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2009-2010 Program Planning Guide
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Social Studies Global
History I
Grade 9 - 1 credit Global
History II
Grade 10 - 1 credit Advanced
Placement European History Grades
10-12 - 1 credit United States History and Government Beginning with a survey of United States history and intellectual forces from 1607-1865, this course proceeds through five units focused on the United States since 1865. They are: the Industrialization of the United States; At Home and Abroad: Prosperity, Depression and War, 1917-1940; United States in an Age of Global Crisis: Responsibility and Cooperation; A World in Uncertain Times: 1950-Present; and, Looking Backward. Throughout the course enduring constitutional issues will be studied. They include: National Power limits and Potentials: Federalism - the Balance between Nation and State; The Judiciary - Interpreter of the Constitution or Shaper of Public Policy; Civil Liberties - the Balance between the Government and the Individual; Criminal Liberties - Rights of the Accused and Protection of the Community; Equality - its Definition as Constitutional Value; The Rights of Women Under the Constitution; The Rights of Ethnic and Racial Groups under the Constitution; Presidential Power in Wartime and in Foreign Affairs; The Separation of Powers and the Capacity to Govern; Avenues of Representation; Property Rights and Change and Flexibility. At the end of the course students must take the United States History and Government Regents. Grade 11 - 1 credit [top] Advanced Placement US History The Advanced Placement Course in American History is designed to provide students with the analytical skills and factual knowledge necessary to deal critically with the problems and issues in American History. The course prepares students for college by making demands upon them equivalent to those of a full-year introductory college course. Students learn to assess historical materials - their relevance to a given interpretive problem, their reliability, and their importance and to weigh the evidence and the interpretations presented in historical scholarship. Students must take the Advanced Placement Examination and, following the AP exam, they study additional units and prepare for the United States History and Government Regents Grade 11-12 - 1 credit [top] Economics This one semester course introduces students to the workings of the American economic system through the use of current and historic newspaper articles. It will emphasize how economic decisions are made and how they affect our daily lives. Topics will include supply and demand, the business community, consumer activities, the role of government, and international trade. Grade 12 - 1/2 credit [top] Advanced Placement Economics This ONE YEAR course of study will prepare students for both the macro and the micro economics exams administered by the College Board in May. The basic themes essential to all economics courses (scarcity, opportunity costs, the structure of the U.S. economy, demand, supply and market equilibrium, the price system and market elasticity) are followed by an examination of micro economics (consumers and firms, market imperfections, the role of government, and current micro economic issues including public finance, taxation and labor markets). The third component of the course focuses on macroeconomic theory (measuring national output and income, unemployment, inflation and growth; discussing aggregate expenditure and equilibrium output monetary and fiscal policy as well as aggregate demand and aggregate supply, stabilization, the labor market and inflation). Each Advanced Placement exam is administered in a two, rather than the traditional three, hour time period. Students are required to take the Advanced Placement exams. Course meets state graduation requirement in economics. Grade 12 - 1 credit [top] Economic Ideas and Issues: Project Advance Syracuse University This one semester course begins with a presentation of the scientific method and model building which is then used to analyze the question: How do individuals and societies make choices when they are faced with scarcity? Beginning with the individual in the simplest of situations, a one-person society, the course moves step by step to develop a model of a complex society based on division of labor and exchange through markets. The process takes students from the microeconomic to the macroeconomic level, emphasizing the connection between these two perspectives. Students examine the benefits, as well as the problems, inherent in a market-oriented economy. The course prepares students to analyze and understand the ongoing economic policy debate between interventionists and non-interventionists. Tuition fee required to be enrolled in the course. Upon successful completion of this course, students may earn three college credits. Grade 12 - 1/2 credit [top] Participation in Government This is a culminating course that relates the content and skills components of the K-11 social studies curriculum, in particular, and the total educational experience, in general, to the individual student's need to act as a responsible citizen. Then content is drawn from the broad range of experience the student has encountered throughout his/her educational experience. Content in the form of data, facts or knowledge related to problems or issues addressed by the students and the intellectual processes or operation necessary for dealing with the data generated from the problems or issues addressed will be the substance of the course. Grade 12 - 1/2 credit [top] AP Government & Politics This introductory college course is intended to answer the question posed by every political science student, who (really) governs? Through the examination of competing theories of political power and through the analysis of competing interests (majoritarian politics, interest-group pressures, etc.), the process by which public policy is established is studied. Taking the College Board examination is a requirement for course credit. Meets government graduation requirement Grade 12 - credit 1/2 [top] Public
Affairs 101 Introduction to Analysis Public Policy NOT OFFERED 2009 - 2010 Satisfies State Required Government Course. Public Affairs 101 is designed to introduce students to basic skills of public policy analysis. These include the ability to define and identify the components of public policy issues; communicate ideas and findings with respect to public policy issues; use library facilities to collect information on public policy issues; use graphs, tables, and statistics in the analysis of public policy; examine the use of surveys; identify a social problem and propose a public policy to deal with that problem; design a study to evaluate the impact of a proposed public policy; and analyze the political factions affecting the implementation of a proposed public policy. The course consists of five modules: Introduction to Basic Concepts Required in the Analysis of Public Policy; Acquiring Information: Surveys, Use of the Library; Introduction to the Use of Graphs, Tables, and Statistics; Formulating and Evaluating Public Policy; Implementing Public Policy. Tuition fee required to be enrolled in the course. Upon successful completion of this course, students may earn three college credits. Grade 12 - 1/2 credit [top] Exploring Childhood I (with Lab) Students study child development and work with young children on a regular basis; thus, they develop a competence for working with young children and framework for understanding the forces that shape the development of a child. They also gain a sense of their own identity, a better understanding of their own identity, and a better understanding of their families. Grades 