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Skills available for Tennessee sixth-grade social studies standards

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Tennessee Academic Standards (adopted in 2024): Grade 6 Tennessee Academic Standards (adopted in 2024): Grade 6
Tennessee Academic Standards: Sixth Grade - World History and Geography: Early Civilizations Through the Fall of the Western Roman Empire Tennessee Academic Standards: Sixth Grade - World History and Geography: Early Civilizations Through the Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Tennessee Social Studies Practice Standards: Grades 6-8 Social Studies Practices Tennessee Social Studies Practice Standards: Grades 6-8 Social Studies Practices
Tennessee Curriculum Standards (2013) Tennessee Curriculum Standards (2013)

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Social Studies Practices

SSP.01 Collect data and information from a variety of primary and secondary sources, including: printed materials; graphic representations; artifacts; media and technology sources; oral history.
SSP.02 Critically examine a primary or secondary source in order to: extract, summarize, and paraphrase significant ideas and relevant information; distinguish the difference between fact and opinion; recognize author's purpose and point of view, and potential bias; draw logical inferences and conclusions; assess the strengths and limitations of arguments.
SSP.03 Synthesize data from multiple sources in order to: recognize differences among multiple accounts; establish validity by comparing and contrasting multiple sources; frame appropriate questions for further investigation.
SSP.04 Construct and communicate arguments by citing supporting evidence to: demonstrate and defend an understanding of ideas; compare and contrast viewpoints; illustrate cause and effect; predict likely outcomes; devise new outcomes or solutions; engage in appropriate civic discourse.
SSP.05 Develop historical awareness by: recognizing how and why historical accounts change over time; perceiving and presenting past events and issues as they might have been experienced by the people of the time, with historical empathy vs. present mindedness; evaluating how unique circumstances of time and place create context and contribute to action and reaction; identifying patterns of continuity and change over time, making connections to the present.
SSP.06 Develop geographic awareness by: using the geographic perspective to determine relationships, patterns, and diffusion across space at multiple scales; determining the use of diverse types of maps based on their origin, structure, context, and validity; analyzing locations, conditions, and connections of places and using maps to investigate spatial relationships; analyzing interaction between humans and the physical environment; examining how geographic regions and perceptions of the regions are fluid across time and space.

Foundations of Human Civilization: c. 10,000–3500 BC

6.01 Interpret a timeline using time designations and abbreviations, including: BC/BCE; AD/CE; circa (i.e., c. or ca); decades; centuries.
- Reading and creating timelines with BCE and CE (6-MM.1)
6.02 Describe the characteristics of Paleolithic societies, including: basic hunting weapons; fire; nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles; shelter; tools.
6.03 Explain the impact of the Neolithic Revolution, including: agriculture; domestication of plants and animals; emergence of permanent settlements; food surpluses; increased barter economy; labor specialization; new sources of clothing and shelter.
- The Neolithic Period (6-A.1)
6.04 Identify and explain the importance of the following key characteristics of civilizations: culture; government; religion; social structure; stable food supply; technology; writing.

Ancient Mesopotamia: c. 3500–1700 BC

6.05 Identify and locate on a map geographical features of ancient Mesopotamia, including: Euphrates River; Mediterranean Sea; Persian Gulf; Tigris River; Zagros Mountains.
6.06 Analyze how geographic (e.g., rivers, mountains) and climatic features (e.g., heavy rains, flooding) led to the region being known as the Fertile Crescent.
6.07 Explain how irrigation, metallurgy, use of animals, and inventions such as the wheel, sail, and plow led to advancements in agriculture.
- Early Mesopotamia (6-B.1)
6.08 Analyze how advancements in agriculture led to economic growth, expansion of trade and transportation, and the emergence of independent city-states (e.g., Ur of the Chaldees).
6.09 Explain the basic concepts of monarchy and empire, and identify Mesopotamia as the world's first empire.
- Early Mesopotamia (6-B.1)
6.10 Describe the social hierarchy of ancient Mesopotamian society.
6.11 Explain the concept of polytheism in Mesopotamia, with respect to beliefs about the relationship of deities to the natural world and their importance in everyday life.
6.12 Identify important achievements of the Mesopotamian civilization, including cuneiform, clay tablets, and ziggurats, and identify the Epic of Gilgamesh as the oldest written epic.
- Early Mesopotamia (6-B.1)
6.13 Analyze the impact of the Code of Hammurabi, including the introduction of written law and basic principles of justice.
- Mesopotamian empires (6-B.2)

