California Standards

 

Grade Six

6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Kush

6.2.1 Locate and describe the major river systems and discuss the physical settings that supported permanent settlement and early civilizations

6.3 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the Ancient Hebrews. (Babylonian Captivity, Biblical stories: Garden of Eden, Great Flood etc.)

6.4.5 Outline the founding, expansion and political organization of the Persian Empire.

 

Grade Seven

7.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious and social structures of the civilization of Islam in the Middle Ages.

7.2:4 Discuss the expansion of Muslim rule through military conquests and treaties, emphasizing the cultural blending within Muslim civilization and the spread and acceptance of Islam and the Arabic language.

 

Grade Eight

8.1 Students understand the major events preceding the founding of the nation and relate their significance to the development of American constitutional democracy.

8.3 Students understand the foundation of the American political system and the ways in which citizens participate in it.  (In Britain, the government responded to the wishes of the people by pulling troops out of Iraq. How has the American government responded to the wishes of U.S. citizens?)

8.5 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy in the early Republic

8.10 Students analyze the multiple causes, key events, and complex consequences of the Civil War. (How does the U.S. Civil War compare with civil war in Iraq between Sunnis and Shi’ites, secular Iraqis and religious Iraqis, insurgents and collaborators and among Shi’as in southern Iraq? How did the U.S. Civil War end? How can it be held as a model for ending civil war in Iraq?)

 

Grade Ten

Students study major turning points that shaped the modern world from the late 18^th century through the present.

10.1.2 Trace the development of the Western political ideas of the rule of law and illegitimacy of tyranny, using selections from Plato's Republic and Aristotle's Politics (Compare Saddam Hussein’s reign with the current Iraqi government. Compare Islamic-based law [sharia] with secular law)

10.1. Consider the influence of the U.S. Constitution on political systems in the contemporary world. (How does the American Constitution compare with Iraq’s new constitution?)

10:6 Students analyze the effects of the First World War. (Problems resulting from the creation of Iraq)
10.6.2 Describe the effects of the war and resulting peace treaties on population movement, the international economy, and shift in the geographic and political borders of Europe and the Middle East.

10.9.6 Understand how the forces of nationalism developed in the Middle East…and the significance and effects of the location and establishment of Israel on world affairs.

10.10 Students analyze instances of nation-building in the contemporary world in at least two of the following regions or countries: the Middle East….

 

Grade Eleven

11.3 Students analyze the role religion played in the founding of America, its lasting moral, social, and political impacts, and issues regarding religious liberty

11.3.5 Describe the principles of religious liberty found in the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment, including the debate on the issue of separation of church and state. (How does the separation of church and state compare with the Islamic model of Sharia? How does/will Iraq deal with religious differences in the country: Sunnis, Shi’as, Christians, Jews etc.)

11.4 Students trace the rise of the United States to its role as a world power in the twentieth century (America’s role in Iraq – too involved? Or not involved enough? Should the U.S. pull out of Iraq or stay and help build the country? See Neocon arguments about America’s responsibility as a powerful, free and democratic nation).

11.7 Students analyze America's participation in World War II

11.7.6 Describe major developments in aviation, weaponry, communication, and medicine and the war's impact on the location of American industry and use of resources (Halliburton?)

11.7.8 Analyze the effect of massive aid given to Western Europe under the Marshall Plan to rebuild itself after the war and the importance of a rebuilt Europe to the U.S. economy (Reconstruction of Iraq?)

11.9 Students analyze U.S. foreign policy since World War II

11.9.1 Discuss the establishment of the United Nations and International Declaration of Human Rights

11.9.2 Understand the role of military alliances, including NATO and SEATO, in deterring communist aggression and maintaining security during the Cold War.

11.9.4 List the effects of foreign policy on domestic policies and vice versa (e.g., protests during the war in Vietnam, the "nuclear freeze" movement). (Compared to the protests in England over the Iraq war)

11.9.6 Describe U.S. Middle East policy and its strategic, political, and economic interests, incl. those related to the Gulf War