Social Studies, Grade 8

Unit 1: Understanding Societies Past and Present

Cluster 1: how to study societies — world views, society and civilization, why societies change, historical evidence, human origins, hunter-gatherers, agrarian societies, and the environment.

• The concept of world view
• What creates differences in world views
• Society and civilization
• Why societies stay the same or change
• How societies organize and continue
• Sources of historical evidence
• Why knowing the past matters
• Stories and theories of human origins
• The hunter-gatherer way of life
• The rise of agrarian societies
• The environment and the growth of societies

Unit 2: Early Societies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, or the Indus Valley

Cluster 2: an in-depth study of one early river-valley society — its geography, groups, art and science, people and writing, governance, tools, and defining characteristics.

• Landforms, water, and population of the early society
• The environment and ways of life
• Life for various groups in the early society
• Art, architecture, and science
• People, events, and ideas of the early society
• The development of writing
• Governance in the early society
• Technologies and tools
• Defining characteristics of early civilizations

Unit 3: Ancient Societies of Greece and Rome

Cluster 3: ancient Greece and Rome — citizenship and democracy, Sparta and Athens, myths, the rule of law, Roman governance and expansion, their lasting influence, and ancient civilizations.

• Social organization of ancient Greece
• The rise of democracy in ancient Greece
• Citizenship: ancient Greece and Canada
• Sparta and Athens
• Myths in ancient Greek culture
• The origins of the rule of law

• The expansion of the Roman Empire
• Structures of governance in ancient Rome
• War and territorial expansion in Rome
• The rise and decline of Greece and Rome
• People, events, and ideas of Greece and Rome
• How Greece and Rome shaped today's world
• Technologies and achievements of Greece and Rome
• Trade and the exchange of ideas in Rome
• Ancient civilizations, 500 BCE to 500 CE

Unit 4: Transition to the Modern World (Circa 500 to 1400)

Cluster 4: the medieval world — the fall of Rome, medieval Europe and the Church, the Crusades, the Arab conquests and Islamic achievements, the Vikings, the Mongols, China, and global exchange.

• The fall of the Western Roman Empire
• Characteristics of medieval Europe
• The Catholic Church in medieval Europe
• Work and education in medieval Europe
• Motivations and consequences of the Crusades
• The Arab conquests
• Islamic achievements, 7th to 15th centuries
• The Viking invasions
• The Mongol Empire
• China as an advanced civilization
• Major events, 5th to 15th centuries
• The spread of ideas and technologies
• Achievements in diverse societies
• The Ottoman Empire
• Technological developments, 5th to 15th centuries

Unit 5: Shaping the Modern World (Circa 1400 to 1850)

Cluster 5: the making of the modern world — the Renaissance, the Reformation, global exploration and its impact on indigenous peoples, science and technology, the Industrial Revolution, and world religions.

• The Renaissance
• Individuals and significance of the Renaissance
• The Protestant Reformation
• Major events, 15th to 18th centuries
• Voyages of European explorers
• Motivations and impact of global exploration
• Europeans and indigenous peoples
• Science and technology, 15th to 19th centuries
• The Industrial Revolution
• World religions of antiquity
• The continuing influence of past societies