First Grade Social Studies

Kansas Standard by Grade Level

for

Civics-Government, Economics, Geography, and History

CIVICS-GOVERNMENT – 1^st Grade

Civics-Government Standard: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of governmental
systems of the United States and other nations with an emphasis on the U. S. Constitution, the necessity for the rule of law, the civic values of the American republican government, and the rights, privileges, and responsibilities to become active participants in the democratic process.

Benchmark 1: The student understands the rule of law as it applies to school, and local governments.
Indicators:
The student:
° 1. describes the need for rules in the family, school, and community.
2. discusses safety rules (e. g., poison, traffic, fire, playground).

Benchmark 2: The student understands the shared ideals and the diversity of American society and political culture.
Indicators:
The student:
6 D 1. knows how various symbols are used to depict Americans' shared values, principles, and beliefs

(i. e. flag, seals, pledge).
2. knows the qualities of law-abiding citizens (e. g., honesty, courage, patriotism, respect).

Benchmark 4: The student identifies and examines the rights, privileges, and responsibilities in becoming
an active civic participant.
Indicators:
The student:
1. identifies the rights, privileges, and responsibilities students have at home, in the classroom, at school, and in the community.  

Benchmark 5: The student understands various systems of governments and how nations and international
organizations interact.
Indicators:
The student:
1. describes governments in terms of people and groups who make, apply, and enforce rules and laws for others in their family, school, and community (e. g., parent, teacher, principal, police, mayor)

ECONOMICS –1^st Grade

Economics Standard: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of major economic concepts,
issues, and systems of the United States and other nations; and applies decision making skills as a consumer, producer, saver, investor, and citizen in an interdependent world.

Benchmark 1: The student understands how scarcity of resources requires choices.  (Wants)
Indicators:
The student:
° 1. identifies an example of a producer and consumer.
° 2. provides examples of goods and services.
3. identifies the opportunity cost of an activity (illustration: the opportunity cost of swinging at recess might be missing a game of soccer).

Benchmark 2: The student understands how the market economy works in the United States .
Indicators:
The student:
1. explains how barter can be used to exchange goods and services.
6 D 2. explains the role of money used to exchange goods and services.

Benchmark 3: The student analyzes how different economic systems, institutions, and incentives affect people.
Indicators:
The student:
1. gives examples of different markets for various goods and services. (e. g., grocery store, garage sale, hot dog stand, movie theater, hospital).

Benchmark 5: The student makes effective decisions as a consumer, producer, saver, investor, and citizen.
Indicators:
The student:
1. demonstrates that spending is exchanging money for goods and services.
° 2. explains why it is important to plan spending decisions.
3. lists reasons why people save (e. g., buy a bike, go to college, buy a house, purchase a toy).

GEOGRAPHY –1^st Grade
Geography Standard: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of the spatial organization of Earth's surface and relationships among people, places, and physical and human environments in order to explain the interactions that occur in our interconnected world.

Benchmark 1: Maps and Location: The student uses maps, graphic representations, tools, and technologies to locate, use, and present information about people, places, and environments.
Indicators:
The student:
° 2. identifies and correctly uses terms related to location, direction, and distance (e. g., up/ down, left/ right, near/ far, here/ there, north, south, east, west).
3. differentiates between neighborhood, town, and state.
4. uses and makes maps of classroom, school, and neighborhood to locate familiar places (e. g., classroom/ their desk, school/ the gym and library, neighborhood/ their street and home).
5. identifies the locations of places within the community and suggests why particular locations are used for certain human activities (e. g., parks, schools, shopping, housing).

Benchmark 2 -Regions: The student analyzes the spatial organization of people, places, and environments that form regions on Earth's surface.
Indicators:
The student:
1. describes the physical and human characteristics of the local community (e. g., location, land, weather, seasons, people, jobs, houses, food, recreation, customs).
2. identifies physical and human changes that have taken place over time in the local region (e. g., new shopping center, tearing down houses, tornado/ flood damage).

Benchmark 3 -Physical Systems: The student understands Earth's physical systems and how physical processes shape Earth's surface.
Indicators:
The student:
1. reports local weather patterns accurately.
° 2. describes the effects of seasonal change on the local environment.  

Benchmark 4: Human Systems: The student understands how economic, political, cultural, and social processes interact to shape patterns of human populations, interdependence, cooperation, and conflict.
Indicators:
The student:
1. identifies the settlement patterns of the community (e. g., close to downtown vs. far away, close to jobs, outside of town).
° 2. identifies how people in his/ her community satisfy their basic needs and wants (e. g., transportation, agriculture, mining, trade, manufacturing, services).

Benchmark 5: Human-Environment Interactions: The student understands the effects of interactions between human and physical systems.
Indicators:
The student:
° 2. describes how humans adapt to variations in the physical environment (e. g., choices of clothing, housing, crops).

KANSAS , UNITED STATES AND WORLD HISTORY – 1^st Grade

History Standard: The student uses a working knowledge and understanding of significant individuals, groups, ideas, events, eras, and developments in the history of Kansas , the United States , and the world,
utilizing essential analytical and research skills.

Benchmark 1: The student understands the significance of the contributions of important individuals and
major developments in history.
Indicators:
The student:
6 D 2. knows the importance of United States social and political leaders. (i. e., George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King, Jr., current president).

Benchmark 2: The student understands the importance of the experiences of groups of people.
Indicators:
The student:
° 2. retells the story of the settlement of his/ her own community, drawing upon primary sources (e. g., maps, photos, oral histories, newspapers, letters).  

Benchmark 3: The student understands the significance of events, holidays, documents, and symbols which
are important in United States history.
Indicators:
The student:
6 D 1. recognizes the United States flag, the Pledge of Allegiance, and The Star Spangled Banner as national symbols.
6 D 2. identifies some U. S. national holidays (i. e. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Presidents' Day, Thanksgiving, Veterans Day.
3. explains the customs related to important holidays and ceremonies in various countries.
6 D 4. locates the state of Kansas using a political map of the United States .
6 D 5. names and locates the capital of Kansas using a state map.
6. identifies three official symbols of the state of Kansas (e. g., the state song -"Home on the Range," the state bird -the meadowlark, the state flower -the sunflower).
6 D 7. explains the origin of the name " Kansas " (i. e., from the Kansa Indians).

Back