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Skills available for District of Columbia sixth-grade social studies standards

Standards are in black and IXL social studies skills are in dark green. Hold your mouse over the name of a skill to view a sample question. Click on the name of a skill to practice that skill.

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District of Columbia Social Studies Standards District of Columbia Social Studies Standards
Common Core State Standards: Grades 6-8 Literacy in History/Social Studies Common Core State Standards: Grades 6-8 Literacy in History/Social Studies

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World Geography and Cultures

The World in Spatial Terms
- 6.1 Students use maps, globes, atlases, and other technologies to acquire and process information about people, places, and environments.
  - 1 Demonstrate that, in attempting to represent the round Earth on flat paper, all maps distort.
  - 2 Explain that maps contain spatial elements of point, line, area, and volume.
  - 3 Locate cardinal directions, poles, equator, hemispheres, continents, oceans, major mountain ranges, and other major geographical features of the Eastern and Western hemispheres.
    - Oceans and continents (6-R.1)
  - 4 Locate major countries of the Eastern and Western hemispheres and principal bodies of water, regions, and mountains.
  - 5 Explain how latitude affects climates of continents.
    - Identify lines of latitude and longitude (5-A.2)
    - Use lines of latitude and longitude (5-A.3)
  - 6 Explain the relationship between lines of longitude and time zones.
    - Identify lines of latitude and longitude (5-A.2)
    - Use lines of latitude and longitude (5-A.3)
  - 7 Locate and define various large regions in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and divide those regions into smaller regions based on race, language, nationality, or religion.
  - 8 Ask geographic questions and obtain answers from a variety of sources, such as books, atlases, and other written materials; statistical source material; fieldwork and interviews; remote sensing; word processing; and GIS. Reach conclusions and give oral, written, graphic, and cartographic expression to conclusions.
  - 9 Give examples of how maps can be used to convey a point of view, so that critical analysis of map sources is essential.
  - 10 Explain that people develop their own mental maps or personal perceptions of places in the world, that their experiences and culture influence their perceptions, and that these perceptions tend to influence their decision-making.
Places and Regions
- 6.2 Students acquire a framework for thinking geographically, including the location and unique characteristics of places.
  - 1 Name and locate the world's continents, major bodies of water, major mountain ranges, major river systems, major countries, and major cities.
  - 2 Give examples and analyze ways in which people's changing views of places and regions reflect cultural change.
  - 3 Explain that the concept of "region" has been devised by people as a way of categorizing, interpreting, and ordering complex information about Earth.
  - 4 Give examples of critical issues that may be region-specific and others that cross regional boundaries within the United States.
  - 5 Identify a region where natural disasters occur frequently, and give examples of how international efforts bring aid to this region.
Human Systems
- 6.3 Students identify and analyze the human activities that shape Earth's surface, including population numbers, distribution and growth rates, and cultural factors.
  - 1 Explain key migration patterns and the interrelationships among migration, settlement, population distribution patterns, landforms, and climates (e.g., East Indian-Polynesian).
  - 2 Explain the concept of population dynamics and, through maps, establish current world patterns of population distribution, density, and growth.
  - 3 Identify the demographic structure of a population and reasons for variations between places, including developing and developed nations.
  - 4 Relate population growth rates to health statistics, food supply, or other measures of well-being.
  - 5 Map the distribution patterns of the world's major religions and identify architectural features associated with each.
  - 6 Describe the effect of religion on world economic development patterns, cultural conflict, and social integration.
  - 7 Map the distribution pattern of the world's major languages, and explain the concept of a lingua franca (a widely used second language; a language of trade and communication).
  - 8 Identify the cultural contributions of various ethnic groups in selected world regions and countries, including the United States.
  - 9 Point out specific situations where human or cultural factors are involved in global conflict and identify different viewpoints in the struggle. Create scenarios under which these cultural factors would no longer trigger conflict.
    - Country profile: China (6-Z.2)
  - 10 Identify international organizations of global power and influence (e.g., the North Atlantic Treaty Organization/NATO, the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations/ASEAN, and the Non-Aligned Movement), and form committees to report on the influence and limits to influence of each one.
    - International organizations (6-CC.7)
Economic Systems and Urbanization
- 6.4 Students describe rural and urban land use, ways of making a living, cultural patterns, and economic and political systems.
  - 1 Describe the worldwide trend toward urbanization, and graph this trend.
  - 2 Understand the relationships between changing transportation technologies and increasing urbanization.
  - 3 Explain that the internal structure of cities varies in different regions of the world, and give examples.
  - 4 Analyze the changing structure and functions of cities over time.
  - 5 Map the worldwide occurrence of the three major economic systems: traditional, command, and market. Describe the characteristics of each, and identify influences leading to potential change.
  - 6 Explain the meaning of the word infrastructure, and analyze its relationship to a country's level of development.
  - 7 Explain how change in communication and transportation technology is contributing to both cultural convergence and divergence. Explain how places and regions serve as cultural symbols (e.g., Jerusalem as a sacred place for Jews, Christians, and Muslims).
  - 8 Summarize how cultural norms in a region influence different economic activities of men and women, including literacy, occupations, clothing, and property rights.
  - 9 Identify patterns of economic activity in terms of primary (growing or extracting), secondary (manufacturing), and tertiary (distributing and services) activities.
Physical Systems
- 6.5 Students acquire a framework for thinking about Earth's physical systems: Earth-sun relationships, climate and related ecosystems, and landforms.
  - Skills covering this topic are not currently available on IXL.
Environment and Society
- 6.6 Students analyze ways in which humans affect and are affected by their physical environment.
  - 1 Identify human-caused threats to the world's environment: atmospheric and surface pollution, deforestation, desertification, salinization, overfishing, urban sprawl, and species extinction.
  - 2 Identify ways in which occurrences in the natural environment can be a hazard to humans: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes and cyclones, and lightning-triggered fires.
    - Country profile: Japan (6-Z.3)
  - 3 Analyze the possible consequences of a natural disaster on the local community, and devise plans to cope with, minimize, or mitigate their effect.
    - Country profile: Japan (6-Z.3)
  - 4 Evaluate how and why the ability of Earth to feed its people has changed over time.
    - The Neolithic Period (6-A.1)
  - 5 Analyze world patterns of resource distribution and utilization, and explain the consequences of use of renewable and nonrenewable resources.
  - 6 Assess how people's perceptions of their relationship to natural phenomena have changed over time, and analyze how these changing perceptions are reflected in human activity and land use.
  - 7 Explain and evaluate the relationships between agricultural land uses and the environment (grazing, grain cropping, and tree farming).
  - 8 Develop policies that are designed to guide the use and management of Earth's resources and that reflect multiple points of view.
  - 9 Explain why oil — one of the major resources of North Africa, West Africa, and the Middle East — is important to the economic and political stability of the hemisphere and the world.
    - Region profile: the Middle East (6-Y.1)

