Alaska Content Standards K-12

A student should be able to make and use maps, globes, and graphs to gather, analyze, and report spatial (geographic) information.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. use maps and globes to locate places and regions;
2. make maps, globes, and graphs;
3. understand how and why maps are changing documents;
4. use graphic tools and technologies to depict and interpret the world’s human and physical systems;
5. evaluate the importance of the locations of human and physical features in interpreting geographic patterns; and
6. use spatial (geographic) tools and technologies to analyze and develop explanations and solutions to geographic problems.

A student should be able to utilize, analyze, and explain information about the human and physical features of places and regions.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. know that places have distinctive geographic characteristics;
2. analyze how places are formed, identified, named, and characterized;
3. relate how people create similarities and differences among places;
4. discuss how and why groups and individuals identify with places;
5. describe and demonstrate how places and regions serve as cultural symbols, such as the Statue of Liberty;
6. make informed decisions about where to live, work, travel, and seek opportunities;
7. understand that region is a distinct area defined by one or more cultural or physical features; and
8. compare, contrast, and predict how places and regions change with time.

A student should understand the dynamic and interactive natural forces that shape the earth’s environments.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. analyze the operation of the earth’s physical systems, including ecosystems, climate systems, erosion systems, the water cycle, and tectonics;
2. distinguish the functions, forces, and dynamics of the physical processes that cause variations in natural regions; and
3. recognize the concepts used in studying environments and recognize the diversity and productivity of different regional environments.

A student should understand and be able to interpret spatial (geographic) characteristics of human systems, including migration, movement, interactions of cultures, economic activities, settlement patterns, and political units in the state, nation, and world.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. know that the need for people to exchange goods, services, and ideas creates population centers, cultural interaction, and transportation and communication links;
2. explain how and why human networks, including networks for communications and for transportation of people and goods, are linked globally;
3. interpret population characteristics and distributions;
4. analyze how changes in technology, transportation, and communication impact social, cultural, economic, and political activity; and
5. analyze how conflict and cooperation shape social, economic, and political use of space.

A student should understand and be able to evaluate how humans and physical environments interact.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. understand how resources have been developed and used;
2. recognize and assess local, regional, and global patterns of resource use;
3. understand the varying capacities of physical systems, such as watersheds, to support human activity;
4. determine the influence of human perceptions on resource utilization and the environment;
5. analyze the consequences of human modification of the environment and evaluate the changing landscape; and
6. evaluate the impact of physical hazards on human systems.

A student should be able to use geography to understand the world by interpreting the past, knowing the present, and preparing for the future.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. analyze and evaluate the impact of physical and human geographical factors on major historical events;
2. compare, contrast, and predict how places and regions change with time;
3. analyze resource management practices to assess their impact on future environmental quality;
4. interpret demographic trends to project future changes and impacts on human environmental systems;
5. examine the impacts of global changes on human activity; and
6. utilize geographic knowledge and skills to support interdisciplinary learning and build competencies required of citizens.

A student should know and understand how societies define authority, rights, and responsibilities through a governmental process.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. understand the necessity and purpose of government;
2. understand the meaning of fundamental ideas, including equality, authority, power, freedom, justice, privacy, property, responsibility, and sovereignty;
3. understand how nations organize their governments; and
4. compare and contrast how different societies have governed themselves over time and in different places.

A student should understand the constitutional foundations of the American political system and the democratic ideals of this nation.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. understand the ideals of this nation as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights;
2. recognize American heritage and culture, including the republican form of government, capitalism, free enterprise system, patriotism, strong family units, and freedom of religion;
3. understand the United States Constitution, including separation of powers, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, majority rule, and minority rights;
4. know how power is shared in the United States’ constitutional government at the federal, state, and local levels;
5. understand the importance of individuals, public opinion, media, political parties, associations, and groups in forming and carrying out public policy;
6. recognize the significance of diversity in the American political system;
7. distinguish between constitution-based ideals and the reality of American political and social life;
8. understand the place of law in the American political system; and
9. recognize the role of dissent in the American political system.

