One thing we learned last spring: We’ve obviously been out of school for a while—and the math our kids are doing is somehow totally different than whatever we were taught. It’s always valuable to know what your child is learning, but this year, with many kids Zoom-ing to school, it may be more critical than ever. So we scoured the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (the state’s masterlist of standards) and created this grade-by-grade guide covering the four core subjects: math, English language arts and reading, science and social studies. If you want to see every single standard as originally written, you can find them at texas.tea.gov—here, we’ve included the key concepts in parent-friendly language. (You may still have to Google some math terms—we did!)
KINDERGARTEN
MATH
- Read and write whole numbers up to 20
- Demonstrate addition and subtraction using objects
- Solve simple word problems to find sums and differences within 10
- Identify U.S. coins by name
- Recognize patterns in the way whole numbers are named and ordered, and count to 100 by ones and tens
- Identify and sort 2D and 3D shapes, including circles, triangles, rectangles, squares, cylinders, cones, spheres and cubes
- Compare objects by size, shape and weight
- Organize data into two or three categories, and create graphs using pictures or real objects
- Understand the difference between money earned and money received as a gift
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & READING
- Restate and follow spoken instructions
- Share information by speaking clearly and audibly
- Develop social communication skills such as greeting others and introducing yourself
- Identify syllables, rhymes and similar sounds
- Decode and spell basic two- to four-letter words
- Read at least 25 high-frequency words from a list
- Write all uppercase and lowercase letters
- Learn new words using pictures or basic reference resources
- Interact with reading material by asking questions, making predictions and making connections to personal experiences
- Describe the main character and the plot in a story
- Describe the characteristics of children’s literature such as folktales, fables, fairy tales and nursery rhymes
- Discuss rhyme and rhythm in poetry and nursery rhymes
- Create compositions using pictures or words with complete sentences, singular and plural nouns, adjectives, prepositions and basic punctuation
- Write or dictate personal narratives and informational texts
- Come up with research questions, gather information from multiple sources and share the results (with adult assistance)
SCIENCE
- Ask questions about things in the natural world; conduct simple descriptive investigations; and record data using words, pictures and numbers
- Collect information about the natural world using the senses as well as hand lenses, cups, bowls, magnets, timers, thermometers and other tools
- Compare objects by size, weight, shape, color and texture, and observe how objects can be changed by heating or cooling
- Use the senses to explore different forms of energy such as light, heat and sound
- Describe the different ways that objects can move such as in a straight line, up and down, fast and slow
- Describe basic properties of rocks and water sources, and give examples of how rocks, soil and water are useful
- Describe how weather changes, and identify natural patterns including seasons and day and night
- Describe objects in the sky such as the clouds, moon, stars and sun
- Differentiate between living and nonliving things, and examine the basic needs of animals and plants
- Observe the life cycle of a plant
SOCIAL STUDIES
- Identify national patriotic holidays and the customs associated with them (e.g., fireworks)
- Name the contributions of historical figures, including Stephen F. Austin, George Washington, Christopher Columbus and José Antonio Navarro
- Use spatial terms, including over, under, far, left and right, to describe location
- Name basic geographic characteristics, such as landforms, bodies of water and weather
- Explain the difference between wants and needs, and why people have jobs
- Understand the purpose of rules and how authority figures enforce rules
- Recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States and Texas flags
- Use voting to make decisions as a group
- List examples of technology and describe how they help meet people’s needs
- Gather information about a topic from a variety of oral and visual sources (with adult assistance)
- Put events in chronological order, and use words related to time
FIRST GRADE
MATH
- Compose and decompose numbers up to 120 by hundreds, tens and ones
- Compare and order whole numbers up to 120 using number lines and symbols (>, < and =)
- Use objects and pictures to add multiples of 10 and single-digit numbers (e.g., 20 + 8)
- Use objects and pictures to solve for unknowns in simple word problems
- Add and subtract numbers within 20
- Count by twos, fives and tens to find the value of a group of pennies, nickels and dimes
- Count forward and backward from any number between 1 and 120
- Count by twos, fives and tens to determine the number of objects in a set
- Identify and describe 2D and 3D shapes, including circles, triangles, squares, rhombuses and hexagons
- Break down 2D shapes into equal parts, and identify examples of halves and fourths
- Measure and compare length using two different units
- Tell time to the hour and half hour using analog and digital clocks
- Organize data into a simple tally chart, bar graph or pictograph
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & READING
- Contribute to a discussion and listen to others
- Develop social communication skills such as expressing needs and feelings
- Distinguish between long and short vowel sounds in one-syllable words
- Combine phonemes (distinct sounds) to form one-syllable words, and break down words into phonemes
- Read and spell words with closed syllables, open syllables, vowel-consonant-e syllables, vowel teams (two or more vowels next to each other), and vowel-r syllables
- Read at least 100 high-frequency words from a list
- Alphabetize a list of words to the first or second letter, and find words in a dictionary
- Print words and sentences legibly
