8th Grade Standards

John Stokes
Capstone Portfolio

Standards Overview

Citizenship and Government: (3 Benchmarks)

-Civic Skills (1 Benchmark)
-Relationship of the United State to other Nations and Organizations (2 Benchmarks)

Economics: (4 Benchmarks)
-Economic Reasoning Skills (1 Benchmark)
-Fundamental Concepts (2 Benchmarks)
-Macro-economic (1 Benchmark)

Geography: (30 Benchmarks)

-Geospatial Skills (4 Benchmarks)
-Places and Regions (1 Benchmark)
-Human System (18 Benchmarks)
-Human Environment Interaction (7 Benchmarks)

History: (12 Benchmarks)

-Historical Thinking Skills (1 Benchmark)
-World History (11 Benchmarks)
Resources:

Citizenship and Government:

http://www.choices.edu/resources/t wtn/twtnisis.php
http://www.choices.edu/resources/t wtn/twtnsyriafall2013.php

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/1795537?tabid =6cde61e172a153b7b08f-
9a7e2f8407a2

Economics:
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/1795537?tabid=41d79d9307ab38d3bc66-
5911c7f03c0a

http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/map
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/1795537?tab id=8c24203f3ba0679f10b9-
e200209915eb

Geography:
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/02/144 489844/timelinethemajorevents ofthearabspring
http://www.livebinders.com/edit?id =1795537#

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/201 1/02/06/weekinreview/06marsh.html?ref
=weekinreview.

History:
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/1795537?tabid= 17aaeabc4b4ad66071f6-
76aeb21edd8a

http://www.livebinders.com/edit?id =1795537#

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/1795537?tabid=292b9b d68547d9611258-
2d9ed2f04fac

Summary of Standards
As described in the Minnesota Social Studies Standards there are several main

themes to focus on in 8th grade and certain areas that students should excel

in and areas where teachers that teachers should focus on. Grade 8 is referred

to as Global Studies and the lead focus should be on Geography with a

secondary focus on History. Throughout the Global Studies curriculum teachers

should focus on various regions of the world using from both print and

electronic sources. By the end of 8th grade students should be able to

analyze current trends in the world such as demographic change, shifting

trends, and increased cultural interactions that are occurring due to

increased globalization. Students at the end of the class should be able to

analyze connections between revolutions, independence movements and also

the Social Transformations that are happening in modern society. Educators

in 8th grade need to focus on the following regions North America, Latin

America, Europe and Russia, Southwest Asia and North Africa, East Asia and

Southeast Asia, South Asia and Central Asia, Africa South of the Sahara and
Australia/Oceania. Several time periods should also be covered throughout the

year and these include The New Global Era: 1989 to Present and The World

After World War II: 19501989. The strengths of this theme is that it allows

students to learn more about the world and cultures throughout them. It

allows students to study different regions and to learn what is going on in

each region and it also teaches them about where their ancestors came from

and even more about their own culture. A weakness of this theme is that

there is a lot to cover throughout the year so teachers may not be able to go

as in depth on every topic they like and students may miss out on vital

information.

Lesson Plan 1

Lesson Plan 1: Oil? Where does it come from?

Objective: Oil is one of the most important resources on the earth today. It
is estimated that 1,184 billion barrels remain in the earth as of 2008. Others
estimate much higher, depending how realistic it is to extract and use all of
the oil.
Where is it? Petrostrategies.org estimates most of the world's oil reserves
are in the Middle East (59.9%) with Europe & Eurasia having 11.3% and
Africa with 10.09%. North America has just under 5%.
In the next few days well create maps of oil, read about how oil is used, and
learn about OPEC, an important group of oil producers

Source: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/1795537?tabid

%20=6cde61e172a153b7b08f9a7e2f8407a2

MN K-12 State Standards for Social Studies 8.3.4.10.5

The meaning, use, distribution and importance of resources changes over

time.

Benchmark: Describe how the distribution and development of oil and

water resources influence the economy and societies of Southwest Asia and
North Africa.

Strengths and Weaknesses: A strength of this lesson is that it is interactive. Students get to
gather information from the lesson about oil and then they get to draw locations where oil is
prevalent on a map that is provided to them. Another strength of this lesson is that it is really
self-guided learning for the students and they get to participate in the idea of discovery learning.
Another strength is that this lesson also serves as an assessment technique as you can see the
students answers to see a gauge of how they are learning. A weakness of this lesson is that it is
very self-guided and some students may struggle staying on task or working in a group.

Lesson Plan 2

Lesson Plan 2: Conflict and Cooperation in Nigeria

Objective: Students will gather data about Nigeria from the learning
stations and write a reaction paper based on the information from the
graphic organizer and respond to the inquiry question. Students will create a
poster explaining what they learned.

Source:
https://gai.uni.edu/sites/default/files/lesson_plans/6_8/conflict_and_c
ooperation_in_nigeria_-_a_dilemma.pdf

MN K-12 State Standards for Social Studies 8.3.3.7.1

The characteristics, distribution and complexity of the earths cultures

influence human systems (social, economic and political systems).

Benchmark: Describe independence and nationalist movements in Sub-

Saharan Africa and Asia, including India's independence movement.

Strengths and Weaknesses: A strength of this lesson plan is that it utilizes

learning stations. I think learning stations are a strength as it allows students
to participate and hands hands on learning experiences in several different
stations. A weakness of this lesson is that the only learning students will be
doing before the learning stations is reading a newspaper article, which
depending on the level of the students may be difficult for some to complete.