Minnesota

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Skills available for Minnesota 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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1 Citizenship and Government

  • 1 Civic Skills

    • 1 Democratic government depends on informed and engaged citizens who exhibit civic skills and values, practice civic discourse, vote and participate in elections, apply inquiry and analysis skills and take action to solve problems and shape public policy.

      • Presidential elections (5-K.7)
      • Rights and responsibilities of active citizenship (6-FF.2)

      • 6.1.1.1.1 Evaluate arguments about selected issues from diverse perspectives and frames of reference, noting the strengths, weaknesses and consequences associated with the decision made on each issue.

      • 6.1.1.1.2 Use graphic data to analyze information about a public issue in state or local government.

      • 6.1.1.1.3 Address a state or local policy issue by identifying key opposing positions, determining conflicting values and beliefs, defending and justifying a position with evidence, and developing strategies to persuade others to adopt this position.

  • 3 Rights and Responsibilities

  • 4 Governmental Institutions and Political Processes

    • 6 The United States government has specific functions that are determined by the way that power is delegated and controlled among various bodies: the three levels (federal, state, local) and the three branches (legislative, executive, judicial) of government.

  • 5 Relationships of the U.S. to Other Nations and Organizations

    • 10 The United States establishes and maintains relationships and interacts with indigenous nations and other sovereign nations, and plays a key role in world affairs.

      • 6.1.5.10.1 Explain the concept of sovereignty and how treaty rights are exercised by the Anishinaabe and Dakota today.

2 Economics

  • 1 Economic Reasoning Skills

    • 1 People make informed economic choices by identifying their goals, interpreting and applying data, considering the short- and long-run costs and benefits of alternative choices and revising their goals based on their analysis.

  • 2 Personal Finance

    • 2 Personal and financial goals can be achieved by applying economic concepts and principles to personal financial planning, budgeting, spending, saving, investing, borrowing and insuring decisions.

      • 6.2.2.2.1 Describe various types of income including wage, rent, interest and profit; explain the role that the development of human capital plays in determining one's income.

  • 4 Microeconomic Concepts

3 Geography

  • 1 Geospatial Skills

    • 1 People use geographic representations and geospatial technologies to acquire, process and report information within a spatial context.

      • 6.3.1.1.1 Create and use various kinds of maps, including overlaying thematic maps, of places in Minnesota; incorporate the "TODALSS" map basics, as well as points, lines and colored areas to display spatial information.

  • 3 Human Systems

    • 6 Geographic factors influence the distribution, functions, growth and patterns of cities and other human settlements.

      • 6.3.3.6.1 Locate, identify and describe major physical features in Minnesota; explain how physical features and the location of resources affect settlement patterns and the growth of cities in different parts of Minnesota.

  • 4 Human Environment Interaction

    • 10 The meaning, use, distribution and importance of resources changes over time.

      • 6.3.4.10.1 Describe how land was used during different time periods in Minnesota history; explain how and why land use has changed over time.

4 History

  • 1 Historical Thinking Skills

  • 4 United States History

    • 15 North America was populated by indigenous nations that had developed a wide range of social structures, political systems and economic activities, and whose expansive trade networks extended across the continent.

      • 6.4.4.15.1 Compare and contrast the Dakota and Anishinaabe nations prior to 1800; describe their interactions with each other and other indigenous peoples.

    • 16 Rivalries among European nations and their search for new opportunities fueled expanding global trade networks and, in North America, colonization and settlement and the exploitation of indigenous peoples and lands; colonial development evoked varied responses by indigenous nations, and produced regional societies and economies that included imported slave labor and distinct forms of local government.

    • 18 Economic expansion and the conquest of indigenous and Mexican territory spurred the agricultural and industrial growth of the United States; led to increasing regional, economic and ethnic divisions; and inspired multiple reform movements.

      • 6.4.4.18.1 Describe how and why the United States claimed and settled the upper Mississippi River region in the early nineteenth century; explain the impact of steamboat transportation and settlement on the physical, social and cultural landscapes.

      • 6.4.4.18.2 Analyze how and why the United States and the Dakota and Anishinaabe negotiated treaties; describe the consequences of treaties on the Anishinaabe, Dakota and settlers in the upper Mississippi River region.

      • 6.4.4.18.3 Describe the process of how Minnesota became a territory and state; identify the key events, individuals and groups involved in the process.

    • 19 Regional tensions around economic development, slavery, territorial expansion and governance resulted in a civil war and a period of Reconstruction that led to the abolition of slavery, a more powerful federal government, a renewed push into indigenous nations' territory and continuing conflict over racial relations.

    • 20 As the United States shifted from its agrarian roots into an industrial and global power, the rise of big business, urbanization and immigration led to institutionalized racism, ethnic and class conflict and new efforts at reform.

      • 6.4.4.20.1 Analyze how the rise of big business, the growth of industry, the use of natural resources, and technological innovation influenced Minnesota's economy from 1860 to 1920.

      • 6.4.4.20.2 Analyze the causes and impact of migration and immigration on Minnesota society during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

      • 6.4.4.20.3 Describe the effects of reform movements on the political and social culture of Minnesota in the early twentieth century.

      • 6.4.4.20.4 Describe Minnesota and federal American Indian policy of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and its impact on Anishinaabe and Dakota people, especially in the areas of education, land ownership and citizenship.

      • 6.4.4.20.5 Describe the political and social culture of Minnesota during World War I and how it affected Minnesotans.

    • 21 The economic growth, cultural innovation and political apathy of the 1920s ended in the Great Depression which spurred new forms of government intervention and renewed labor activism, followed by World War II and an economic resurgence.

      • 6.4.4.21.1 Describe how the major cultural and social transformations of the 1920s changed the lifestyle of Minnesotans.

      • 6.4.4.21.2 Describe political and social impact of the Great Depression and New Deal in Minnesota, including the increased conflict between big business and organized labor.

      • 6.4.4.21.3 Create a timeline of key events leading to World War II; describe how Minnesotans influenced, and were influenced by, the debates over United States involvement.

      • 6.4.4.21.4 Identify contributions of Minnesota and its people to World War II; describe the impact of the war on the home front and Minnesota society after the war.

    • 22 Post-World War II United States was shaped by an economic boom, Cold War military engagements, politics and protests, and rights movements to improve the status of racial minorities, women and America's indigenous peoples.

      • 6.4.4.22.1 Give examples of economic changes in Minnesota during the Cold War era; describe the impact of these changes on Minnesota's people.

      • 6.4.4.22.2 Describe civil rights and conservation movements in post- World War II Minnesota, including the role of Minnesota leaders.

      • 6.4.4.22.3 Describe the response of Minnesotans to global conflicts and displaced peoples since 1945.

    • 23 The end of the Cold War, shifting geopolitical dynamics, the intensification of the global economy and rapidly changing technologies have given renewed urgency to debates about the United States' identity, values and role in the world.

      • 6.4.4.23.1 Identify the push-pull factors that bring the Hmong, East African, Hispanic, Asian Indian and other immigrants and refugees to Minnesota; compare and contrast their experiences with those of earlier Minnesota immigrant groups in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

      • 6.4.4.23.2 Identify the major Minnesota political figures, ideas and industries that have shaped or continue to shape Minnesota and the United States today.