Social Studies Department

Social Studies scholars

The Social Studies Department at CCSMS is dedicated to providing students with the tools they need to become effective citizens in a complex and changing world. Our Social Studies program teaches students about the nature of humanity, society, politics, economics, and history. Students learn beyond the traditional methods of memorization to see the bigger picture. We strive to empower our students and help them to find their place in our nations future.

Courses

Course	Course Description
World Geography College Prep	World Geography is a survey of the world’s physical environment, peoples, cultures, and economics, with a focus on selected world regions. Special emphasis is paid to the issue of human interaction with the environment, and to the application of geographic concepts and skills. All scholars will complete activities that range from text, image, and map analyses, the completion of quizzes and tests, to the participation in on-line discussions with other scholars. The course curriculum meets the South Carolina State Standards in World Geography.
World History Honors	This course is a political, social, and cultural survey of world history from approximately 1300 to the present. It provides the reading, writing, and analytical skills necessary for each scholar to achieve success in this college preparatory course, while helping each scholar master the arts of historical interpretation and analysis. Each scholar will actively engage in various activities including interactive reading, videos, quizzes, and short-term projects.
AP Human Geography	The Advanced Placement Human Geography course is equivalent to an introductory college-level course in human geography. The course introduces scholars to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of the Earth’s surface. Scholars employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine socioeconomic organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their research and applications.
Civics College Prep
US History Honors and College Prep offered	The focus of United States History and the Constitution is the story of the American people from the period of the colonial settlement to the present day—the establishment of the British colonies and the transfer of English political traditions, the creation of the United States as a new nation, westward expansion, the American Civil War and Reconstruction, the response to industrialization and urbanization of the late nineteenth century, and the nation’s developing role in world affairs in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. United States History and the Constitution is generally taught in grade eleven.
AP U.S. History	The Advanced Placement U.S. History and Constitution course focuses on developing scholars’ understanding of American history from approximately 1491 to the present. The course has scholars investigate the content of U.S. history for significant events, individuals, developments, and processes in nine historical periods, and develop and use the same thinking skills and methods (analyzing primary and secondary sources, making historical comparisons, chronological reasoning, and argumentation) employed by historians when they study the past. The course also provides seven themes (American and national identity; migration and settlement; politics and power; work, exchange, and technology; America in the world; geography and the environment; and culture and society) that scholars explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places.
AP Psychology (Note – we list this both under Science and Social Studies as we teach it with a science focus. It is a Social Studies credit.)	This course introduces scholars to the systematic and scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. While considering the psychologists and studies that have shaped the field, scholars explore and apply psychological theories, key concepts, and phenomena associated with such topics as the biological bases of behavior, sensation and perception, learning and cognition, motivation, developmental psychology, testing and individual differences, treatment of abnormal behavior, and social psychology. Throughout the course, scholars employ psychological research methods, including ethical considerations, as they use the scientific method, analyze bias, evaluate claims and evidence, and effectively communicate ideas.
Government/ Economics Honors and College Prep	Economics is the study of how people use limited resources. In this course, we will examine the decision making process in using those resources, how markets develop to move those resources, how the government oversees those markets, and how those markets have developed to become global in scope. This course incorporates the structure, organization and function of the American political system. Topics studied include the foundations of U.S. government and the three major branches of government and the Constitution. Scholars will study the details of the political system at the national state and local levels.
Dual Credit Options	With CCSMS approval, scholars may also take dual credit courses with specified colleges to earn both high school and college credits.