Tennessee Department of Education

Sociology: 9-12

Course Description: In Sociology High School, students study dynamics and models of individual and group relationships. The six social studies standards of essential content knowledge and four process skills are integrated for instructional purposes.

Standard Number: 1.0 Culture

Standard: Culture encompasses similarities and differences among people, including their beliefs, knowledge, changes, values, and tradition. Students will explore these elements of society to develop an appreciation and respect for the variety of human cultures.

Learning Expectations:

The student will

  • 1.1 understand the impact of culture on group behavior.
  • 1.2 understand the development of culture.

Performance Indicators:

1.1 understand the impact of culture on group behavior.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • identify cultural differences;
  • recognize that cultural beliefs strongly influence the values and behavior of the people who grow up in the culture, often without their being fully aware of it, and that people have different responses to these influences.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • compare marriage norms of various cultures;
  • compare learned behavior across cultures;
  • describe the impact of ethnic, national, and cultural influences on human behavior.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • analyze environmental constraints on learning opportunities;
  • demonstrate why individuals often have negative responses to unknown ideas and customs.

1.2 understand the development of culture.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • identify major social categories in U.S. culture (e.g. gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability);
  • recognize how U.S. culture is both similar to and different from cultures in other countries.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • identify situations in which bias occurs;
  • describe the components of culture;
  • examine the cultural differences of Americans, including beliefs, values, accepted behaviors and environment;
  • relate how bias and discrimination influence behavior;
  • examine a personal example of ethnocentrism.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • role-play the nature of in-group/out-group dynamics;
  • predict how self-fulfilling prophecies can fuel stereotypes about ethnic groups;
  • consider examples from early research on prejudice and discrimination.

Sample Tasks:

Wedding ritual is primarily rooted in religion and expressed according to ethnicity, and it addresses sex, fertility, honor, loyalty, and other important facets of human social and family life. Weddings developed as religious actions, so they had to feature people the bride and groom whose righteousness could and had been publicly verified through a host of engagement rituals and family background checks. The ceremony itself was designed to publicly commit the bride and groom to their roles as upholders of religion and family. In this project, the students will study wedding ceremonies common to three major world religions and learn about which religious beliefs they express and why.

Standard Number: 2.0 Economics

Standard: Globalization of the economy, the explosion of population growth, technological changes and international competition compel students to understand, both personally and globally, production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Students will examine and analyze economic concepts such as basic needs versus wants, using versus saving money, and policy-making versus decision-making.

Learning Expectations:

The student will

  • 2.1 analyze how socioeconomic factors influence group behavior.
  • 2.2 understand how individual values and beliefs influence economic decisions.
  • 2.3 analyze how the difficulty of moving from one social class to another varies greatly with time, place and economic circumstances.
  • 2.4 analyze how the characteristics of the American economy such as freedom of choice, competition, private property, profit and freedom of enterprise affect personality development.

Performance Indicators:

2.1 analyze how socioeconomic factors influence group behavior.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • identify the factors of production.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • describe the various models of capitalism, socialism and communism.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • compare and contrast the theories of Adam Smith and Karl Marx.

2.2 understand how individual values and beliefs influence economic decisions.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • define the values and beliefs of the different socioeconomic stratification.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • describe how socioeconomic status and other group and cultural influences contribute to the shaping of a person’s identity.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • identify the basic economic goals of individuals in American society.

2.3 analyze how the difficulty of moving from one social class to another varies greatly with time, place and economic circumstances.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • recognize that people often discriminate on the basis of speech, dress, behavior, and physical features;
  • recognize that certain behaviors are exhibited from different socioeconomic classes.

2.4 analyze how the characteristics of the American economy such as freedom of choice, competition, private property, profit and freedom of enterprise affect personality development.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • discuss the function of supply and demand.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • infer that social economic distinctions are a part of every culture, but they take many different forms (e.g.) rigid classes based on parentage, gradations based on the acquisition of skill, wealth, and education.