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Chronology and Historical Interpretation
- 1 Students explain how major events are related to one another in time.
  - Reading and creating timelines with BCE and CE (6-JJ.3)
- 2 Students construct various timelines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era they are studying.
  - Reading and creating timelines with BCE and CE (6-JJ.3)
- 3 Students explain the central issues and problems from the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place.
- 4 Students understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the short-term causes or sparks from long-term causes.
  - The Enlightenment: influences on government (6-O.6)
  - The Columbian Exchange (6-Q.6)
- 5 Students explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns.
- 6 Students recognize the role of chance, oversight, and error in history.
- 7 Students recognize that interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered.
- 8 Students interpret basic indicators of economic performance, and they conduct cost-benefit analyses of economic and political issues.
- 9 Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research.
- 10 Students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories. They know facts are true statements because they are supported by reliable evidence and can cease to be facts if new evidence renders previous evidence wrong or unreliable.
  - Identify facts and opinions (6-JJ.2)
- 11 Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories.
  - Identify primary and secondary sources (6-JJ.1)
  - Identify facts and opinions (6-JJ.2)
- 12 Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources, draw sound conclusions from them, and cite sources appropriately.
  - Identify primary and secondary sources (6-JJ.1)
- 13 Students assess the credibility and reliability of Internet sources.
  - Identify primary and secondary sources (6-JJ.1)
  - Identify facts and opinions (6-JJ.2)
- 14 Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, and author's perspectives).
- 15 Students know the distinction between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications and stereotypes, such as the attribution of individual perspectives on historical events to entire demographic groups.
Geographic Skills
- 1 Students explain Earth's grid system and are able to locate places using degrees of latitude and longitude.
  - Identify lines of latitude and longitude (5-A.2)
  - Use lines of latitude and longitude (5-A.3)
- 2 Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries. Students interpret historical maps and charts.
- 3 Students create maps that show the growth and decline of empires.
- 4 Students categorize characteristics of places in terms of whether they are physical (natural) or cultural (human). Know and apply the subcategories of physical and cultural characteristics when describing any given place.
- 5 Students explain the historical migration of people, expansion and disintegration of empires, and the growth of economic systems. Identify spatial patterns in the movement of people, goods, and ideas throughout history.
- 6 Students study current events to identify the characteristics, distribution, and complexity of earth's cultural mosaics.
- 7 Students assess how people's changing perceptions of geographic features have led to changes in human societies. They study current events to describe how people's experiences of diverse cultures and places influences their perceptions and viewpoints.
- 8 Students identify and explain the process of conflict and cooperation (political, economic, religious, etc.) among people in the contemporary world at local, national, regional, and international scales.
- 9 Students explain the effects of interactions between humans and natural systems, including how humans depend on natural resources and adapt to and affect the natural environment.
- 10 Students apply the concept of region and their patterns of change to the study of the natural and human characteristics of places.
- 11 Students use geographic knowledge and skills to analyze historical and contemporary issues.

