the war on American society.
- Students analyze the results of World War II as they relate to the onset of the Cold War.
The Revolutionary Sixties
- Students examine various leaders of different Civil Rights groups and identify their goals, tactics, and successes and failures.
- Students identify the events, people, court cases, and political movements involved in the Civil Rights Movement and consider how to place today’s issues of injustice and inequality with this historical context.
Cold War America
- Using mapping skills, research techniques, and technology skills, students create a map highlighting Cold War hot spots including specific locations and events on all continents including the United States.
- Students analyze the successes and failures of the United States Cold War policy of containment as it developed during 1945-1975.
Modern America
- Students examine modern America and address the concept of American national identity and what it means to be an American today.
- Students argue whether the American Dream still exists based on economic data about employment, compensation, and household data broken down by race, gender, and education in the past 30 years.
World Understanding
Units
- Revolutions in Thought
- Industrialization and the Information Age
- Nationalism, Imperialism, and World War I
- The Russian Revolution and Totalitarianism
- World War II
- Decolonization
- The Cold War
- Conflict in the Middle East and Global Terrorism
- The End of the Cold War
Revolutions in Thought
- Students examine the economic, political, social, and cultural ideas and theories that develop in Europe during the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment.
- They explore concepts such as humanism, scientific theory, and the legitimacy of power as they relate to the values of the Enlightenment.
Industrialization and the Information Age
- Students evaluate the factors that allow Britain to become the early leader of industry including favorable geography, natural resources, a ready workforce, the government, and economic system.
- They analyze primary sources including photos, illustrations, interviews, and court documents to determine if standards of living were increased, decreased, or both.
- Students analyze the changes that occurred during industrialization and juxtaposed those revolutionary ideas with those of the Information Age.
Nationalism, Imperialism, and World War I
- Students analyze the ideas espoused by revolutionaries during the French Revolution for the purpose of applying those concepts to the development of Nationalism and the reaction of Conservatives throughout Europe.
- Students explore whether the justification of imperialism was valid.
- They evaluate the extent to which World War I was inevitable.
The Russian Revolution and Totalitarianism
- Students conduct research to create a timeline identifying significant events beginning in 1825 and culminating in 1922 with the establishment of the Soviet Union.
- Students analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past to develop a logical and conclusive argument defending whether the Revolution was more impacted by political or economic events.
World War II
Decolonization
- Students evaluate the strength of the European nations following World War II to determine their ability to continue hegemony over their colonies.
- Students analyze various regions/nations, their struggles for independence, the problem of independence, and the conflicts that ensued as a result of independence.
The Cold War
Conflict in the Middle East and Global Terrorism
- Beginning with the concept of Zionism, students trace the history to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent conflicts which have resulted in the Middle East as a result of the creation of Israel.
- Students evaluate the success of the peace process by analyzing various efforts made by external forces to broker treaties.
The End of the Cold War
- Students use geographic data to analyze the fall of the Soviet Union to determine the extent to which cultural and environmental characteristics caused or solved problems in former Soviet controlled regions.
- Students analyze political cartoons, current event articles, and videos to generate a list of questions to help them determine if the world is on the verge of another Cold War.
Youth and the Law
Units
- Introduction to Law and the Legal System
- Criminal Law
- Torts
- The Criminal Justice Process
- Family Law
- School Law
- Workplace Law
- Mock Trial
Introduction to Law and the Legal System
- Students examine the ideas of selected political theorists, gain knowledge of the critical perspective on the United States Constitution as it stood at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and investigate as well as evaluate the justness of the Constitution.
- Students will examine how the Constitution structures the government and the extent to which the amendment process makes the government more democratic.
Criminal Law
Torts
- Students identify torts and how litigation occurs in civil law.
- Students study civil cases, creating summaries, identifying the type of liability involved in each and the judgment rendered.
- They analyze the impact of the cases and the appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the application of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional, and human rights.
The Criminal Justice Process
Family Law
- Students explore the many aspects of law related to family, marriage, custody of children, and changing social values related to the family.
- Students examine changing responses to the question, “What is a family?”
- Students identify the obligations parents hold toward their children.
- Students will explain the benefits of understanding the basics of family law.
School Law
- Students learn the complexities involved in enforcing laws and protecting student rights in public schools. By reading and discussing recent school law cases, students study contemporary issues involving students such as freedom of speech, privacy, religion in schools, and school safety.
- Students engage in an interactive discussion with an expert on school law based on questions they generate.
Workplace Law
- Students incorporate critical vocabulary and key terms related to employment and workplace law into a case study about a person seeking, obtaining, and ending a job.
- Students demonstrate their understanding of a balance between the legal responsibilities of employers and the legal rights held by workers on the job.
- Students develop and use guidelines to evaluate the content, organization, design, use of citations, and presentation of these technologically enhanced projects.
Mock Trial
- Students apply their knowledge of law and trial procedures to a simulated case. Each student takes on a role such as a prosecutor, defendant, defense attorney, witness, or juror. During the trial preparation, students demonstrate communication skills to prepare written documents such as opening statements, police reports, and depositions.
- All students participate in the mock trial by listening, speaking, keeping notes of relevant information, gauging the credibility of the witnesses, and ultimately, evaluating the validity of the jury's verdict.