Sample Tasks:

Students are to complete the worksheet on what their life might resemble ten years from now. Then using their imaginations, they are to cut out magazine pictures appropriate to their dream future. They will then create a poster size collage of this life. They can include all the aspects of their future life: house, career, family, cars, education, etc. They must be able to describe how they will achieve these goals such as through education, promotions, or inheritance. Each student will present his or her collage to the class with a brief oral presentation.

Standard Number: 3.0 Geography

Standard: Geography enables the students to see, understand and appreciate the web of relationships between people, places, and environments. Students will use the knowledge, skills, and understanding of concepts within the six essential elements of geography: world in spatial terms, places and regions, physical systems, human systems, environment and society, and the use of geography.

Learning Expectations:

The student will

  • 3.1 understand that people adapt to their physical environment.
  • 3.2 understand that human needs are met by the places they create.

Performance Indicators:

3.1 understand that people adapt to their physical environment.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • give examples of how people adapt their needs to their physical geography.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • demonstrate how where a person lives influences one’s interests, abilities, needs, goals and values.
  • examine the effect of different geographical locations affect cultural values;

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • compare and contrast culture, values and beliefs of varied geographic regions.

3.2 understand that human needs are met by the places they create.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • give examples of how human movement influences human behavior.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • illustrate how people change the environment by removing old structures and replacing them with structures that better meet modern human needs.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • construct a web-quest that gives examples of how people have change their physical geography to meet human needs;
  • evaluate how the changing environment today in the Southeast and the globe has changed human behavior.

Sample Tasks:

Students will prepare a 3-5 minute report on a country of their choice. They may not choose the United States and they will sigh up, first come first serve. A colorful poster with the flag, map, important fact of a country and additional cultural comparisons and differences e.g. family, food, clothing, schooling, will accompany each report. Each student will critique the report of their fellow classmates and write an entry in their passport, and a notebook designed for this purpose. There will be a grade for the report and a grade for the passport.

Standard Number: 4.0 Governance and Civics

Standard: Governance establishes structures of power and authority in order to provide order and stability. Civic efficacy requires understanding rights and responsibilities, ethical behavior, and the role of citizens within their community, nation, and world.

Learning Expectations:

The student will

  • 4.1 understand the political institution and how power and authority relate to group behavior.
  • 4.2 understand conditions, actions, and motivations that contribute to conflict or cooperation.

Performance Indicators:

4.1 understand the political institution and how power and authority relate to group behavior.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • list how the government is involved in daily life.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • compare and contrast democratic and authoritarian forms of authority.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • discuss various forms of government and how power is distribute.

4.2 understand conditions, actions, and motivations that contribute to conflict or cooperation.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • list factors that motivate people to be good citizens.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • describe actions that can cause either conflict or cooperation;
  • analyze how conditions lead from conflict to cooperation.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • compare and contrast individuals who gained power and examine their personality traits.

Sample Tasks:

The students will cut out four different examples of propaganda from magazines and newspapers. Each must be of different propaganda technique. Attach each to a piece of paper. On a separate sheet of paper explain how each meets the definition of the specific technique the student chose to illustrate. Display the students' work for a general discussion.

Standard Number: 5.0 History

Standard: History involves people, events, and issues. Students will evaluate evidence to develop comparative and causal analyses and to interpret primary sources. They will construct sound historical arguments and perspectives on which informed decisions in contemporary life can be based.

Learning Expectations:

The student will

  • 5.1 understand the foundational history of sociology.

Performance Indicators:

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • identify the early sociologists and their theory development.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • contrast the differences between the theories of Locke, Cooley and Mead.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • describe the social theories of various modern sociologists (e.g. Marx, Durkheim, Weber).

Sample Tasks:

This task will analyze the historical function of fairy tales and heroic stories in socialization.