Ancient Egypt: c. 3000–700 BC

6.14 Identify and locate on a map geographical and political features of ancient Egypt, including: Mediterranean Sea; Nile Delta; Nile River; Nubia; Red Sea; the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt; the Sahara.
6.15 Explain how agricultural practices impacted life in ancient Egypt, including the use of irrigation and development of a calendar.
6.16 Describe the social structure of ancient Egyptian society, including: how social classes were organized by occupation; role of enslaved people; position of pharaoh as a god-king.
6.17 Explain the concept of polytheistic religion in ancient Egypt, with respect to the beliefs about the afterlife and reasons for mummification.
- Ancient Egyptian religion (6-C.2)
6.18 Analyze the impact of key figures from ancient Egypt, including: growth under the leadership of Queen Hatshepsut and her economic policies; significance of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb on the understanding of ancient Egypt; Ramses the Great's military conquests leading to growth of the kingdom.
6.19 Analyze the achievements of ancient Egypt, including hieroglyphics, papyrus, and structures at Giza (i.e., the pyramids and Sphinx).
- Ancient Egypt: the Old Kingdom (6-C.1)
6.20 Examine the relationship between ancient Egypt and Nubia, including cultural diffusion through trade and conflict.
- The kingdoms of Kush (6-C.3)

Ancient Israel: c. 2000–500 BC

6.21 Identify and locate on a map geographical and political features of ancient Israel, including: Dead Sea; Jerusalem; Jordan River; Mediterranean Sea; Red Sea; Sinai Peninsula.
6.22 Analyze the development of the ancient Israelites, and explain the reasons for their movements from Mesopotamia (i.e., Ur of the Chaldees) to Canaan (later called Israel), from Canaan to Egypt, and from Egypt back to Canaan.
- Origins of Judaism (6-H.1)
6.23 Describe the origins and central features of Judaism: key person(s): Abraham, Moses; sacred texts: the Tanakh (i.e., Hebrew Bible, including the Torah); basic beliefs: monotheism, Ten Commandments, emphasis on individual worth and personal responsibility.
- Origins of Judaism (6-H.1)
6.24 Identify the importance of Saul as the first king of Israel, David as the second king who founded Jerusalem as the capital, and Solomon as the third king who built the first temple.
6.25 Explain the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities and exiles after the breakup of the Kingdom of Israel, and the return of the Jews to their homeland under the Persian Empire.

Ancient India: c. 2500–400 BC

6.26 Identify and locate on a map geographical and climatic features of ancient India, including: Ganges River; Himalayan Mountains; Indian Ocean; Indus River; monsoon winds; subcontinent of India.
6.27 Analyze the Indus River Valley civilizations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro as early agricultural civilizations, and describe their achievements, including: architecture built with bricks; well-planned grid system of roads; sanitation and sewer systems.
- The Indus Civilization (6-E.1)
6.28 Describe the effects of the Aryan migration into India, including changes to religion, social structure, and language.
- Origins of Hinduism (6-H.4)
6.29 Describe the social structure of the caste system, and explain its effect on everyday life in ancient India.
- Origins of Hinduism (6-H.4)
6.30 Describe the origins and central features of Hinduism: key person(s): origins in Aryan traditions; sacred texts: the Vedas; basic beliefs: dharma, karma, reincarnation, and moksha.
- Origins of Hinduism (6-H.4)
6.31 Describe the origins and central features of Buddhism: key person(s): Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha); sacred texts: Tripitaka; basic beliefs: Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, Nirvana.
- Origins of Buddhism (6-H.5)
6.32 Analyze the achievements of ancient India, including medical education, medical techniques, yoga as a Hindu practice, and mathematics (e.g., Hindu-Arabic numerals).
- The Mauryan Empire (6-E.2)
- The Gupta Empire (6-E.3)