- Interact with reading material by writing brief comments and making predictions based on the genre of the work
- Describing the main character’s motivations in a story
- Discuss rhyme, rhythm, repetition and alliteration in poetry
- Discuss elements of drama such as characters and setting
- Create compositions using past- and present-tense verbs, adverbs that convey time, and different types of complete sentences (declarative, exclamatory and interrogative)
- Write or dictate personal narratives, poetry, procedural texts and correspondence such as thank-you notes
- Come up with research questions, gather information from multiple sources and share the results (with adult assistance)
SCIENCE
- Ask questions about things in the natural world; conduct descriptive investigations; record data using words, pictures and numbers; and use data to explain the results
- Collect information about the natural world using computers, cups, bowls, magnets, goggles, timers, wind socks and other tools
- Classify objects by size, weight, shape, color, texture and material
- Predict changes caused by heating and cooling
- Discuss how different forms of energy are important to everyday life
- Predict how a magnet can be used to push or pull an object
- Compare soil components by size, texture and color, and describe natural water sources including streams, lakes and oceans
- Record weather information including relative temperature, precipitation and cloudiness
- Observe changes in the appearance of the sun, moon and stars
- Analyze interdependent relationships, such as between organisms in terrariums or between pets and owners
- Investigate how an animal’s external characteristics are related to where it lives, how it moves and what it eats
- Observe the life cycle of an animal
SOCIAL STUDIES
- Describe the origins and customs of various state and national holidays, including Constitution Day, Independence Day and Veterans Day
- Name the contributions of historical figures, including Sam Houston, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.
- Locate places using the four cardinal directions
- Create and use simple maps, and locate Texas and the United States on maps and globes
- Identify physical geographic characteristics, such as landforms, bodies of water and weather, and describe how where people live affects their clothing, shelter and food
- Describe and compare the ways that families meet basic human needs
- List examples of goods and services, and identify choices that families make when buying goods and services
- Describe the tools used in various jobs and how those jobs help produce goods and services
- Explain the purpose of rules and laws, and the responsibilities of authority figures in the home, school and community
- List characteristics of good citizenship and historical figures who have modeled good citizenship
- Explain state and national patriotic symbols, including the United States and Texas flags, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty and the Alamo
- Explain the importance of beliefs, languages and traditions, and how folktales and legends reflect the culture of a community
- Name the contributions of scientists and inventors
- Gather information about a topic from a variety of oral, visual and written sources (with adult assistance)
- Use a calendar and a simple timeline to describe the passage of time
SECOND GRADE
MATH
- Compose and decompose numbers up to 1,200 by thousands, hundreds, tens and ones
- Place whole numbers on a number line and compare them using words and symbols (>, < and =)
- Use objects to represent fractions, including halves, fourths and eighths, and identify how many parts make up a whole
- Use recall to quickly add and subtract numbers within 20
- Add and subtract two-digit numbers using place value
- Solve one-step and multi-step word problems to find sums and differences within 1,000
- Find the value of a group of coins up to one dollar
- Demonstrate multiplication and division using objects
- Create, identify and sort 2D and 3D shapes based on properties like the number of sides and points
- Measure length using number lines and physical tools like rulers
- Read and write time using analog and digital clocks
- Organize data with up to four categories into a bar graph or pictograph
- Calculate how money saved can add up over time
- Identify examples of borrowing and lending money
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & READING
- Contribute to a discussion by building on others’ ideas
- Distinguish between asking and telling
- Distinguish between long and short vowel sounds in multisyllable words
- Read and spell words with closed syllables, open syllables, vowel-consonant-e syllables, vowel teams (two or more vowels next to each other), vowel-r syllables and final stable syllables (consonant-l-e, as in stable)
- Spell words with silent letters, double consonants, prefixes and inflectional endings (e.g., -s, -ed, –ing)
- Write all letters in cursive
- Use context to define unfamiliar words
- Explain and use antonyms, synonyms, idioms and homographs
- Describe the main characters’ traits, the conflict and the importance of the setting
- Recognize the characteristics of informational and persuasive texts
- Identify first- and third-person perspective and explain the use of repetition
- Create and edit compositions with past-, present- and future-tense verbs; adverbs that describe place; prepositional phrases; and compound subjects and verbs
- Write personal narratives, poetry, procedural texts and reports, and correspondence such as thank-you notes and letters
- Come up with research questions (with adult assistance), gather information from multiple sources, cite sources and share the results
SCIENCE
- Ask questions about things in the natural world; conduct descriptive investigations; record data using words, pictures and numbers; and compare the results with what scientists have learned about the world
- Collect and compare information about the natural world using computers, rulers, plastic beakers, magnets, goggles, timers, rain gauges and other tools
- Classify matter by temperature, texture, flexibility and whether it is a solid or liquid, and demonstrate that the physical properties of materials can be changed by cutting, folding, melting, etc.
