Standards

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

• Sociology is the science that studies human society and social behavior.
• Societies are diverse and change over time.
• Norms are important to the stability or well-being of society.
• Social structure components include status and role expectations
• Various agents of socialization affect the development of the individual.
• Sociology explores the nature of deviance and crime, which are characteristic of different societies.

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

• What is sociology?
• How do the three main theoretical perspectives in sociology reflect different images of today’s society?
• What are the five basic components of any culture?
• Why do both cultural universals and cultural variations exist in societies?
• What are the main sources of cultural change and the resistance that usually results?
• Why do some of the five most common types of social interaction stabilize societies and others promote change?
• How do the two major components of social structure affect human interaction?
• What are the agents that enable socialization to take place?
• Which are the most important social developments that occur from birth through late adulthood?
• How social deviance determined is and which functions can it serve?
• What are the five most influential theories that have been proposed to explain and understand deviance?

Standards
Note: There are no national standard or Colorado state standards for Sociology. However, these Colorado standards are reflected in the course, as indicated below

Standard H3: Students understand that societies are diverse and change over time.
Benchmark A: Students know how various societies were affected by contracts and exchanges among diverse peoples.
Benchmark B: Students understand the history of social organization in various societies.         

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

• Unit 1:

Parent Resources

This course presents a unique opportunity to discuss with your teenager your family's ethnic and cultural roots. Looking through family albums and tracing your family heritage will help classroom activities and concepts have deeper meaning. Instructors will be providing discussion prompts and questions that will help guide your conversations. Students will be analyzing primary and secondary source documents.