Download Sixth Grade Concepts

Sixth Grade Social Studies Concepts
The Reformation
1. Martin Luther’s argument for a distinction between Faith and Reason
initiated the cry for freedom of faith that impacted all of Europe.
2. The rise of nationalism and the decline of feudalism, the invention of the
printing press, and the ability to transmit new knowledge to the far corners
of the globe each impacted religious leaders during the Reformation and
resulted in the rise of protestant churches.
3. Catholic attempts to right corruptions in practices of faith led to a period
of time known as the Counter-Reformation.
4. During the English Reformation, the English crown broke away from the
Catholic Church in an argument about Catholic jurisdiction and created
the Anglican Church.
Exploration and the First Americans
1. In the first half of the 1500s, Cortés and Pizzaro conquered the Aztec and
Inca empires, encouraging other explorers to search for other empires in
the Americas.
2. Between 1519 and 1522, Magellan’s expedition sailed around the world,
proving that Columbus did not land in Asia.
3. England, France, and the Netherlands sent explorers to find a northwest
passage through the Americas.
4. Agriculture, scientific, and cultural achievements in Mesoamerica were
detrimentally impacted by contact with European explorers.
Establishing Thirteen Colonies
1. As a result of new ideas about freedom and government, the 1700s are
known as the Age of Enlightenment.
2. England’s political revolution began in the 1600s when the Crown and
Parliament disagreed over issues of divine right and religion.
3. In 1776, disagreements between the American colonies and Great Britain
led to the Declaration of Independence, which defended the right to selfgovernment.
4. The United States adopted a new constitution based on the principles of
popular sovereignty and limited government.
History Day
1. Students are able to choose a topic under the theme picked each year by
the National History Day program and create a project which represents
the historical impact made by their topic.
2. Student choice is encouraged as students decide in what manner to present
their research: long paper, exhibit board, performance, documentary, or
website.
The New Nation
1. The Industrial Revolution spread from Great Britain to other countries,
where inventors developed even more new ideas such as electricity and
the internal combustion engine.
2. The Industrial Revolution increased the size of the middle class and
created a new industrial working class, many of whom suffered poor
living conditions in industrial cities.
3. Manifest Destiny was the driving force behind the expansion of the United
States and the spread of democracy.
4. By 1867, the United States had tripled its size by acquiring the Louisiana
Territory, Florida, the Oregon Territory, and Alaska.
War, Terrible War
1. The northern states were industrialized, had most of the nation’s factories,
railroads, and canals, promoted education, and were culturally diverse.
Leaders in the North believed that enslavement should not be allowed in
new areas of the country.
2. The southern states highly depended on agriculture, especially King
Cotton and tobacco, and relied on the use of slave labor on large
plantations. Southern leaders believed that the rights of the states ewre
more important than those of the federal government and that as the
country grew, enslavement should be allowed in new areas.
3. After Lincoln’s election in 1860, Southerners feared he would he would
try to do away with enslavement and destroy their way of life. This
resulted in South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia,
Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee
deciding to secede from the Union and started the American Civil War.
4. At the onset of war, Abraham Lincoln declared that preserving the Union
was his main goal in fighting. As the war continued, the goal was shifted
from preserving the Union to ending slavery.
Reconstruction
1. The Reconstruction was a period of unprecedented political conflict and
far-reaching changes in the federal government
2. Two questions haunted the attempt to reunify the states: What terms
be implemented to reunite the Confederates with the Union? What role
would former slaves play in the political life of the South?
3. The 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution guaranteed blacks civil
Rights and black men the right to vote.
4. Hopes of economic autonomy for black southerners were crushed by
Johnson’s Pardon of 1865 and the establishment of Black Codes.
5. Some of the after effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction included:
emancipation of the slaves, a ruined southern economy, the rise of the Ku
Klux Klan, Jim Crow Laws designed to deny blacks civil rights, increased
animosity between the North and South, and the election of large numbers
of Civil War heroes between the years of 1868-1885.