Ancient China: c. 2500 BC–200 AD

6.33 Identify and locate on a map geographical features of ancient China, including: Gobi Desert; Himalayan Mountains; Pacific Ocean; Plateau of Tibet; Yangtze River; Yellow River.
6.34 Explain the origin of ancient China's civilizations in the Yellow River Valley (e.g., Xia and Shang Dynasty).
- Ancient China (6-D.1)
6.35 Analyze how China's geography made governing difficult and influenced isolation from the rest of the world.
6.36 Describe the concepts of the Mandate of Heaven, it's origin in the Zhou Dynasty, and how Legalism emerged as a solution to cultural, geographic, and political challenges.
- Early Chinese thought (6-D.2)
6.37 Explain the significance of the unification of ancient China into the first Chinese empire by Qin Shi Huangdi, beginning the Qin Dynasty, including building projects (e.g., the Great Wall, roads and canals), and a standardized writing system
- The Qin Empire (6-D.3)
6.38 Identify the political and cultural problems prevalent in the time of Confucius, and how the philosophy of Confucianism and The Analects emphasized the concepts of kinship, order, and hierarchy to address these problems.
- The teachings of Confucius (6-D.6)
6.39 Explain how the Han Dynasty's political success was influenced by Confucianism, and describe major accomplishments such as the magnetic compass, paper making, porcelain, silk, seismograph and woodblock printing.
- Science and technology in early China (6-D.5)
6.40 Explain how the development of the Silk Road led to cultural diffusion between China and Eurasia, including traded goods and the spread of Buddhism into ancient China.
- The ancient Silk Road: geography and transportation (6-G.1)
- The ancient Silk Road: goods and ideas (6-G.2)

Ancient Greece: c. 800–300 BC

6.41 Identify and locate on a map geographical and political features of ancient Greece, including: Aegean Sea; Asia Minor; Athens; Macedonia; Mediterranean Sea; Peloponnesian peninsula; Sparta.
6.42 Analyze how the geographic features of ancient Greece, including its mountainous terrain and access to the Mediterranean Sea, contributed to its organization into city-states, role in maritime trade, and colonies in the Mediterranean.
6.43 Examine the concept of the polis in Greek city-states, including the ideas of citizenship, civic participation, and the rule of law.
- Classical Athens: geography and society (6-I.1)
- Classical Athens: government and culture (6-I.2)
6.44 Contrast the characteristics of the major Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta, including: approaches to education; geographic locations; role of enslaved persons; status of women; styles of government (i.e., direct democracy and oligarchy).
- Comparing Athens and Sparta: part I (6-I.3)
- Comparing Athens and Sparta: part II (6-I.4)
6.45 Analyze the causes and consequences of the Persian Wars, including the role of Athens and its cooperation with Sparta to defend the Greek city-states.
- Classical Athens: geography and society (6-I.1)
6.46 Analyze the causes and consequences of the Peloponnesian Wars, including how the growing political conflict between Athens and Sparta led to war and weakened the city-states.
6.47 Explain the polytheistic religion of ancient Greece, with respect to beliefs about the humanlike qualities of the deities, their importance in everyday life, and the emergence of the Olympic Games to honor Zeus.
6.48 Examine the influence of major ancient Greek philosophers (i.e., Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) and their impact on education and society in ancient Greece
6.49 Describe the purposes of major Greek architecture (e.g., columns), including the Parthenon and the Acropolis.
6.50 Explain the unification of the Greek city-states by Macedonia, and analyze the impact of Alexander the Great and the diffusion of Hellenistic culture.
- Alexander the Great (6-I.5)

