SOCIAL STUDIES PROGRAM – Mr. Scott Silver, Team Leader
The Social Studies program at Tappan Zee High School is designed to provide for the maximization of each student’s potential. The program is divided into broad course areas, each of which will follow the general New York State guidelines for the high school social studies sequence. This sequence will consist of World History and Geography 9 & 10, U.S. History & Government, and 12th grade semesters of Economics and Participation in Government. Within these broad course areas, the program will be as follows:
REGENTS PROGRAM: Designed to prepare students in the acquisition of the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the requirements of the New York State Regents College Preparatory Program. All students are expected to complete a term paper to demonstrate their writing skills. Students must pass Regents exams in World History and Geography (Grade 10) and U.S. History/Government (Grade 11) in order to graduate.
Grade 9 World History and Geography 9 Full Year, 1 credit
This course is the first year of a two-year sequence terminating with a Regents exam. It includes an overview of the following topics:
1) Early Civilizations
2) Classical Era (1000BCE – 600CE)
3) Post Classical Era (600 – 1450)
4) Early Modern Times (1450-1750)
Themes such as Turning Points, Geography, Economic Systems, Golden Age, Belief Systems, and Political Systems will be explored in the curriculum.
Advanced Studies in World History Full Year, 1 credit
The goal of this exploratory course is to introduce students to the rigorous curriculum they can expect to find in the Honors and AP courses at Tappan Zee High School. A major goal is for students to become independent thinkers and active learners, while developing the advanced skills of historical analysis and critical writing necessary for success in a challenging academic environment. While all ninth grade classes will cover the period of World History up to the Modern Age, in the honors course special attention will be paid to developing historical connections and an understanding of World History in its entirety.
One of the most important goals of the course is to provide students with reading skills and strategies that enable them to move beyond basic comprehension. Students will learn how to gather information to support conclusions as well as create them. A wide variety of resources will be utilized to meet this challenge including textbooks, primary sources, and secondary historical sources. In addition to critical and active reading, students will learn to construct cohesive and thoughtful historical arguments by focusing on comparative, document-based and change-over-time essays.
A key expectation of the course will be active student involvement on multiple levels. Study skills will focus on organization, test-preparation, and the formulation of questions to drive individual learning. Individual assignments will be vital to creating an academic environment in which every student is expected to participate in meaningful class discussions and group activities.
Grade 10 – World History and Geography 10 Full Year, 1 credit
This course is the second year of the two-year sequence begun in grade 9. It concludes with a Regents exam in World History and Geography. This course includes an overview of the following topics:
1) Enlightenment and Revolution (1750-1914)
2) Industrialism and a New Global Age (1750-1914)
3) World Wars and Revolutions (1914-Present)
4) The World Today (1914-Present)
Themes such as Turning Points, Economic Systems, Political Systems and Nationalism will be explored in the curriculum.
Grade 10 – World History and Geography 10H Full Year, 1 credit
This course is the second year of the two-year sequence begun in grade 9. It concludes with a Regents exam in World History and Geography. This course includes an overview of the following topics:
1) Enlightenment and Revolution (1750-1914)
2) Industrialism and a New Global Age (1750-1914)
3) World Wars and Revolutions (1914-Present)
4) The World Today (1914-Present)
Themes such as Turning Points, Economic Systems, Political Systems and Nationalism will be explored in the curriculum. The 10H course emphasizes examination and analysis of primary source documents, independent research, and a more in-depth look at the historical periods of study through writing across the curriculum.
Advanced Placement World History Full Year, 1 credit
The purpose of the AP World History course is to develop greater understanding of the evolution of global processes and contacts, in interaction with different types of human societies. This understanding is advanced through a combination of selective factual knowledge and appropriate analytical skills. The course highlights the nature of changes in international frameworks and their causes and consequences, as well as comparisons among major societies. The course emphasizes relevant factual knowledge deployed in conjunction with leading interpretive issues and types of historical evidence. Focused primarily on the past thousand years of the global experience, the course builds an understanding of cultural, institutional, and technological precedents that, along with geography, set the human stage prior to 1000 C.E. Periodization, explicitly discussed, forms the organizing principle for dealing with change and continuity from that point to the present. Specific themes provide further organization to the course, along with the consistent attention to contacts among societies that form the core of world history as a field of study. Students are expected to take the AP World History examination in May for possible college credit.