Students will prepare a poster to compare one American fairy tale or heroic story with that of another culture such as Paul Bunyan, George Washington and the cherry tree, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Mother Goose, Aesops Fables, Alexander the great, Mogli in the Jungle Book, King Arthur, etc. The student will summarize the tale for the class and show how his/her poster illustrates the moral or lesson learned (socialization). The students will compare how other cultures employed similar techniques to convey historic moral lessons.

Standard Number: 6.0 Individuals, Groups, and Interactions

Standard: Personal development and identity are shaped by factors including culture, groups, and institutions. Central to this development are exploration, identification, and analysis of how individuals and groups work independently and cooperatively.

Learning Expectations:

The student will

  • 6.1 examine personality development.
  • 6.2 explore the various ways people interact.
  • 6.3 analyze norms and values in various societies.
  • 6.4 examine adolescent development.
  • 6.5 explore the aging process in society.
  • 6.6 understand deviance.
  • 6.7 explore the idea of social mobility.
  • 6.8 understand gender and its part in shaping human behavior.
  • 6.9 analyze the various agents of socialization.
  • 6.10 understand the role of media and social trends in determining the development of society.

Performance Indicators:

6.1 examine personality development.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • recognize that people have different personalities.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • read case studies of children who were reared in environments without nurture;
  • debate the origin of personality as in nature versus nurture.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • discuss studies of twins separated at birth.

6.2 explore the various ways people interact.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • identify various group interactions.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • describe the family and how individuals are prepared to be members of society;
  • describe the role of marriage norms;
  • read various accounts of marriage norms around the world.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • analyze social institutions and their value to society.

6.3 analyze norms and values in various societies.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • define folkways, norms, values, mores and how they are learned.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • discuss ethnocentrism;
  • read accounts of primitive societies such as Margaret Mead’s work in New Guinea.
  • examine the socialization process;

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • define the agents of socialization.

6.4 examine adolescent development.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • recognize the differences adolescents face as a unique segment of society.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • define adolescence in its historical context.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • discuss puberty rites and their importance to society.

6.5 explore the aging process in society.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • explain the aging process.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • discuss various challenges to our society by the aging "baby-boomers;"
  • define Alzheimer’s disease and the need for long-term health care.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • analyze the need for Social Security reform.

6.6 understand deviance.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • look at crime in today’s society.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • examine various levels of conformity.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • discuss levels of corrections;
  • define the use of deviance in changing society.

6.7 explore the idea of social mobility.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • discuss various levels in society;
  • define being a scapegoat.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • describe assimilation in society;
  • define ethnicity;
  • discuss problems involving minorities and ethnic groups in society;
  • cite examples of genocide and population transfer.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • examine the history of segregation such as Jim Crow Laws, Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education;
  • examine levels of prejudice and racism;
  • discuss stereotypes in society;
  • create a collage of various lifestyles in today’s society.

6.8 understand gender and its part in shaping human behavior.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • define gender.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • discuss gender roles and how they are learned.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • differentiate the role of male and female within society;
  • evaluate the usefulness of gender roles.

6.9 analyze the various agents of socialization.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • recognize how norms, values, and beliefs are taught or shared;
  • define and explain the process of socialization.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • discuss each agent of socialization and how it perpetuates the goals, values and norms of society.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • explore the roles of the state, schooling, religion, sport, and science, along with the family and social class.

6.10 understand the role of media and social trends in determining the development of society.

At Level 1, the student is able to

  • define various forces in society such as fads, propaganda, panic, etc.

At Level 2, the student is able to

  • examine the shaping of public opinion by the government and the media.

At Level 3, the student is able to

  • conduct a survey of current issues.

Sample Tasks:

Using the book, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain students can challenge the definition of racism. Assign the students a short essay assignment based on the book such as: "Write your opinion about the portrayal of race in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Does the book illustrate that the author Mark was a racist, or do you think he was writing satire as an anti-slavery statement? Use three examples from the text to back up your argument."