- Investigate how increasing or decreasing the amount of heat, light or sound energy affects an object (e.g., how its color changes in dim light)
- Trace patterns of movement such as sliding, rolling and spinning over time
- Compare rocks by size, texture and color
- Measure and graph weather information in order to identify patterns
- Observe and record patterns of objects in the sky, including the moon
- Identify environmental factors, including temperature and precipitation, that affect how living things grow and behave
- Compare the ways that living things depend on each other and their environments, such as food chains
- Observe how the characteristics of plants and animals help them meet their basic needs
- Investigate some of the unique stages in an insect’s life cycle
SOCIAL STUDIES
- Explain the significance of various local and national landmarks
- Name the contributions of historical figures, including Thurgood Marshall, Irma Rangel and Theodore Roosevelt
- Describe how people and events have changed local history
- Use basic map elements such as the title and legend to interpret maps
- Identify the seven continents and major oceans on maps and globes, and locate other important places, including the state capital, the U.S. capital, Canada and Mexico
- Describe ways that people have modified the physical environment (e.g., building roads, farming) and the consequences of those activities
- Explain how work provides income
- Understand the difference between producing and consuming
- Identify the functions of government and explain the value of local government services (e.g., police, libraries, parks)
- Name the mayor, governor and president, and name the different ways that public officials are chosen
- List ways to practice good citizenship
- Sing or identify patriotic songs, including the national anthem and “America the Beautiful”
- Identify symbols such as the state and national birds, and explain how U.S. symbols reflect individualism, inventiveness and freedom
- Compare various ethnic and cultural celebrations
- Identify people who have demonstrated individualism and inventiveness, such as Amelia Earhart and George Washington Carver
- Gather and interpret information about a topic from a variety of sources
- Use vocabulary related to chronology, and create timelines for events in the past and present
THIRD GRADE
MATH
- Compose and decompose numbers up to 100,000 by ten thousands, thousands, hundreds, tens and ones
- Represent fractions with denominators of 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 using objects, strip diagrams and number lines
- Use fractions to solve basic word problems
- Fluently solve one- and two-step problems involving addition and subtraction within 1,000
- Round to the nearest 10 or 100 and use rounding to estimate sums and differences
- Use recall to quickly multiply and divide whole numbers up to 10 times 10
- Multiply two-digit numbers by one-digit numbers
- Solve one- and two-step problems involving multiplication and division within 100
- Find the value of a group of coins and bills
- Solve for an unknown whole number in a basic equation that involves multiplication or division (e.g., 9 x [ ] = 27)
- Find the area of a rectangle
- Find the perimeter of a polygon, or solve for a missing side length if given the perimeter
- Add and subtract intervals of time
- Use tools to measure volume and weight
- Organize data into a frequency table, dot plot, pictograph or bar graph, and use these charts and graphs to solve problems
- Explain the concept of credit in basic terms
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & READING
- Contribute to a discussion while maintaining eye contact, enunciating, and speaking at the right volume and speed
- Speak politely in social situations
- Read and spell words with closed syllables, open syllables, vowel-consonant-e syllables, vowel teams (two or more vowels next to each other), vowel-r syllables and final stable syllables (consonant-l-e, as in stable)
- Read multisyllable words with more complex patterns, such as eigh, ough and en
- Read and spell words by understanding prefixes and suffixes
- Alphabetize a list of words to the third letter
- Write complete words in cursive
- Explain and use antonyms, synonyms, idioms, homophones and homographs
- Interact with reading material by annotating, identifying the theme and analyzing the plot
- Describe the characteristics of legends and myths
- Recognize the characteristics of informational and argumentative texts
- Explain why an author uses imagery, figurative language (e.g., similes), first- and third- person perspective, and hyperbole
- Create and edit compositions with simple and compound sentences; past-, present- and future-tense verbs; comparative and superlative adjectives, and adverbs that describe manner
- Write personal narratives, poetry, brief informational compositions with a clear central idea, opinion essays, and letters
- Come up with research questions, gather information from multiple sources, understand and avoid plagiarism, create a works cited page, and share the results
SCIENCE
- Explore how natural resources are useful for making products, and how they can be conserved
- Plan and conduct descriptive investigations to solve a specific problem in the natural world