Ancient Rome: c. 500 BC–500 AD

6.51 Identify and locate on a map the geographical and political features of ancient Rome, including: Constantinople; Italian Alps; Italian Peninsula; Mediterranean Sea; Rome; Tiber River.
6.52 Analyze how the geographical location of ancient Rome contributed to its political and economic growth in the Mediterranean region and beyond.
- The beginnings of Rome (6-J.1)
6.53 Describe the class system of ancient Rome, including the role of patricians, plebeians, and enslaved people in Roman society.
- Early Roman society and politics (6-J.2)
6.54 Describe the government of the Roman Republic, including: branches of government; checks and balances; civic participation; representative democracy; the rule of law and the Twelve Tables.
- Roman government: monarchy to republic (6-J.3)
- The Roman Republic: part I (6-J.4)
6.55 Describe the characteristics of Julius Caesar's rule, including: leadership in the military; popularity amongst plebeians; role as dictator for life; assassination.
- Caesar and the end of the Roman Republic (6-J.6)
6.56 Analyze the influence of Augustus Caesar, including the establishment of the Roman Empire and its political, geographic, and economic expansion during the Pax Romana.
- Augustus and the rise of the Roman Empire (6-J.7)
- Pax Romana (6-J.8)
6.57 Determine how the engineering and architectural achievements of Ancient Rome influenced daily life, including the role of: aqueducts; arches; bridges; domes; roads; sanitation; the Colosseum.
- Roman legacies (6-J.11)
6.58 Explain the polytheistic religion of ancient Rome, with respect to beliefs about the humanlike qualities of the deities and their importance in everyday life.
6.59 Describe the origins and central features of Christianity: key person(s): Jesus, Paul; sacred texts: The Bible; basic beliefs: monotheism, sin and forgiveness, eternal life, Jesus as the Messiah.
- Origins of Christianity (6-H.2)
6.60 Explain the reasons for the expulsion of the Jews from their homeland by the Romans (i.e., the Jewish diaspora).
6.61 Explain the division of the Roman Empire into East and West, and identify why Constantinople was established as the capital by Constantine.
- The fall of the Western Roman Empire (6-J.9)
- The Byzantine Empire (6-J.10)
6.62 Analyze the fall of the Western Roman Empire, including difficulty governing its large territory, political corruption, economic instability, and attacks by Germanic tribes, and identify the continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire as the Byzantine Empire.
- The fall of the Western Roman Empire (6-J.9)
- The Byzantine Empire (6-J.10)

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Social Studies Practices

SSP.01 Collect data and information from a variety of primary and secondary sources, including: printed materials; graphic representations; artifacts; media and technology sources; oral history.

SSP.03 Synthesize data from multiple sources in order to: recognize differences among multiple accounts; establish validity by comparing and contrasting multiple sources; frame appropriate questions for further investigation.

SSP.04 Construct and communicate arguments by citing supporting evidence to: demonstrate and defend an understanding of ideas; compare and contrast viewpoints; illustrate cause and effect; predict likely outcomes; devise new outcomes or solutions; engage in appropriate civic discourse.

Foundations of Human Civilization: c. 10,000–3500 BC

6.01 Interpret a timeline using time designations and abbreviations, including: BC/BCE; AD/CE; circa (i.e., c. or ca); decades; centuries.

6.02 Describe the characteristics of Paleolithic societies, including: basic hunting weapons; fire; nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles; shelter; tools.

6.03 Explain the impact of the Neolithic Revolution, including: agriculture; domestication of plants and animals; emergence of permanent settlements; food surpluses; increased barter economy; labor specialization; new sources of clothing and shelter.

6.04 Identify and explain the importance of the following key characteristics of civilizations: culture; government; religion; social structure; stable food supply; technology; writing.

Ancient Mesopotamia: c. 3500–1700 BC

6.05 Identify and locate on a map geographical features of ancient Mesopotamia, including: Euphrates River; Mediterranean Sea; Persian Gulf; Tigris River; Zagros Mountains.

6.06 Analyze how geographic (e.g., rivers, mountains) and climatic features (e.g., heavy rains, flooding) led to the region being known as the Fertile Crescent.

6.07 Explain how irrigation, metallurgy, use of animals, and inventions such as the wheel, sail, and plow led to advancements in agriculture.

6.08 Analyze how advancements in agriculture led to economic growth, expansion of trade and transportation, and the emergence of independent city-states (e.g., Ur of the Chaldees).

6.09 Explain the basic concepts of monarchy and empire, and identify Mesopotamia as the world's first empire.

6.10 Describe the social hierarchy of ancient Mesopotamian society.

6.11 Explain the concept of polytheism in Mesopotamia, with respect to beliefs about the relationship of deities to the natural world and their importance in everyday life.

