Describe the recent history of the regions, including political divisions and systems, key leaders, religious issues, natural features, resources, and population patterns. Discuss the important trends in the regions today and whether they appear to serve the cause of individual freedom and democracy. Students compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned. Students use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods. Students relate current events to the physical and human characteristics of places and regions.
Students distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations.
Students identify bias and prejudice in historical interpretations. Students evaluate major debates among historians concerning alternative interpretations of the past, including an analysis of authors' use of evidence and the distinctions between sound generalizations and misleading oversimplifications. Students show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments. Students recognize the complexity of historical causes and effects, including the limitations on determining cause and effect. Students interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded rather that solely in terms of present-day norms and values.