Grade 11 – United States History and Government R Full Year, 1 credit
The United States History and Government course is a survey of the American experience with emphasis on the Constitution, Industrial Revolution, and the 20th Century. This course culminates in the New York State Regents Exam in June. Class sessions will consist of lecture, discussion, supervised individual research, and cooperative learning activities done in groups. Current events are a major focus of both the research work and the Regents exam. Consequently, you are strongly encouraged to increase your attention to television news and newspapers.
Grade 11 – United States History and Government H Full Year, 1 credit
The United States History and Government Honors course is a survey of the American experience with emphasis on the Constitution, Industrial Revolution, and the 20th Century. This course culminates in the New York State Regents Exam in June. Class sessions will consist of lecture, discussion, supervised individual research, and cooperative learning activities done in groups. Current events are a major focus of both the research work and the Regents exam. Consequently, you are strongly encouraged to increase your attention to television news and newspapers. The 11H course emphasizes examination and analysis of primary source documents, independent research, and a more in-depth look at the historical periods of study through writing across the curriculum.
Advanced Placement U.S. History/Government (11,12) Full Year, 1 credit
This course, which emphasizes the analytical skill of the social scientist, examines major interpretations of American History. For example, the students seek to determine whether the New Deal was evolutionary or revolutionary. The course prepares the pupil for the College Entrance Examination Board final; a satisfactory grade on this test could enable the student to earn credit, from 3 to 6 points, at one of the more than 1,000 participating universities in our nation. Students must be willing to complete extensive college-level reading.
Advanced Placement Psychology (12) Full Year, 1 credit
This course introduces students to the systemic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major sub fields within psychology, and they also learn about the methods psychologists use in their science and practice. The aim of this course is to provide the student with a learning experience equivalent to that obtained in most college introductory psychology courses. Topics covered include the following: biological bases of behavior; sensation and perception; states of consciousness; learning; cognition, motivation and emotion; developmental psychology; personality; testing and individual differences; abnormal psychology; treatment of psychological disorders; and social psychology. Each student is expected to take the AP Psychology exam in May.
Class participation = 20% of the student’s grade.
Economics (Required – 12th Grade) One Semester, 1/2 credit
This is an introductory course in economic theory. Basic economic problems such as scarcity, choice, supply and demand, and utility are initially presented in order to relate theory to American capitalism. In particular, the dynamics of the market, personal finance, the factors of production (land, labor, and capital), and banking are explored in detail. The student will then employ this basic knowledge to study specific American economic problems such as: inflation, unemployment, energy, pollution and conservation, taxation and the national debt.
Advanced Placement Economics Cycled, 1/2 credit
Co-requisite: Enrollment in Issues in American Society
The purpose of an AP course in Economics is to give students a thorough understanding of the principles of economics that apply to the functions of individual decision makers, both consumers and producers, within the larger economic system. It places primary emphasis on the nature and functions of product markets, and includes the study of factor markets and of the role of government in promoting greater efficiency and equity in the economy. The part II questions on the exams require students to apply mathematical concepts to economic theory and so a strong background in math is needed in order for students to successfully complete this class. Students are expected to take the AP Microeconomics exam in May for possible college credit.
The Participation in Government requirement can be met by any of the following courses:
Participation in Government III – Senior Seminar
Law and Literature
Issues in American Society
Participation in Government III (12) One Semester, 1/2 credit
Senior Seminar
This course is an alternative method of satisfying the graduation requirements of the Regents Action Plan and is offered in conjunction with English 12R (Senior Seminar). Working with a member of the community or their teacher, students will develop projects to explore a career opportunity and/or personal interest. In addition, students will be required to give presentations, keep a journal and produce a research paper reflecting their program experiences.
