Online Social Science Classes
- World Geography A & B*
- World History A & B*
- United States History A & B*
- American Government & Politics*
- Economics*
*Honors versions available upon request and approval.
World Geography A & B
- Geography and World Cultures
- Prerequisites: None
- Length: Two semesters
- View Course Syllabus: View Course Syllabus
Geography and World Cultures offers a tightly focused and scaffolded curriculum that enables students to explore how geographic features, human relationships, political and social structures, economics, science and technology, and the arts have developed and influenced life in countries around the world. Along the way, students are given rigorous instruction on how to read maps, charts, and graphs, and how to create them.
Geography and World Cultures is built to state standards and informed by standards from the National Council for History Education, the National Center for History in the Schools, and the National Council for Social Studies.
Geography and World Cultures is designed as the first course in the social studies sequence. It develops note-taking skills, teaches the basic elements of analytic writing, and introduces students to the close examination of primary documents.
World History A & B
- World History, Culture and Geography
- Prerequisites: None
- Length: Two semesters
- View Course Syllabus: View Course Syllabus
In World History, Culture and Geography, students study the major turning points that shaped the modern world including the Enlightenment, industrialization, imperialism, nationalism, political revolutions, the world wars, the Cold War, decolonization, and globalization. By presenting content from multiple perspectives and through diverse primary and secondary source materials, this course provides students with a solid foundation in the history of the modern era and prepares students to be active and informed citizens of the world.
Through critical reading activities, feedback-rich instruction, and application-oriented assignments, students develop their capacity to conduct research, analyze sources, make arguments, and take informed action. In written assignments, students address critical questions about the history of the modern era. In discussion activities, students respond to diverse opinions, take positions, and defend their own claims. Formative and summative assessments provide students — and teachers — with ample opportunities to check in, review, and evaluate students’ progress in the course.
This course is built to state standards.
United States History A & B
- United States History and Geography
- Prerequisites: None
- Length: Two semesters
- View Course Syllabus: View Course Syllabus
United States History and Geography begins with the establishment of European colonies in North America and then traces the nation’s history from post-Civil War to the present. Students examine the beliefs and philosophies that informed the American Revolution and the subsequent formation of the government and political system, then evaluate the attempts to bind the nation together during Reconstruction while simultaneously exploring the growth of an industrial economy. Moving into the 20th and 21st centuries, students probe the economic and diplomatic interactions between the United States and other world players while investigating how the world wars, the Cold War, and the “information revolution” affected the lives of ordinary Americans. Woven through this chronological sequence is a strong focus on the changing conditions of women, African Americans, and other minority groups.
The course emphasizes the development of historical analysis skills such as comparing and contrasting, differentiating between facts and interpretations, considering multiple perspectives, and analyzing cause-and-effect relationships. These skills are applied to text interpretation and in written assignments that guide learners step-by-step through problem-solving activities.
This course is built to California’s standards for United States History and Geography.
American Government & Politics
- U.S. Government and Politics
- Prerequisites: U.S. History is recommended, but not required
- Length: One semester
- View Course Syllabus: View Course Syllabus
In U.S. Government and Politics, students examine the history, principles, and function of the political system established by the U.S. Constitution. Starting with a basic introduction to the role of government in society and the philosophies at the heart of American democracy, this course provides students with the knowledge needed to be informed and empowered participants in the U.S. political system.
Through critical reading activities, feedback-rich instruction, and application-oriented assignments, students develop their capacity to conduct research, analyze sources, make arguments, and take informed action. In written assignments, students address critical questions about U.S. politics and the role of individual Americans in the politics and political organizations. In discussion activities, students respond to political opinions, take a position, and defend their own claims. Formative and summative assessments provide students — and teachers — with ample opportunities to check in, review, and evaluate students’ progress in the course.
This course is built to state standards and informed by the College, Career, and Civil Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards and the National Standard for Civics and Government.
Economics
- Economics
- Prerequisites: U.S. Government and Politics is recommended, but not required
- Length: One semester
- View Course Syllabus: View Course Syllabus
Economics offers a tightly focused and scaffolded curriculum that provides an introduction to key economic principles. The course covers fundamental properties of economics, including an examination of markets from both historical and current perspectives; the basics of supply and demand; the theories of early economic philosophers such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo; theories of value; the concept of money and how it evolved; the role of banks, investment houses, and the Federal Reserve; Keynesian economics; the productivity, wages, investment, and growth involved in capitalism; unemployment, inflations, and the national debt; and a survey of markets in areas such as China, Europe, and the Middle East.
Economics is designed to fall in the fourth year of social studies instruction. Students perfect their analytic writing through a scaffolded series of analytic assignments and written lesson tests. They also apply basic mathematics to economic concepts. Students read selections from annotated primary documents and apply those readings to the course content.
This course is built to state standards and further informed by standards from the National Council for History Education, the National Center for History in the Schools, and the National Council for Social Studies.