A student should understand the character of government of the state.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. understand the various forms of the state’s local governments and the agencies and commissions that influence students’ lives and property;
2. accept responsibility for protecting and enhancing the quality of life in the state through the political and governmental processes;
3. understand the Constitution of Alaska and sec.4 of the Alaska Statehood Act, which is known as the Statehood Compact;
4. understand the importance of the historical and current roles of Alaska Native communities;
5. understand the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and its impact on the state;
6. understand the importance of the multicultural nature of the state;
7. understand the obligations that land and resource ownership place on the residents and government of the state; and
8. identify the roles of and relationships among the federal, tribal, and state governments and understand the responsibilities and limits of the roles and relationships.

A student should understand the role of the United States in international affairs.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. analyze how domestic politics, the principles of the United States Constitution, foreign policy, and economics affect relations with other countries;
2. evaluate circumstances in which the United States has politically influenced other nations and how other nations have influenced the politics and society of the United States;
3. understand how national politics and international affairs are interrelated with the politics and interests of the state;
4. understand the purpose and function of international government and non-governmental organizations in the world today; and
5. analyze the causes, consequences, and possible solutions to current international issues.

A student should have the knowledge and skills necessary to participate effectively as an informed and responsible citizen.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. know the important characteristics of citizenship;
2. recognize that it is important for citizens to fulfill their public responsibilities;
3. exercise political participation by discussing public issues, building consensus, becoming involved in political parties and political campaigns, and voting;
4. establish, explain, and apply criteria useful in evaluating rules and laws;
5. establish, explain, and apply criteria useful in selecting political leaders;
6. recognize the value of community service; and
7. implement ways of solving problems and resolving conflict.

A student should understand the economies of the United States and the state and their relationships to the global economy.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. understand how the government and the economy interrelate through regulations, incentives, and taxations;
2. be aware that economic systems determine how resources are used to produce and distribute goods and services;
3. compare alternative economic systems;
4. understand the role of price in resource allocation;
5. understand the basic concepts of supply and demand, the market system, and profit;
6. understand the role of economic institutions in the United States, including the Federal Reserve Board, trade unions, banks investors, and the stock market;
7. understand the role of self-interest, incentives, property rights, competition, and corporate responsibility in the market economy;
8. understand the indicators of an economy’s performance, including gross domestic product, inflation, and the unemployment rate;
9. understand those features of the economy of the state that make it unique, including the importance of natural resources, government ownership and management of resources, Alaska Native regional corporations, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority; and
10. understand how international trade works.

A student should understand the impact of economic choices and participate effectively in the local, state, national, and global economies.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. apply economic principles to actual world situations;
2. understand that choices are made because resources are scarce;
3. identify and compare the costs and benefits when making choices;
4. make informed choices on economic issues;
5. understand how jobs are created and their role in the economy;
6. understand that wages and productivity depend on investment in physical and human capital; and
7. understand that economic choices influence public and private institutional decisions.

A student should understand that history is a record of human experiences that links the past to the present and the future.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. understand chronological frameworks for organizing historical thought and place significant ideas, institutions, people, and events within time sequences;
2. know that the interpretation of history may change as new evidence is discovered;
3. recognize different theories of history, detect the weakness of broad generalization, and evaluate the debates of historians;
4. understand that history relies on the interpretation of evidence;
5. understand that history is a narrative told in many voices and expresses various perspectives of historical experience;
6. know that cultural elements, including language, literature, the arts, customs, and belief systems, reflect the ideas and attitudes of a specific time and know how the cultural elements influence human interaction;
7. understand that history is dynamic and composed of key turning points;
8. know that history is a bridge to understanding groups of people and an individual’s relationship to society; and
9. understand that history is a fundamental connection that unifies all fields of human understanding and endeavor.

A student should understand historical themes through factual knowledge of time, places, ideas, institutions, cultures, people, and events.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. comprehend the forces of change and continuity that shape human history through the following persistent organizing themes:
   1. the development of culture, the emergence of civilizations, and the accomplishments and mistakes of social organizations;
   2. human communities and their relationships with climate, subsistence base, resources, geography, and technology;
   3. the origin and impact of ideologies, religions, and institutions upon human societies;
   4. the consequences of peace and violent conflict to societies and their cultures;
   5. major developments in societies as well as changing patterns related to class, ethnicity, race, and gender;
2. understand the people and the political, geographic, economic, cultural, social, and environmental events that have shaped the history of the state, the United States, and the world;
3. recognize that historical understanding is relevant and valuable in the student’s life and for participating in local, state, national, and global communities;
4. recognize the importance of time, ideas, institutions, people, places, cultures, and events in understanding large historical patterns; and
5. evaluate the influence of context upon historical understanding.