10-12 - 1 credit (Meets 7 1/2 periods per week) [top] Exploring Childhood II (with Lab) Students who have successfully completed Exploring Childhood I and who select this course as a senior will continue with their on-site experience working with young children. They may also fulfill their Participation in Government requirement by researching, writing and presenting a paper on a public policy issue that affects childhood development. This must be done with the approval of the teacher. Elective Grades 10-12 - 1 credit Prerequisite: Exploring Childhood I [top] Facing History & Ourselves This course provides students the opportunity to examine the decisions individuals and governments make which can lead to human rights violations and in extreme cases, genocide. The Holocaust provides the historic background for the course. Students may then choose to use this case as a basis to explore other historical examples of genocide and social injustice such as the Armenian genocide, ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and Rwanda, treatment of Native Americans, and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The Nazi "final solution" is examined in depth to explore the social and political milieu in which the Nazi Party came to power. The course examines the means by which the Nazis manipulated stereotypes, legalized discrimination and segregation and removed and eliminated those whom it deemed less than human. The course compares and analyzes decisions in the American political environment that produced the eugenics movement, the relocation of Japanese Americans at the beginning of World War II, and the role that idealism and democracy have played to move our government to actively oppose and fight discrimination. At its heart this is a course which deals with human behavior. It will require students to look at themselves and the decisions that individuals make that impact others and which influence historical events. Meets
Requirement for Participation in Government. [top] Psychology: Project Advance Syracuse University NOT OFFERED 2009 - 2010 This one semester course provides the student with a college-level introduction to psychology, the scientific study of behavior. The course content has been selected to cover the basic areas of psychological study, areas which will be a foundation on which students may wish to build later by taking other courses in psychology. Opportunities are provided to pursue areas of personal interest in addition to required course materials. Tuition fee required to be enrolled in the course. Student may earn three college credits upon completion of course. Grade 12 - 1/2 credit [top] Advanced Placement Psychology Anxiety, neurosis, schizophrenia, paranoia, neurotransmitter. These are terms which have become quite common in the American lexicon by the beginning of the twenty-first century. One hundred years ago, these same terms were the manifestation of a new-born behavioral science, psychology, which had not yet entered the popular culture. Today, students are expected to distinguish between the terms, since they regularly appear in the popular press and in the media. Movies, videos, novels, current political and social history regularly describe Stalin and Saddam Unseeing as paranoid, to provide on example. Advanced Placement Psychology is designed to familiarize students with the wide range of topics that are included in an introductory psychology course: the biological basis of behavior, intelligence, memory, perception, learning, cognition, to name only a few. The assignments in the course include, but are not limited to, weekly chapters in the college text and accompanying questions which are designed to promote thought and class discussions. There are regular supplemental readings from journals and magazines and creative research projects on topics that are of interest to students. There are singular and multi-chapter tests and take home essays from previous College Board exams. Students are required to take the Advanced Placement Exam. Grade 12 - 1 credit [top] Tournament Debate I Students learn philosophy, rhetoric and study and practice debating strategies and techniques. Current events and controversial issues are analyzed and debated. Novice debaters will hone skills, such as critical listening, research and public speaking. We will discuss current events and the historical components necessary to participate in Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum Debates. Students are encouraged to debate with students from other schools at the Long Island Forensic Association's competitions. Students also have the opportunity to participate in local and state debate competitions. Grades 9 - 12 - 1/2 credit Tournament Debate II Students will prepare for intermediate competitions with an emphasis on philosophy and archetypal values of democracy and liberty. We will expand upon the skills and topics taught in the novice course. Students are encouraged to debate with students from other schools, at Long Island Forensic Association competitions. Students have the opportunity to participate in local and state debate competitions. Grades 10-12 1/2 credit [top] Advanced Debate I & II These courses are available to students who have successfully completed Tournament Debate and have competed on the intermediate debate level. Students enrolled will be debating on the advanced level in school and at the Long Island Forensic League Competitions. Grades
10, 11, 12 - 1/2 credit [top] History Through Documentary Filmmaking Students will build relevant connections to social studies topics by researching, planning, filming and editing their own documentaries. The course will teach students how to access on-line video archives, how documentary histories are created, and how to construct a short documentary film. This course will challenge students to develop and explore meaningful connections between curriculum themes and contemporary issues. Examples of recurrent historical and political themes that could be explored include foreign affairs, civil rights issues, national security, and international human rights. Grades 9-12 - 1/2 credit [top] Teaching History through Hollywood Films Students are taught to integrate film analysis with a study in history. Students learn that feature films, like written documents, reflect the social, political and economic realities of the time period in which they were produced. Films are a collaboration of thousands of individuals, of different ethnic, age, racial, class, religious, and gender backgrounds. Motion pictures also reveal the shared views, beliefs, concerns and attitudes of the people of an era. There will also be an in depth analysis of Hollywood fact or fiction, the placement of historical facts in films, and the verification of certain themes or messages from each of the films. Grades 9-12 - 1/2 credit [top] Introduction to Philosophy This course will introduce philosophy as an essential human activity. It will focus on processes used by philosophers as they have examined fundamental questions like: What is reason? How can we know what is true? How do we know right from wrong? What is the relationship among self, mind and body? What is beautiful? What is the purpose of government? This course will include the study of major social thinkers of the Western world. Some Eastern works will also be addressed. In addition to traditional classroom activities, the seminar method will be used. Therefore, oral participation skills will be taught and class participation will be required. Challenging reading and written analysis will also be expected. By taking this course students should expect that their reading, reasoning and writing skills will improve. grades 10-12 - 1/2 credit [top]
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