6.12 Identify important achievements of the Mesopotamian civilization, including cuneiform, clay tablets, and ziggurats, and identify the Epic of Gilgamesh as the oldest written epic.

6.13 Analyze the impact of the Code of Hammurabi, including the introduction of written law and basic principles of justice.

Ancient Egypt: c. 3000–700 BC

6.14 Identify and locate on a map geographical and political features of ancient Egypt, including: Mediterranean Sea; Nile Delta; Nile River; Nubia; Red Sea; the regions of Upper and Lower Egypt; the Sahara.

6.15 Explain how agricultural practices impacted life in ancient Egypt, including the use of irrigation and development of a calendar.

6.16 Describe the social structure of ancient Egyptian society, including: how social classes were organized by occupation; role of enslaved people; position of pharaoh as a god-king.

6.17 Explain the concept of polytheistic religion in ancient Egypt, with respect to the beliefs about the afterlife and reasons for mummification.

6.19 Analyze the achievements of ancient Egypt, including hieroglyphics, papyrus, and structures at Giza (i.e., the pyramids and Sphinx).

6.20 Examine the relationship between ancient Egypt and Nubia, including cultural diffusion through trade and conflict.

Ancient Israel: c. 2000–500 BC

6.21 Identify and locate on a map geographical and political features of ancient Israel, including: Dead Sea; Jerusalem; Jordan River; Mediterranean Sea; Red Sea; Sinai Peninsula.

6.22 Analyze the development of the ancient Israelites, and explain the reasons for their movements from Mesopotamia (i.e., Ur of the Chaldees) to Canaan (later called Israel), from Canaan to Egypt, and from Egypt back to Canaan.

6.23 Describe the origins and central features of Judaism: key person(s): Abraham, Moses; sacred texts: the Tanakh (i.e., Hebrew Bible, including the Torah); basic beliefs: monotheism, Ten Commandments, emphasis on individual worth and personal responsibility.

6.24 Identify the importance of Saul as the first king of Israel, David as the second king who founded Jerusalem as the capital, and Solomon as the third king who built the first temple.

6.25 Explain the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities and exiles after the breakup of the Kingdom of Israel, and the return of the Jews to their homeland under the Persian Empire.

Ancient India: c. 2500–400 BC

6.26 Identify and locate on a map geographical and climatic features of ancient India, including: Ganges River; Himalayan Mountains; Indian Ocean; Indus River; monsoon winds; subcontinent of India.

6.27 Analyze the Indus River Valley civilizations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro as early agricultural civilizations, and describe their achievements, including: architecture built with bricks; well-planned grid system of roads; sanitation and sewer systems.

6.28 Describe the effects of the Aryan migration into India, including changes to religion, social structure, and language.

6.29 Describe the social structure of the caste system, and explain its effect on everyday life in ancient India.

6.30 Describe the origins and central features of Hinduism: key person(s): origins in Aryan traditions; sacred texts: the Vedas; basic beliefs: dharma, karma, reincarnation, and moksha.

6.31 Describe the origins and central features of Buddhism: key person(s): Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha); sacred texts: Tripitaka; basic beliefs: Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, Nirvana.

6.32 Analyze the achievements of ancient India, including medical education, medical techniques, yoga as a Hindu practice, and mathematics (e.g., Hindu-Arabic numerals).

Ancient China: c. 2500 BC–200 AD

6.33 Identify and locate on a map geographical features of ancient China, including: Gobi Desert; Himalayan Mountains; Pacific Ocean; Plateau of Tibet; Yangtze River; Yellow River.

6.34 Explain the origin of ancient China's civilizations in the Yellow River Valley (e.g., Xia and Shang Dynasty).

6.35 Analyze how China's geography made governing difficult and influenced isolation from the rest of the world.

6.36 Describe the concepts of the Mandate of Heaven, it's origin in the Zhou Dynasty, and how Legalism emerged as a solution to cultural, geographic, and political challenges.