A student should develop the skills and processes of historical inquiry.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. use appropriate technology to access, retrieve, organize, and present historical information;
2. use historical data from a variety of primary resources, including letters, diaries, oral accounts, archeological sites and artifacts, art, maps, photos, historical sites, documents, and secondary research materials, including almanacs, books, indices, and newspapers;
3. apply thinking skills, including classifying, interpreting, analyzing, summarizing, synthesizing, and evaluating, to understand the historical record; and
4. use historical perspective to solve problems, make decisions, and understand other traditions.

A student should be able to integrate historical knowledge with historical skill to effectively participate as a citizen and as a lifelong learner.

A student who meets the content standard should:

1. understand that the student is important in history;
2. solve problems by using history to identify issues and problems, generate potential solutions, assess the merits of options, act, and evaluate the effectiveness of actions;
3. define a personal position on issues while understanding the historical aspects of the positions and roles assumed by others;
4. recognize and demonstrate that various issues may require an understanding of different positions, jobs, and personal roles depending on place, time, and context;
5. base personal citizenship action on reasoned historical judgment with recognition of responsibility for self and others; and
6. create new approaches to issues by incorporating history with other disciplines, including economics, geography, literature, the arts, science, and technology.

Culturally-knowledgeable students are well grounded in the cultural heritage and traditions of their community.

Students who meet the content standard are able to:

1. assume responsibilities for their role in relation to the well being of the cultural community and their life-long obligations as a community member;
2. recount their own genealogy and family history;
3. acquire and pass on the traditions of their community through oral and written history;
4. practice their traditional responsibilities to the surrounding environment;
5. reflect through their own actions the critical role that the local heritage language plays in fostering a sense of who they are and how they understand the world around them;
6. live a life in accordance with the cultural values and traditions of the local community and integrate them into their everyday behavior, and
7. determine the place of their cultural community in the regional, state, national, and international political and economic systems.

Culturally-knowledgeable students are able to build on the knowledge and skills of the local cultural community as a foundation from which to achieve personal and academic success throughout life.

Students who meet the content standard are able to:

1. acquire insights from other cultures without diminishing the integrity of their own;
2. make effective use of the knowledge, skills, and ways of knowing from their own cultural traditions to learn about the larger world in which they live;
3. make appropriate choices regarding the long-term consequences of their actions, and;
4. identify appropriate forms of technology and anticipate the consequences of their use for improving the quality of life in the community.

Culturally-knowledgeable students are able to actively participate in various cultural environments.

Students who meet the content standard are able to:

1. perform subsistence activities in ways that are appropriate to local cultural traditions;
2. make constructive contributions to the governance of their community and the well-being of their family;
3. attain a healthy lifestyle through which they are able to maintain their social, emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual well-being, and;
4. enter into and function effectively in a variety of cultural settings.

Culturally-knowledgeable students are able to engage effectively in learning activities that are based on traditional ways of knowing and learning.

Students who meet the content standard are able to:

1. acquire in-depth cultural knowledge through active participation and meaningful interaction with Elders;
2. participate in and make constructive contributions to the learning activities associated with a traditional camp environment;
3. interact with Elders in a loving and respectful way that demonstrates an appreciation of their role as culture-bearers and educators in the community;
4. gather oral and written history information from the local community and provide an appropriate interpretation of its cultural meaning and significance;
5. identify and utilize appropriate sources of cultural knowledge to find solutions to everyday problems, and;
6. engage in a realistic self-assessment to identify strengths and needs and make appropriate decisions to enhance life skills.

Culturally-knowledgeable students demonstrate an awareness and appreciation of the relationships and processes of interaction of all elements in the world around them.

Students who meet the content standard are able to:

1. recognize and build upon the inter-relationships that exist among the spiritual, natural, and human realms in the world around them, as reflected in their own cultural traditions and beliefs as well as those of others;
2. understand the ecology and geography of the bioregion they inhabit;
3. demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between world view and the way knowledge is formed and used;
4. determine how ideas and concepts from one knowledge system relate to those derived from other knowledge systems;
5. recognize how and why cultures change over time;
6. anticipate the changes that occur when different cultural systems come in contact with one another;
7. determine how cultural values and beliefs influence the interactions of people from different cultural backgrounds, and;8) identify and appreciate who they are and their place in the world.