- Record data using the metric system, and organize data into maps, graphs, tables and charts
- Create models of things in the natural world such as a volcano
- Collect and analyze information about the natural world using cameras, computers, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, pan balances, graduated cylinders, spring scales, hot plates, meter sticks and other tools
- Measure and test physical properties of matter, including temperature, mass, magnetism and the ability to sink or float
- Classify matter as solid, liquid or gas, and observe changes caused by heating or cooling (e.g., ice becoming liquid water)
- Explore mechanical, light, sound and heat energy in everyday life
- Demonstrate how pushing and pulling can change an object’s position or motion
- Understand how soil is formed
- Explore sudden changes in Earth’s surface such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides
- Measure and compare day-to-day weather changes in different locations at the same time
- Name the planets in our solar system and their position relative to the sun
- Describe the physical characteristics of environments, how they support plants and animals, and how changes in the environment affect an ecosystem
- Explore how the structures and functions of plants and animals allow them to survive in their environments
SOCIAL STUDIES
- Identify individuals who have shaped communities or helped create new communities, including Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, Benjamin Banneker, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Boone and the Founding Fathers
- Explain why people form communities and how various communities meet their needs for government, education, communication, transportation and recreation
- Compare how people in different communities change their physical environment
- Use cardinal and intermediate directions to locate places on maps in relation to the local community
- Create and interpret maps using a title, compass rose, legend, scale and grid system
- Identify ways to earn, spend, save and donate money, and create a simple budget
- Explain how supply and demand affect price
- Explain how the cost of production and the selling price affect profit
- Describe the basic structure of local, state and national government and how government officials are chosen
- Explain the purpose of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and concept of “consent of the governed”
- Describe individual acts of civic responsibility, including obeying laws, serving on a jury and voting
- Explain the significance of ethnic or cultural celebrations in the local community and in other communities
- Describe the heroic deeds of state and national figures such as Hector P. Garcia, James A. Lovell, Harriet Tubman and Todd Beamer
- Explain how writers and artists such as Kadir Nelson, Tomie dePaola, Carmen Lomas Garza and Laura Ingalls Wilder have contributed to the cultural heritage of their communities
- Name people who have discovered scientific breakthroughs or new technology in computers, pasteurization and vaccines
- Gather and interpret information about historical and current events from a variety of sources
- Create and interpret timelines, graphs, charts and other visual aides
FOURTH GRADE
MATH
- Understand how the place value positions (e.g., tenths, ones, tens, hundreds) relate to each other
- Compare whole numbers up to 1,000,000,000 using symbols (>, < and =)
- Represent decimals to the hundredths place and relate decimals to fractions
- Compare fractions with different numerators and denominators, and determine whether two fractions have the same value
- Add and subtract fractions with the same denominator
- Add and subtract whole numbers and decimals to the hundredths place
- Use place value to multiply numbers by 10 or 100
- Multiply up to four-digit numbers by one-digit numbers, and two-digit numbers by two-digit numbers
- Divide up to four-digit numbers by one-digit numbers
- Use strip diagrams and equations to illustrate multi-step problems, with a letter standing in for the unknown quantity
- Determine formulas for area and perimeter of rectangles and squares, and solve problems involving area and perimeter where the dimensions are whole numbers
- Identify points, lines, line segments, rays, angles, and perpendicular and parallel lines
- Identify acute, obtuse and right triangles
- Draw and measure angles to the nearest degree using a protractor
- Convert measurements within the same system of measure (e.g., feet to inches)
- Use all four operations to solve problems involving length, volume, mass, time and money
- Solve problems by interpreting data in a frequency table, dot plot or stem-and-leaf plot
- Distinguish between fixed and variable expenses
- Calculate profit
- Describe how to allocate allowance money for spending, saving and sharing
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & READING
- Express an opinion and give accurate supporting information
- Read words using specific patterns and rules, including regular and irregular plurals
- Read and spell multisyllable words with closed syllables, open syllables, vowel-consonant-e syllables, vowel teams (two or more vowels next to each other), vowel-r syllables and final stable syllables (consonant-l-e, as in stable)