Criminal Justice (11, 12 only) One Semester, 1/2 credit
Criminal Justice is social studies elective for 12th grade students. This course is designed to enable students to develop concepts and attitudes which will give them a better understanding of our criminal justice system. This course integrates many social studies disciplines such as history, political science, sociology, psychology, and economics. It is also designed to give students an awareness of career possibilities in the criminal justice field. Police officers, attorneys, and other practitioners in the field bring their expertise to the classroom. In addition, field trips, case studies, audio-visual material, simulations, debates and reports are employed in the course. Concepts and theories are taught, but classroom meetings emphasize the
practical, applicable and day-to-day experiences of persons in the criminal justice field. Current criminal justice news stories and issues are also emphasized in the course. Class participation = 25% of the student’s grade. This course can be taken for college credit through St. Thomas Aquinas College.
Law and Literature One Semester, 1/2 credit
This course is designed to help the student understand the government process as it relates primarily to the legal system. The course will be offered for 1/2 credit for English and 1/2 credit for Social Studies. Students in the course will explore legal issues through a variety of methods. For example: plays, novels, short stories, mock trials, Supreme Court cases and controversial issues will all be examined. The course will last one year. Students involved in the program also are accepting responsibility to help run the Student Court and participate in the State-wide Mock Trial competition. A Social Studies and an English teacher will teach this course jointly. Students who successfully complete the course will receive 1/2 credit for English and 1/2 credit for Social Studies. Students must register for this course under both Social Studies and English.
Issues in American Society (12) One Semester, 1/2 credit
This course will investigate major political, social and economic issues. Students will be expected to research current topics of concern to American society using a variety of sources, including newspapers, magazines, journals, television, and the Internet, and present their findings in written and oral form, both individually and as part of a panel discussion. A major part of the grade for this course will depend on daily preparation and participation in class activities and discussions. The topics to be considered each semester will be selected jointly by the students and the instructor.
Senior Colloquium: Mastering the College-level Research Paper One Semester, 1/2 credit
This course provides basic training in research and presentational skills, as well as familiarizing students with the problems encountered in using and interpreting source material of various kinds. Students will be introduced to the range of bibliographical, archival and other research resources available. They will also receive training in methods of gathering, processing and presenting historical data, to aid them in writing and presentations research papers. Students will learn that writing history is about making decisions. As historians they will choose from a broad range of subjects, selecting those they think are most important. They will choose source materials carefully, assessing evidence that may support or contradict their arguments. And they will choose ways to write, balancing respect for their subjects with the needs of their audience. This course is open to juniors and seniors only.
History through Film (12 only) One Semester, 1/2 credit
This class will broaden student’s ability to think critically about popular movies – or to do what scholars call “reading” films. This class will be an exercise in media literacy. This class is not designed to teach just Global Studies or American history using film. Instead, our goal is to get students to think critically and analytically about history and about films through an analysis of Hollywood movies. While we will not focus directly on the history of Hollywood, we will examine the Hollywood production process and its history as a way to inform ourselves about the movies we examine. Student evaluations will include tests, quizzes, reading and writing assignments.
Introduction to Psychology (11,12) One Semester ,1/2 credit
Students will draw upon their knowledge of history and the social sciences to analyze, synthesize and apply the principles of psychology. Students will have the opportunity to pursue independent research interests and learn to use the methods that psychologists employ to test and evaluate their hypotheses. This course will focus on the importance of authentic assessment while still addressing the challenging academic nature inherent in the field of psychology.
Advanced Placement European History(12) Full Year, 1 credit
This course will provide seniors with an opportunity to examine European History in greater depth, while working on skills that are critical for success at the college level. By examining European history in greater detail, while specifically focusing on 1450 to the present, students will gain a greater contextual background contributing to their understanding of contemporary issues. The importance of European History during the modern era cannot be discounted when understanding key ideas, whether specific to the history of the Western World, or the European influence on the developing nations of our world today. Additionally, the AP format will continue to encourage students to sharpen their writing skills as they prepare for college