2010: www.socialstudies.org

1. Culture

• What is culture, and what roles does it play in personal and group behavior?
• What role do time and place pay in the development and change of cultures?
• How does culture unify a group of people?
• How do elements of unity and diversity develop both within and across cultures?
• How do beliefs, such as religion or political ideals, influence other aspects of a culture, such as its institutions or art?
• How do different cultural perspectives lead groups to interpret the same event differently?

2. Time, Continuity, and Change

• What happened in the past, and how do we know?
• How and why do people differ in their judgments about what was important in the past?
• What connections are there between past and present?
• What events and turning points are important in history and why?

3. People, Places, and Environments

• What questions are important to ask about people, places, and environments?
• How are historical, cultural, national, or world religions differentiated from each other?
• How do maps ... help humans understand spatial relationships?

4. Individual Development and Identity

• How does personal motivation impact individual development and identity?
• How do people change physically and emotionally over time, and why?
• How do specific groups, such as family and friends, and attributes such as gender, ethnicity, and nationality influence personal identity?
• What factors influence how individuals perceive others, and how they are perceived by others?
• How does time and place influence individual development and identity?
• How do the choices that individuals make impact who they are now and who they can become?

5. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

• How do groups and institutions influence individuals and society?
• How do individuals influence groups and institutions?
• What are the causes and effects of tensions that occur when the goals, beliefs, norms, and principles of two or more groups or institutions are in conflict?

6. Power, Authority, and Governance

• How are power, authority, and governance alike and different across groups and nations?

8. Science, Technology, and Society

• What are current and historic examples of science and technology that have impacted individuals, society, and the world?
• How do changes in science and technology affect individuals, groups, institutions, nations, and the environment?
• What can be learned from the past about how technologies resulted in both planned and unanticipated changes?
• How are media messages created, and how can we determine their impact?

9. Global Connections

• What global connections affect this community and region, and what are the consequences?
• What are examples of global connections from the past, and how have these connections changed in more recent years?
• What actions can we suggest and take in response to global change?

10. Civic Ideals and Practices

• How do citizens balance personal interests and working for the common good?

High School

1. Culture

• What is culture, and how do language, the arts, traditions, beliefs, values, and behavior patterns distinguish one cultural group from another?
• What roles do unity among cultures and diversity across cultural groups play in communities, nations, and world religions?
• What are examples of the role culture has played in individual, group, institutional, and societal development in the past and present?
• How does cultural diffusion occur over time and space?
• What patterns of behavior and interactions foster or pose obstacles to cross-cultural understanding?
• How do different cultural perspectives lead groups to interpret the same event differently and with what consequences?

2. Time, Continuity, and Change

• How do historians use a variety of sources and inquiry methods to support their reconstruction and interpretation of past events?
• How do we use knowledge of the past to evaluate the possible consequences of specific courses of action and make more informed decisions?
• What are the origins and influence of social, cultural, political, and economic systems, and how can they be compared across time and space?

3. People, Places, and Environments

• What questions are important to ask about people, places, and environments?
• How have the relationships forged by humans with places changed over time?
• How have national and global regions developed and changed over time?
• How are historic, cultural, national, or world religions defined and differentiated by physical and human characteristics?
• How do maps ... help humans understand spatial relationships?

4. Individual Development and Identity

• What are important questions to ask about individual development and identity?
• How does personal motivation impact individual development and identity?
• What is the role of a sense of ethics in individual development and identity?
• How are individual development and identity influenced by time and space?
• What are the genetic and social factors that influence personal identity?
• How do social, cultural, and national norms influence identity?
• What influences how humans learn, perceive, and grow?

5. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

• What questions are important to ask about individuals, groups, and institutions?
• How do groups and institutions work to meet individual needs, promote the common good, and address persistent social issues?
• What are the influences of groups and institutions on people and events in historical and contemporary settings?
• What are the roles of individuals, groups, and institutions in furthering both societal continuity and change over time?
• What are the consequences of tensions and cooperation among individuals, groups, and institutions?

6. Power, Authority, and Governance

• What questions are important to ask about power, authority, and governance?
• How are individual rights protected and social justice promoted within the context of majority rule?

8. Science, Technology, and Society

• How have changes in science and technology impacted individuals, groups, societies, nations, and the environment, past and present, in both positive and negative ways?
• What can be learned from the past about how science and technology have resulted in broad social change, planned or unanticipated?

9. Global Connections

• What types of global connections exist in the community, state, region, and nation, and what are their consequences?
• How and why is global interdependence more evident at some times in history than others, and in some places rather than others?
• How do location, resources, and cross-cultural diffusion cause tension, as well as lead to positive global connections?