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World Geography and Cultures

The World in Spatial Terms

6.1 Students use maps, globes, atlases, and other technologies to acquire and process information about people, places, and environments.

1 Demonstrate that, in attempting to represent the round Earth on flat paper, all maps distort.

2 Explain that maps contain spatial elements of point, line, area, and volume.

3 Locate cardinal directions, poles, equator, hemispheres, continents, oceans, major mountain ranges, and other major geographical features of the Eastern and Western hemispheres.

4 Locate major countries of the Eastern and Western hemispheres and principal bodies of water, regions, and mountains.

5 Explain how latitude affects climates of continents.

6 Explain the relationship between lines of longitude and time zones.

7 Locate and define various large regions in the Eastern and Western hemispheres, and divide those regions into smaller regions based on race, language, nationality, or religion.

9 Give examples of how maps can be used to convey a point of view, so that critical analysis of map sources is essential.

10 Explain that people develop their own mental maps or personal perceptions of places in the world, that their experiences and culture influence their perceptions, and that these perceptions tend to influence their decision-making.

Places and Regions

6.2 Students acquire a framework for thinking geographically, including the location and unique characteristics of places.

1 Name and locate the world's continents, major bodies of water, major mountain ranges, major river systems, major countries, and major cities.

2 Give examples and analyze ways in which people's changing views of places and regions reflect cultural change.

3 Explain that the concept of "region" has been devised by people as a way of categorizing, interpreting, and ordering complex information about Earth.

4 Give examples of critical issues that may be region-specific and others that cross regional boundaries within the United States.

5 Identify a region where natural disasters occur frequently, and give examples of how international efforts bring aid to this region.

Human Systems

6.3 Students identify and analyze the human activities that shape Earth's surface, including population numbers, distribution and growth rates, and cultural factors.

1 Explain key migration patterns and the interrelationships among migration, settlement, population distribution patterns, landforms, and climates (e.g., East Indian-Polynesian).

2 Explain the concept of population dynamics and, through maps, establish current world patterns of population distribution, density, and growth.

3 Identify the demographic structure of a population and reasons for variations between places, including developing and developed nations.

4 Relate population growth rates to health statistics, food supply, or other measures of well-being.

5 Map the distribution patterns of the world's major religions and identify architectural features associated with each.

6 Describe the effect of religion on world economic development patterns, cultural conflict, and social integration.

7 Map the distribution pattern of the world's major languages, and explain the concept of a lingua franca (a widely used second language; a language of trade and communication).

8 Identify the cultural contributions of various ethnic groups in selected world regions and countries, including the United States.

9 Point out specific situations where human or cultural factors are involved in global conflict and identify different viewpoints in the struggle. Create scenarios under which these cultural factors would no longer trigger conflict.

