Alabama 8th Grade Social Studies Standards

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Prehistory and the rise of civilization

• 1 Explain how artifacts and other archaeological findings provide evidence of the nature and movement of prehistoric groups of people.
  • Identifying the founding of Rome as the basis of the calendar established by Julius Caesar and used in early Western civilization for over a thousand years
  • Identifying the birth of Christ as the basis of the Gregorian calendar used in the United States since its beginning and in most countries of the world today, signified by B.C. and A.D.
  • Using vocabulary terms other than B.C. and A.D. to describe time
  • Identifying terms used to describe characteristics of early societies and family structures
• 2 Analyze characteristics of early civilizations in respect to technology, division of labor, government, calendar, and writings.
  • Comparing significant features of civilizations that developed in the Tigris-Euphrates, Nile, Indus, and Huang He River Valleys
  • Identifying on a map locations of cultural hearths of early civilizations
• 3 Compare the development of early world religions and philosophies and their key tenets.
  • Identifying cultural contributions of early world religions and philosophies

Early civilizations in Europe, Asia, and Africa

• 4 Identify cultural contributions of Classical Greece, including politics, intellectual life, arts, literature, architecture, and science.
• 5 Describe the role of Alexander the Great in the Hellenistic world.
  • Defining boundaries of Alexander the Great’s empire and its economic impact
  • Identifying reasons for the separation of Alexander the Great’s empire into successor kingdoms
  • Evaluating major contributions of Hellenistic art, philosophy, science, and political thought
• 6 Trace the expansion of the Roman Republic and its transformation into an empire, including key geographic, political, and economic elements.
  • Interpreting spatial distributions and patterns of the Roman Republic using geographic tools and technologies
• 7 Describe the widespread impact of the Roman Empire.
  • Tracing important aspects of the diffusion of Christianity, including its relationship to Judaism, missionary impulse, organizational development, transition from persecution to acceptance in the Roman Empire, and church doctrine
  • Explaining the role of economics, societal changes, Christianity, political and military problems, external factors, and the size and diversity of the Roman Empire in its decline and fall
• 8 Describe the development of a classical civilization in India and China.
  • Identifying the effect of monsoons on India
  • Identifying landforms and climate regions of China
• 9 Describe the rise of the Byzantine Empire, its institutions, and its legacy, including the influence of the Emperors Constantine and Justinian and the effect of the Byzantine Empire on art, religion, architecture, and law.
  • Identifying factors leading to the establishment of the Eastern Orthodox Church
• 10 Trace the development of the early Russian state and the expansion of its trade systems.
• 11 Describe early Islamic civilizations, including the development of religious, social, and political systems.
  • Tracing the spread of Islamic ideas through invasion and conquest throughout the Middle East, northern Africa, and western Europe
• 12 Describe China’s influence on culture, politics, and economics in Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.
• 13 Compare the African civilizations of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai to include geography, religions, slave trade, economic systems, empires, and cultures.
  • Tracing the spread of language, religion, and customs from one African civilization to another
  • Illustrating the impact of trade among Ghana, Mali, and Songhai

Early civilizations in the Americas

• 14 Describe key aspects of pre-Columbian cultures in the Americas including the Olmecs, Mayas, Aztecs, Incas, and North American tribes.
  • Locating on a map sites of pre-Columbian cultures

Europe in the Middle Ages

• 15 Describe military and governmental events that shaped Europe in the early Middle Ages (600-1000 A.D.).
  • Describing the role of the early medieval church
  • Describing the impact of new agricultural methods on manorialism and feudalism
• 16 Describe major cultural changes in Western Europe in the High Middle Ages (1000-1300 A.D.).
  • Describing changing roles of church and governmental leadership
  • Comparing political developments in France, England, and the Holy Roman Empire, including the signing of the Magna Carta
  • Describing the growth of trade and towns resulting in the rise of the middle class
• 17 Explain how events and conditions fostered political and economic changes in the late Middle Ages and led to the origins of the Renaissance.
  • Identifying changes in the arts, architecture, literature, and science in the late Middle Ages (1300-1400 A.D.)