Skills
1. Students will be able to use a variety of resources to obtain, evaluate, and
present historical data.
2. Students will understand the differences between primary and secondary
sources and collect and utilize both in research endeavors.
3. Students will be able to understand, create, and utilize maps and map
symbols in each unit of study.
4. Students will be able to analyze information and strengthen note-taking
skills in the course of the year.
Fifth Grade Social Studies Concepts
River Valley Civilizations
1. The characteristics of a civilization are: trade, specialized skills and occupations,
complex religions, organized government, and the use of written records.
2. Sumer was the first known civilization in the world.
3. Major contributions of the Mesopotamian civilizations include writing, the wheel,
the plow, the sailboat, and a number system based on 60.
4. Egyptian civilization began in the Nile River valley over 5,000 years ago.
5. Egyptian contributions to later civilizations included the use of geometry,
surveying, and papyrus.
6. The eastern river valley civilizations began in the Indus River valley about 2500
B.C. and in the Huang Ho valley about 2000 B.C.
7. The Harappans are believed to have been the first people to produce cotton cloth,
bake brick in ovens, build sanitation systems, and create planned communities.
The Greeks
1. The development of ancient Aegean civilizations greatly influenced the
establishment of Greek city-based republics.
2. The Peloponnesian War weakened the Greek city-states, leading to the conquest
of Greece by Philip II of Macedonia.
3. During the “Golden Age,” the Greeks made many contributions in thinking,
athletics, and the arts.
4. Socrates, in his search for truth, developed a form of questioning known as the
Socratic Method, while Plato, one of Socrates’ pupils, wrote the first book on
political science.
The Romans
1. The Roman system of government included three elements: monarchy, in which
two consuls were present; the oligarchies, which relates to the senate; and
democracy, which was best illustrated by the ability of the plebs to vote.
2. The organization of Roman lands into large estates, called latifundias, coupled
with the economic issues facing the Republic, led to its eventual downfall.
3. The Roman Empire declined and the course of civilization was changed due to the
rise of Christianity, invasions by Germanic tribes, decline of the birth rate,
insurmountable issues related to slavery, inflation, and the lack of a formal rule
for inheriting the throne.
New Empires
1. After the fall of Rome, the Roman Empire in the East became known as
theByzantine Empire.
2. The development of a system of law known as the Justinian Code and the
breakdown of relations between the Pope and the Patriarch were two major
events in the Byzantine Empire.
3. The Islamic faith was founded by an Arab merchant named Muhammad, who
later came to be known as the prophet of Allah.
4. The Quran describes five pillars of faith in Islam as: the confession of faith,
prayer five times a day, the practice of charity, or zakah, fasting must occur
each year during the daylight hours of Ramadan, and a pilgrimage, or hajj, to
Makkah must be undertaken once in life.
Middle Ages
1. The feudal system organized medieval society politically, socially, and
economically.
2. Under feudalism, landowning nobles gave vassals land in exchange for loyalty
and military service; peasants included freemen (those who could leave the
land if they wished) and serfs (essentially the property of the nobles).
3. The Church and its teachings were the primary focus at all levels of society.
4. Increased wealth led many members of the clergy to grow careless about their
religious duties, sparking a spirit of reform.
The Renaissance
1. The importance of the individual, scientific inquiry based on observation and
experimentation, interest in Greek and Roman thought, and new approaches to
the fine arts and literature contributed to the explosion of ideas in the
Renaissance.
2. Leading figures in the Italian Renaissance included rulers such as the Medicis
of Florence and artists like Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci.
3. An interest in religious reform and trading contracts with Italy helped bring
the Renaissance to Germany and Flanders.
Skills
1. Students will be able to use a variety of resources to obtain, evaluate, and present
historical data.
2. Students will be able to understand, create, and utilize maps and map symbols in
each unit of study.
3. Students will learn to analyze written information and create meaningful notes.