- Read and spell words by understanding prefixes, suffixes and syllable division patterns
- Write legibly in cursive
- Compare and contrast multiple texts
- Explain the changes that characters undergo and analyze plot elements (rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)
- Recognize the characteristics of informational and argumentative texts
- Explain why a writer uses imagery, figurative language (e.g., similes, metaphors, personification), first- and third- person perspective, and anecdotes
- Understand the structural elements of drama such as character tags, acts, scenes and stage directions
- Create and edit compositions with simple and compound sentences, past-tense irregular verbs, adverbs that describe frequency and degree, and reflexive pronouns
- Write personal narratives, poetry, brief informational compositions with a clear central idea, opinion essays, and correspondence
- Come up with research questions, gather information from multiple sources, understand and avoid plagiarism, create a bibliography, and share the results
SCIENCE
- Plan and conduct descriptive investigations, and repeat investigations to get more reliable results
- Record data using the metric system, and organize data into maps, graphs, tables and charts
- Create models of things in the natural world such as the water cycle and stream tables
- Collect and analyze information about the natural world using calculators, microscopes, cameras, computers, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, mirrors, graduated cylinders, spring scales, hot plates, meter sticks and other tools
- Measure and compare physical properties of matter, including temperature, mass, volume, magnetism and the ability to sink or float
- Compare and contrast a variety of mixtures, including solutions
- Differentiate between conductors and insulators of electrical and thermal energy
- Design an investigation to explore how a force (such as a push or pull, gravity, friction or magnetism) will affect an object
- Observe slow changes to Earth’s surface caused by weathering, erosion and precipitation
- Explain the water cycle
- Predict patterns and changes in weather, shadows, seasons and the appearance of the moon
- Compare what producers and consumers in the natural world depend on for food
- Distinguish between inherited traits and learned behaviors
SOCIAL STUDIES
- Understand the origins and way of life of American Indian groups in Texas before European exploration, and locate American Indian groups currently in Texas
- Identify the causes, effects and major players in the European exploration and colonization of Texas
- Understand the importance, leaders and major events of the Texas Revolution, the Republic of Texas and the annexation of Texas to the United States
- Understand the political, economic and social changes in Texas during the second half of the 19th century, including the Civil War and the growth of the cattle industry
- Understand the important issues, events and people in Texas during the 20th century, including the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, World War II and the growth of the oil and gas industry
- Identify and compare the physical regions of Texas
- Describe how Texans have adapted to or modified their physical environment, and the positive and negative consequences
- Describe how the free enterprise system works and how it developed in Texas
- Explain how economic activities in Texas have been affected by physical geography, immigration, transportation and communication
- Explain the basic functions of the three branches of state government
- Explain the significance of various state symbols and holidays, including the six flags that flew over Texas, Texas Independence Day and Juneteenth
- Name people who have made an impact in local and state civic affairs, and explain how people can participate in civic affairs by doing things like respectfully holding public officials to their word
- Identify the customs and celebrations of various cultural groups in Texas, and explain how artists of different races, ethnicities and religions influenced Texas culture
- Describe how scientific discoveries and innovations have benefited people and businesses in Texas
- Differentiate between primary and secondary sources and use them to find information about Texas
- Create graphs and maps of geographic data, population distribution and natural resources
FIFTH GRADE
MATH
- Write and compare decimals through the thousandths
- Fluently multiply three-digit numbers by two-digit numbers
- Divide four-digit numbers by two-digit numbers
- Multiply and divide decimals up to the hundredths
- Add and subtract fractions with different denominators, and multiply and divide whole numbers by fractions
- Solve multi-step problems using the four operations and a letter standing in for an unknown quantity
- Recognize and create additive and multiplicative number patterns
- Develop formulas for the volume of rectangular prisms and cubes, and solve problems related to volume and other measurements
- Understand the structure of a coordinate plane, and graph coordinates in the first quadrant
- Solve one- and two-step problems using data from a frequency table, dot plot, bar graph, stem-and-leaf plot or scatterplot
- Understand the difference between gross income and net income
