Welcome to the APG Social Studies page.   

APG Social Studies is a course that is designed to meet the needs of each individual student.  Math topics and coursework vary from year to year and from student to student.  Typically, freshmen study a variety of social studies topics (including current events, law, and citizenship), sophomores study Civics and Pre-Civil War American History, juniors/seniors study post Civil War history as indicated by the state of Connecticut's Social Studies Curricular Frameworks. An important role of APG Social Studies is preparing students for the Interdisciplinary Writing writing test that is assessed by the 10th grade CAPT test.  Students enrolled in APG Social Studies can expect to have frequent practice and feedback around persuasive writing.

Social Studies skills include but are not limited to:

   Gather, analyze and reconcile historical information, including contradictory data, from primary and secondary sources to support or reject hypotheses.

    Interpret oral traditions and legends and “histories”

    Use primary source  documents to analyze multiple perspectives

    Demonstrate an understanding of major events and trends in world history, United States and local history, from all historical periods and from all the regions of the world.

Locate the events, peoples and places they have studied in time and place (e.g., on a timeline and map) relative to their own location

Explain the relationships among the events and trends studies in local, state, national and world history.

 Describe basic tenets of the world religions that have acted as major forces throughout history, including, but not limited to, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, and indigenous popular religions.

Give examples of the  visual arts, dance, music, theater and architecture of the major periods of history and explain what they indicate about the values and beliefs of various societies.

Demonstrate an understanding of the ways race, gender, ethnicity and class issues have affected individuals and societies in the past

Explain how the use and expansion of trade have connected and affected the history of a global economy.

Initiate questions and hypotheses about historic events they are studying.

Describe and analyze, using historical data and  understandings, the options which are available to parties involved in contemporary conflicts or decision-making.

 Be active learners at cultural institutions such as museums and historical exhibitions.

 Display empathy for people who have lived in the past

Describe relationships between historical subject matter and other subjects they study, current issues and personal concerns

Analyze historical and contemporary conflicts through the respective roles of local, state and national governments.

Explain how the design of the U.S. Constitution is intended to balance and check the powers of the branches of government

Evaluate the contemporary roles of political parties, associations, media groups and public opinion in local, state and national politics.

Identify and explain characteristics needed for effective participation in public life

Monitor and influence the formation and implementation of policy through various forms of participation

Evaluate the importance of developing self-government so as to restrict arbitrary power.

Analyze and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of limited and unlimited government

Describe how constitutions may limit government in order to protect individual rights and promote the common good

Describe how the United States influences other governments and international organizations and how the United States, in turn, is influenced by them.

Develop proposals regarding solutions to significant international, political, economic, demographic or environmental issues

Analyze the respective roles of the executive and legislative branches in developing and implementing foreign policy.

Explain and describe the natural and cultural characteristics of one place to distinguish it from another.

Apply the concept of region to organize the study of a complex problem

Explain that regions are interconnected and may also overlap.

 Our means of study will be: textbook readings, outline completion, essay writing, technology based projects, and videos.