Illinois Social Studies Standards (Grade 8)

Identify different types of citizenship and immigration statuses of individuals in the United States and the different rights and roles (e.g., voters, jurors, taxpayers, military, protesters, and officeholders) based on citizenship or immigration status. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Describe the origins and purposes and impact of governing documents and policies (e.g., U.S. Constitution, Illinois Constitution, laws, treaties, and international agreements) and synthesize their application and impacts on multiple groups of people with how they have changed over time. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Describe and analyze the roles of political, civil, and economic organizations from a national to local scale in impacting multiple individuals and communities. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain the origins, functions, and structure of government with reference to the U.S. Constitution, Illinois Constitution, and other systems of government and how they have impacted multiple groups of people. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze the origins, purposes, and processes connected to maintaining or changing powers and how individuals and societies protect, grant, or deny rights. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Evaluate the powers and responsibilities of individuals, political parties, interest groups, and the media; how these have changed over time; and the impacts on multiple communities. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze how the application of laws and the protection, granting, or denial of individual and collective rights have impacted participation and powers of various groups of people. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Synthesize how the changes over time in the application of laws and granting or denial of rights have impacted governments, public officials, and bureaucracies at different levels in the United States, U.S. territories, and tribal nations within the United States. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Identify the means used by individuals and groups to either maintain or change powers and protect, grant, or deny rights of individuals and communities in societies. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze the relationships among democratic principles, civic virtues, special interests, and perspectives to the ideas and principles contained in the constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements of the United States and other countries. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze the origins, purposes, and processes connected to maintaining or changing powers and how individuals and societies protect, grant, or deny rights. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze and synthesize ideas and principles contained in the founding and governing documents and practices of the United States, U.S. territories, and tribal nations within the United States. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain how granting rights for individuals or communities does not reduce the ability of other individuals or communities to exercise the same rights and evaluate how efforts to maintain systems or initiate change within societies have worked for or against the benefit or oppression of multiple groups. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Evaluate and critique deliberative processes regarding the development and application of governing documents and policies and how they have changed over time. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain how economic decisions affect the well-being of individuals, businesses and society. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain how external benefits and costs influence choices. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to current economic issues in terms of benefits and costs for different groups and society as a whole. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in a market economy. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Describe the roles of institutions, such as corporations, non-profits, and labor unions in a market economy. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain how changes in supply and demand cause changes in prices and quantities of goods and services, labor, credit, and foreign currencies. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain why standards of living increase as productivity improves. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain barriers to trade and how those barriers influence trade among nations. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Evaluate employment, unemployment, inflation, total production, income and economic growth data and how they affect different groups. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze the relationship between skills, education, jobs, and income. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain the roles and relationships between savers, borrowers, interest, time, and the purposes for saving. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Identify how people choose to buy goods and services while still maintaining a budget based on income, taxes, savings, and fixed and variable interest rates. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain the correlation between investors, investment options (and associated risks), and income/wealth. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Describe the connection between credit, credit options, and interest and credit history. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze the relationship between financial risks and protection, insurance and costs. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Use geographic representations (e.g., maps, photographs, satellite images) to explain relationships between the locations (places and regions) and changes in their environment. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Use mapping and graphing to represent and analyze spatial patterns of different environmental and cultural characteristics. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Construct different representations to explain the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain how humans and their environment affect one another. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Compare and contrast the cultural and environmental characteristics of different places or regions. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Evaluate how cultural and economic decisions influence environments and the daily lives of people in both nearby and distant places. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain how environmental characteristics affect human migration and settlement. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain how changes in transportation and communication influence the spatial connections among human settlements and affect the spread of ideas and culture. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Evaluate the influences of long-term, human-induced environmental change on spatial patterns of conflict and cooperation. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Identify how cultural and environmental characteristics vary among regions of the world. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain how global changes in population distribution patterns affect changes in land use. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze how the environmental characteristics of places and production of goods influence patterns of world trade. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Identify and describe the contexts of a series of historical events and developments as examples of change and/or continuity based on the perspectives of multiple diverse groups. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze connections and disconnections among events and developments in broader historical contexts and identify the effects of events on groups of people who have been marginalized. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Evaluate the significance of historical events to multiple groups and the relationship to modern-day movements and events. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Explain how and why perspectives of people have changed over time. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze and compare multiple factors that influenced the perspectives of multiple groups of people during different historical eras relevant to the cultural groups. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Evaluate how perspectives of multiple individuals and groups have impacted the availability of information and the creation of historical sources. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Classify the kinds of historical sources used in a secondary interpretation to include sources representing multiple perspectives. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Detect possible biases and limitations in the historical record based on evidence collected from different kinds of historical sources by identifying the author, purpose, funding/source, type of publication/outlet, intended audience, etc. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Evaluate the validity of claims made in historical sources representing a variety of perspectives, describe the possible or actual impact(s) of the sources on audiences, and determine uses and applications. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Describe the differences between correlation and causation in historical events and explain multiple causes and effects of historical events. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Compare and contrast the central historical arguments in secondary works across multiple media. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Organize and critique applicable evidence to develop a coherent argument about the past. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Create essential questions that consider multiple perspectives to guide inquiry about a topic. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Ask essential and focused questions that consider multiple perspectives and will lead to independent research. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Determine sources representing multiple points of view and diversity of authorship that will assist in organizing a research plan. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Determine the value of sources by evaluating their relevance and intended use. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Determine the credibility of sources based upon their origin, authority, and context. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Gather relevant information from credible sources and determine whether they support each other. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Appropriately cite all the sources that are used. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Identify evidence from multiple sources to support claims, noting any limitations of the evidence. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Develop claims and counterclaims using evidence from credible sources while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging the arguments' strengths and limitations. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Construct explanations for a specific audience using reasoning, correct sequences, examples, and details, while acknowledging their strengths and weaknesses. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Present arguments and explanations that would appeal to audiences and venues outside of the classroom, using a variety of methods. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Critique the structure and credibility of arguments and explanations (self and others) about a topic. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Analyze how a problem can manifest itself, identify the individuals and communities impacted by a problem, and address the challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to take action toward solutions. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Assess individual and collective capacities within a given context to take action, address problems, and identify potential outcomes. This standard applies to grades 6-8.

Apply a range of deliberative and democratic procedures to make decisions and take action in schools and community contexts. This standard applies to grades 6-8.