Enduring Understandings - important ideas that students should carry with them years beyond the instruction received this year.

• People and events are organized chronologically to increase understanding historical relationships.
• Primary and secondary sources and processes of historical inquiry allow for interpreting the past and analyzing present day issues.
• Processes and resources of historical inquiry allow for interpreting the past and analyzing present day issues.
• Societies are diverse and change over time.
• Technological developments have impacted individuals and societies throughout history.
• Different forms of government have been developed, practiced, and changed throughout history. 
• Religious beliefs and philosophical ideas change societies.
• Maps, globes, and other geographic tools are used to acquire, process and report information about the past and present.
• Physical and human characteristics of places define regions.
• Knowledge of government and its purposes builds understanding of citizenship.
• Foreign policy influences the interaction of nations.
• Civic participation involves roles, rights, and responsibilities.
• Decisions must be made concerning the use of scarce economic resources.
• Trade, specialization, and interdependence influence relationships among individuals, groups and societies. 

Essential Questions - most important “big picture” questions students should be able to answer after completing learning activities.

• What economic and political decisions were made by England based on the resources of the colonies?
• Was England's foreign policy for the colonies effective? Explain.
• What roles and responsibilities began to emerge in the colonies as war approached?
• What were the strengths and weaknesses of the British and Colonists on the eve of the Revolution? What advantages and disadvantages did each side have?
• Why is the Declaration of Independence a primary source? What were it key points?
• What battles most affected the outcome of the war?

Standards and Benchmarks
History 1: Students understand the chronological organization of history and know how to organize events and people into major eras to identify and explain historical relationships.
Benchmark A: Students use chronology to examine and explain historical relationships.
History 2: Students know how to use the processes and resources of historical inquiry.
Benchmark  B: Students use chronology to examine and explain historical relationships.
Benchmark B: Students know how to interpret and evaluate primary and secondary sources of historical information.
Civics 3: Students know the political relationship of the United States and its citizens to other nations and to world affairs.
Civics 4: Students understand how citizens exercise the roles, rights, and responsibilities of participation in civic life at all levels.
Benchmark C: Students understand the domestic and foreign policy influence the United States has on other nations and how the actions of other nations influence the politics and the society of the United States.
Benchmark  B: Students know how citizens can fulfill their responsibilities for preserving the constitutional republic.
Economics 3: Students understand the results of trade, exchange, and interdependence among individuals, households, businesses, governments, and societies.
Benchmark  A: Describe the relationship among trade, specialization, and interdependence.
Benchmark  B: Describe how economic interdependence between countries around the world affects the standard of living.

District 11 Diamond Units/Lessons Overview - includes information about the purpose, goals and structure of these sample instructional units:

Parent Resources

The study of democracy can, for some students, be a disconnected topic. Since they have not yet reached voting age, they may view the democratic process as something outside of their reality. Your child probably has already developed his or her own opinions on fairness and shared responsibility. They can understand the concepts of compromise in order to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Political issues are excellent topics to discuss with your child. Ask your child to share his or her opinions about social and political issues. You can help your child connect the concepts from this quarter to everyday life issues and current events. The Essential Questions listed above are good talking points for you to discuss with your teen.