- Describe the advantages and disadvantages of various payment methods, including cash, credit card and electronic payments
- Balance a simple budget
ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS & READING
- Give a presentation using good eye contact, natural gestures, enunciation, and appropriate speaking rate and volume
- Read and spell multisyllable words with closed syllables, open syllables, vowel-consonant-e syllables, vowel teams (two or more vowels next to each other), vowel-r syllables and final stable syllables (consonant-l-e, as in stable)
- Read and spell words with consonant changes (such as the “C” in musician vs. music)
- Read and spell words by understanding prefixes, suffixes and syllable division patterns
- Write legibly in cursive
- Identify and use adages and puns
- Compare and contrast multiple texts
- Explain the relationships and conflicts between characters, and analyze plot elements (rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)
- Explain why an author uses imagery, figurative language, first- and third- person perspective, hyperbole, stereotypes and anecdotes
- Create and edit compositions with collective nouns, conjunctive adverbs and complex sentences
- Write literary texts such as fiction; brief informational compositions with a clear central idea; opinion essays; and letters that request information
- Come up with research questions, gather information from multiple sources, evaluate the credibility of sources, create a bibliography and share the results
SCIENCE
- Plan and conduct simple experiments testing one variable, and use direct (observable) and indirect (inferred) evidence to explain the results
- Create a model of something that can’t be seen (e.g., the formation of sedimentary rock)
- Collect and analyze information about the natural world using calculators, microscopes, cameras, computers, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, prisms, mirrors, graduated cylinders, spring scales, hot plates, meter sticks and other tools
- Classify matter by physical properties, including mass, magnetism, physical state (solid, liquid or gas), relative density, solubility in water, and ability to conduct or insulate energy
- Identify how materials change when they become part of a solution (e.g., salt dissolving in water)
- Demonstrate that electricity in a closed circuit can produce light, heat or sound
- Demonstrate how light is reflected and refracted
- Recognize how Earth’s landscape features are formed by wind, water or ice
- Differentiate between weather and climate
- Understand how Earth’s rotation causes day and night
- Describe the flow of energy in a food web, including the roles of the sun, producers, consumers and decomposers
- Predict how living organisms—including humans—can change ecosystems
- Compare the structures and functions of different species that help them survive in their respective environments
SOCIAL STUDIES
- Understand the causes of the European colonization of North America beginning in 1565
- Understand the causes and results of the American Revolution
- Identify the Founding Fathers and their contributions to the American Revolution and the creation of the U.S. Constitution
- Understand the political, economic and social changes in the United States during the 19th century, including the War of 1812, the Industrial Revolution, the Louisiana Purchase, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the building of the Transcontinental Railroad
- Understand important issues, events and people in the United States during the 20th and 21st centuries, such as industrialization, the Great Depression, the world wars, the civil rights movement and the War on Terror
- Describe the different physical, political and economic regions in the United States
- Locate the 50 states and important rivers and mountain ranges on a map
- Explain patterns of settlement (rural, urban and suburban) and the factors that influence where people live
- Analyze the positive and negative consequences of people in the United States modifying their environment
- Explain the economy of the early European colonies and the describe how the free enterprise system developed
- Explain how supply and demand affect consumers and producers
- Compare how people in different areas of the United States earn a living
- Compare the systems of government of early European colonists, including representative government and monarchy
- Explain the important ideas in the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, including the system of checks and balances
- Explain various patriotic symbols, landmarks and celebrations including Uncle Sam, the White House and Mount Rushmore
- Explain why people have a duty to participate in civic affairs
- Name past and present leaders in national government and their political parties
- Identify important pieces of art, music and literature from U.S. history and explain how they reflect the times during which they were created
- Describe the customs and traditions of different racial, ethnic and religious groups in the United States
- Explain how scientific discoveries and technological innovations have advanced the U.S. economy, including the railroad and the space program
- Identify the historical context of an event
- Create and interpret maps, graphs and charts
Image courtesy of iStock.