6.37 Explain the significance of the unification of ancient China into the first Chinese empire by Qin Shi Huangdi, beginning the Qin Dynasty, including building projects (e.g., the Great Wall, roads and canals), and a standardized writing system

6.38 Identify the political and cultural problems prevalent in the time of Confucius, and how the philosophy of Confucianism and The Analects emphasized the concepts of kinship, order, and hierarchy to address these problems.

6.39 Explain how the Han Dynasty's political success was influenced by Confucianism, and describe major accomplishments such as the magnetic compass, paper making, porcelain, silk, seismograph and woodblock printing.

6.40 Explain how the development of the Silk Road led to cultural diffusion between China and Eurasia, including traded goods and the spread of Buddhism into ancient China.

Ancient Greece: c. 800–300 BC

6.41 Identify and locate on a map geographical and political features of ancient Greece, including: Aegean Sea; Asia Minor; Athens; Macedonia; Mediterranean Sea; Peloponnesian peninsula; Sparta.

6.42 Analyze how the geographic features of ancient Greece, including its mountainous terrain and access to the Mediterranean Sea, contributed to its organization into city-states, role in maritime trade, and colonies in the Mediterranean.

6.43 Examine the concept of the polis in Greek city-states, including the ideas of citizenship, civic participation, and the rule of law.

6.44 Contrast the characteristics of the major Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta, including: approaches to education; geographic locations; role of enslaved persons; status of women; styles of government (i.e., direct democracy and oligarchy).

6.45 Analyze the causes and consequences of the Persian Wars, including the role of Athens and its cooperation with Sparta to defend the Greek city-states.

6.46 Analyze the causes and consequences of the Peloponnesian Wars, including how the growing political conflict between Athens and Sparta led to war and weakened the city-states.

6.47 Explain the polytheistic religion of ancient Greece, with respect to beliefs about the humanlike qualities of the deities, their importance in everyday life, and the emergence of the Olympic Games to honor Zeus.

6.48 Examine the influence of major ancient Greek philosophers (i.e., Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) and their impact on education and society in ancient Greece

6.49 Describe the purposes of major Greek architecture (e.g., columns), including the Parthenon and the Acropolis.

6.50 Explain the unification of the Greek city-states by Macedonia, and analyze the impact of Alexander the Great and the diffusion of Hellenistic culture.

Ancient Rome: c. 500 BC–500 AD

6.51 Identify and locate on a map the geographical and political features of ancient Rome, including: Constantinople; Italian Alps; Italian Peninsula; Mediterranean Sea; Rome; Tiber River.

6.52 Analyze how the geographical location of ancient Rome contributed to its political and economic growth in the Mediterranean region and beyond.

6.53 Describe the class system of ancient Rome, including the role of patricians, plebeians, and enslaved people in Roman society.

6.54 Describe the government of the Roman Republic, including: branches of government; checks and balances; civic participation; representative democracy; the rule of law and the Twelve Tables.

6.55 Describe the characteristics of Julius Caesar's rule, including: leadership in the military; popularity amongst plebeians; role as dictator for life; assassination.

6.56 Analyze the influence of Augustus Caesar, including the establishment of the Roman Empire and its political, geographic, and economic expansion during the Pax Romana.

6.57 Determine how the engineering and architectural achievements of Ancient Rome influenced daily life, including the role of: aqueducts; arches; bridges; domes; roads; sanitation; the Colosseum.

6.58 Explain the polytheistic religion of ancient Rome, with respect to beliefs about the humanlike qualities of the deities and their importance in everyday life.

6.59 Describe the origins and central features of Christianity: key person(s): Jesus, Paul; sacred texts: The Bible; basic beliefs: monotheism, sin and forgiveness, eternal life, Jesus as the Messiah.

6.60 Explain the reasons for the expulsion of the Jews from their homeland by the Romans (i.e., the Jewish diaspora).

6.61 Explain the division of the Roman Empire into East and West, and identify why Constantinople was established as the capital by Constantine.

6.62 Analyze the fall of the Western Roman Empire, including difficulty governing its large territory, political corruption, economic instability, and attacks by Germanic tribes, and identify the continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire as the Byzantine Empire.