| Parkview Social Studies The Social Studies
Department is multi-disciplinary in structure, offering courses in history,
Geography, Political Systems, Economics, Psychology, Sociology, Law, and
Current Issues. Many of the required
courses for graduation are offered in levels of college prep, honors, and gifted. Advanced
Placement (AP) courses for college credit are also offered. (For more information on
Advanced Placement courses see section below).
The Social Studies Department’s aim is not to train future politicians and
historians, but to train students to think logically and historically. Students will have
to master a certain amount of factual information, but facts are not the ultimate goal.
Facts are a means to an end. Students will learn how to evaluate facts and evidence and
then synthesize them into relationships. Through these relationships, students will
recognize that our current times are related to the events from the past.
Entering Freshmen -- School Year 2007-2008
The following is the suggested curriculum for entering freshman. Please note that World
History, United States History and Economics/Political Systems are required for graduation
and will only be available in the corresponding year.
The suggested schedule is:
- 9th Grade -- World Geography / Study Skills (*)
- 10th Grade -- World History (**)
- 11th Grade -- United States History (**)
- 12th Grade -- Economics/Political Systems (**)
(*) Can be used to satisfy requirements for the advanced CP+ (College Endorsement
Seal of Distinction) diploma and also fulfils one of the required state electives needed
to attend one of the states Research Universities. A Research University
is one of
the following: University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, and the
Medical College of Georgia.
(**) Minimum Required by the state for graduation.
Electives Available
Psychology - 1 Semester - Grades 11-12
The purpose of this elective course is to introduce the student to basic psychological
concepts and principles and the rules, laws, and theories of psychology. Topics of
study include: determiners of personality (heredity and environment), theories of the
development of intelligence and testing characteristics of basic needs, and self-concept
(theories of development). With this knowledge of themselves and others, students should
be able to adapt to changing situations and be able to make informed decisions.
Sociology - 1 Semester - Grades 11-12
The purpose of this elective course is to help the student understand and appreciate
people as independent agents in cooperative activities with others. Topics to be covered
are: the organized way people fulfill basic needs (institutions); the setting of social
rules and their enforcement (social control); and the possessions people have, the way
they think, and their actions as members of society (culture). Students will use the
social scientific method as a mode of research.
Contemporary Issues - 1 Semester - Grades 10-12
This elective course provides students with opportunities to identify and evaluate
political, social, and economic issues on a local, state, national and international
level. The central emphasis is on contemporary issues and problems and their effects on
the student as a citizen in a interdependent world. A variety of current news media will
be used for instructional purposes.
Law - 1 Semester - Grades 10-12
The purpose of this elective course is to have students develop an understanding of the
basic components of the legal and criminal justice system in the United States. Students
are offered an overview of civil and criminal law in this country as well as an
examination of various legal institutions and processes (e.g. the police, the courts,
rehabilitation systems, etc.)
Advanced Placement Students must apply for A. P. courses
prior to registration. Guidelines for admission are established by Social Studies
Department. In general, all require teacher recommendations, a writing sample and
review of student grades in previous Social Studies classes. Each students G.P.A.
and SAT/PSAT scores are also a consideration.
AP World History - 2 Semesters - Grade 10 (Will count for the World History
Graduation requirement)
Focuses primarily on the past thousand years of the global experience,
this course builds on an understanding of cultural, institutional, and technological
foundations that, along with geography, set the human stage prior to the year 1000.
Specific time periods from the organizing principle for dealing with change and continuity
from that point to the present. Historical 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.
AP U.S. History - 2 Semesters - Grades 11-12 (will satisfy graduation
requirement)
The Advanced Placement program in United States History is designed to provide students
with factual knowledge and analytical skills in the interpretation of the history of the
United States from the 1600’s through the 1980’s. Political, economic, and
social issues are stressed through the following topics: The Colonial Period; the American
Revolution; the Jacksonian Period; Civil War and Reconstruction; Populism and
Progressivism; the New Deal; and International Affairs and Domestic Changes in the Post
1945 Period.
AP Microeconomics and Macroeconomics- 2 Semester - Grades 12 (will
satisfy graduation requirements, and take the place of Economics)
The purpose of the Advanced Placement course in microeconomics is to give students a
thorough understanding of the principles of economics that apply to functions of
individual decision makers, consumers and producers, within the larger economic system. It
places primary emphasis on the nature and function of product markets, and includes the
study of factor markets and the role of the government in promoting greater efficiency and
equity in the economy.
The purpose of macroeconomics is to give students a thorough understanding of the
principles of economics that apply to an economic system as a whole. The course places
particular emphasis on the study of national income and price determination, and also
develops students' familiarity with economic performance measures, economic growth, and
international economics.
AP American Government - 1 Semester - Grades 12 - (will satisfy graduation
requirement and take the place of Political Systems)
The purpose of this Advanced Placement program is to provide an overview of government,
politics, and political behavior at local, state, and national levels. Topics to included:
an examination of the structure, functions, and inter-relationships of various levels of
government; political socialization; elections; the party system; and the role of the
individual in American government. Students will be exposed to specific information about
government and how government affects their daily lives.
AP Elective Courses
A.P. Human Geography - 2 Semesters - Grades 9
Geography is the study of people from a spatial and
ecological perspective. People are central to geography in that
their activities help shape the Earth's surface largely through their
interaction with the physical environment. Human settlements and
structures are part of that tapestry of interaction. It is in that
setting that humans either compete for control of space and resources or
work out systems of social, economic and political cooperation.
AP Comparative Government - 1 Semester - Grades 11-12 (This course does
not take the place of the required World History)
This Advanced Placement program provides an introduction to the study of various forms
of government which exist in the Twentieth Century. The course emphasizes the
philosophical basis, as well as the political, social, and economic realities of
capitalism, communism, socialism, and fascism. The slowly changing structures of these
ideologies will also be examined.
AP European History - 2 Semesters - Grades 11-12 - Prerequisite -
World History. (This course does not take the place of the required World
History).
The goals of the Advanced Placement Program in European History are to develop (a) an
understanding of some of the principle themes in modern European history and (b) an
ability to analyze historical evidence. Students are expected to demonstrate a knowledge
of a basic chronology and of major events and trends from the Renaissance to the present.
Students should also have some familiarity with those aspects of the late medieval period.
The major themes to be covered are: political and diplomatic history, intellectual and
cultural history, and social and economic history.
AP Psychology - 2 Semesters - Grade 12
The AP Psychology course is designed to introduce students to the
systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental
processes of human beings and animals. Students are exposed to the
psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated
with each of the major sub-fields within psychology. The aim of this
AP course is to provide the student with a learning experience
equivalent to that obtained in most college introductory psychology
courses.
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