8th grade Social Studies
8 units matched to the Maine Learning Results.
Focus areas
- United States history from the founding to Reconstruction
- Maine and the nation, 1820 to 1865
- The Constitution, rights and sources
Units
Unit 1
Founding Ideas
Ideas the Founders drew from Greece and Rome, the Enlightenment and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, why the Articles of Confederation failed, and the compromises and debates of the Constitution.
Learning standard: Civics & Government 1; History 1 · the ideas behind the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution
Unit 2
Rights & Amendments
What the first ten amendments protect, the Reconstruction Amendments, and why rights come with limits and responsibilities.
Learning standard: Civics & Government 2 · the rights the Constitution and the Bill of Rights protect, and how government power is limited
Unit 3
Factories & Reformers
The Industrial Revolution in the North, canals, roads and railroads, immigration, public schools, and the abolition and women's rights movements before 1861.
Learning standard: History 1; Economics · factories, workers and the reformers of the 1800s
Unit 4
Reconstruction
Reconstruction from 1865 to 1877 as a bridge to high school US history: the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, Black officeholders, the violence that opposed them and how gains were later rolled back.
Learning standard: History 2; Civics & Government 2 · Reconstruction and the amendments that ended slavery and promised equal rights
Unit 5
Maps, Graphs & Data
Reading map scales and legends, choropleth maps, scatter graphs and correlation (and why correlation does not prove cause), and what population pyramids say about a country's age and growth. The data in the questions are made up for practice.
Learning standard: Geography 1 · using maps, graphs and data to show change over time
Unit 6
Sources & Evidence
Children practice choosing and judging sources, reading artifacts and art, comparing accounts and drawing conclusions from evidence.
Learning standard: History 1 · analyzing primary and secondary sources and judging how reliable they are
Unit 7
Maine and the Nation
Maine in United States history from 1820 to Reconstruction: statehood and the Missouri Compromise, the Aroostook War, the Maine Law and reform, Mainers in the fight over slavery (Stowe, Russwurm, Lovejoy, Hamlin), the 20th Maine and the Civil War, and the Reconstruction amendments.
Learning standard: History 1; History 2; Civics & Government 3 · turning points, events and people in the history of Maine and the United States, and issues of unity and diversity
Unit 8
From Independence to Reconstruction
Ordering events in United States and Maine history from 1776 to 1877 (the founding, expansion, Maine statehood, the road to the Civil War, the war and Reconstruction) and working out how far apart they are.
Learning standard: History 1 · major eras, turning points, events and timeframes in the history of Maine and the United States
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