Economic Systems and Urbanization

6.4 Students describe rural and urban land use, ways of making a living, cultural patterns, and economic and political systems.

1 Describe the worldwide trend toward urbanization, and graph this trend.

2 Understand the relationships between changing transportation technologies and increasing urbanization.

3 Explain that the internal structure of cities varies in different regions of the world, and give examples.

4 Analyze the changing structure and functions of cities over time.

5 Map the worldwide occurrence of the three major economic systems: traditional, command, and market. Describe the characteristics of each, and identify influences leading to potential change.

6 Explain the meaning of the word infrastructure, and analyze its relationship to a country's level of development.

7 Explain how change in communication and transportation technology is contributing to both cultural convergence and divergence. Explain how places and regions serve as cultural symbols (e.g., Jerusalem as a sacred place for Jews, Christians, and Muslims).

8 Summarize how cultural norms in a region influence different economic activities of men and women, including literacy, occupations, clothing, and property rights.

9 Identify patterns of economic activity in terms of primary (growing or extracting), secondary (manufacturing), and tertiary (distributing and services) activities.

Physical Systems

6.5 Students acquire a framework for thinking about Earth's physical systems: Earth-sun relationships, climate and related ecosystems, and landforms.

Skills covering this topic are not currently available on IXL.

Environment and Society

6.6 Students analyze ways in which humans affect and are affected by their physical environment.

1 Identify human-caused threats to the world's environment: atmospheric and surface pollution, deforestation, desertification, salinization, overfishing, urban sprawl, and species extinction.

2 Identify ways in which occurrences in the natural environment can be a hazard to humans: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes and cyclones, and lightning-triggered fires.

3 Analyze the possible consequences of a natural disaster on the local community, and devise plans to cope with, minimize, or mitigate their effect.

4 Evaluate how and why the ability of Earth to feed its people has changed over time.

5 Analyze world patterns of resource distribution and utilization, and explain the consequences of use of renewable and nonrenewable resources.

6 Assess how people's perceptions of their relationship to natural phenomena have changed over time, and analyze how these changing perceptions are reflected in human activity and land use.

7 Explain and evaluate the relationships between agricultural land uses and the environment (grazing, grain cropping, and tree farming).

8 Develop policies that are designed to guide the use and management of Earth's resources and that reflect multiple points of view.

9 Explain why oil — one of the major resources of North Africa, West Africa, and the Middle East — is important to the economic and political stability of the hemisphere and the world.

Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills

Chronology and Historical Interpretation

1 Students explain how major events are related to one another in time.

2 Students construct various timelines of key events, people, and periods of the historical era they are studying.

3 Students explain the central issues and problems from the past, placing people and events in a matrix of time and place.

4 Students understand and distinguish cause, effect, sequence, and correlation in historical events, including the short-term causes or sparks from long-term causes.

5 Students explain the sources of historical continuity and how the combination of ideas and events explains the emergence of new patterns.

6 Students recognize the role of chance, oversight, and error in history.

7 Students recognize that interpretations of history are subject to change as new information is uncovered.

8 Students interpret basic indicators of economic performance, and they conduct cost-benefit analyses of economic and political issues.

9 Students frame questions that can be answered by historical study and research.

10 Students distinguish fact from opinion in historical narratives and stories. They know facts are true statements because they are supported by reliable evidence and can cease to be facts if new evidence renders previous evidence wrong or unreliable.

11 Students distinguish relevant from irrelevant information, essential from incidental information, and verifiable from unverifiable information in historical narratives and stories.

12 Students assess the credibility of primary and secondary sources, draw sound conclusions from them, and cite sources appropriately.

13 Students assess the credibility and reliability of Internet sources.

14 Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the questions asked, sources used, and author's perspectives).

15 Students know the distinction between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications and stereotypes, such as the attribution of individual perspectives on historical events to entire demographic groups.

Geographic Skills

1 Students explain Earth's grid system and are able to locate places using degrees of latitude and longitude.

2 Students use a variety of maps and documents to identify physical and cultural features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries. Students interpret historical maps and charts.

3 Students create maps that show the growth and decline of empires.

4 Students categorize characteristics of places in terms of whether they are physical (natural) or cultural (human). Know and apply the subcategories of physical and cultural characteristics when describing any given place.