2012-13 AISN Middle and High School
Social Studies Courses Snapshot
AISN Middle and High School Social Studies Courses are designed to help our students gain a better appreciation for the interconnectedness of the global systems. Our students, by virtue of their experiences, are highly likely to remain involved in international affairs long after they leave their parents influence so it is vitally important that they begin to learn how interdependent the world's peoples are.
Social studies will encourage a wide range of transferable cross-curricular skills. The use of both qualitative and quantitative studies presents a range of stimulating opportunities to develop literacy and numeracy skills.
Students will be engaged in reading and writing tasks in a variety of forms ranging from reports to fables and poetry while their oral communication abilities will be strengthened by activities such as role-plays, presentations and interviews.
Numeracy skills are developed in activities that closely mirror situations from the world beyond school. Students will, for example, collect numeric data on given countries, then process data, and produce graphs and tables to present their findings. By developing their map skills students will strengthen their understanding of scale, distance and area.
5/6th graders will be studying the world through the lens of the 5 Themes of Geography: Location, Place, Movement, Human Environmental Interaction and Region. They will discuss how humans modify and are affected by natural environments, identify and examine the physical and human characteristics of places. Students will take regular map quizzes that will require them to learn locations, while newspaper reading, books, and lectures provide meaning to these places.
7/8th graders will be taking Word Affairs where they will gain an understanding of how the world is composed of interrelated economic, political, religious, cultural, and ecological systems. This awareness will aid them as they grow and attempt to understand, appreciate, assist, and even compete with the people, businesses, and governments of the world. The Internet and current news media will be utilized as the primary source materials for this course.
Over the year they will ponder open ended questions like:
Can we and should we protect endangered species? Who controls the oceans? How can we deal with terrorists and dictators? Is free trade working?
Units are shaped by events in current news and will included topics such as:
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- Students will participate in a year long project where the will research various aspects of a single country that correspond to the units being taught in class. They will explore the history, politics and culture in depth and share their finding with their classmates thus expanding the classes’ appreciation of the similarities and differences of the world's nations.
9-12 graders will be introduced to the myriad social and environmental issues we face on our limited planet, while actively using Niger as a learning space. In order to provide context, we will begin with background on international development and aid structures, the history of the modern environmental movement and philosophy through today. The first semester will culminate in a client project with the US Embassy.
In the second half of the course we will cover the issues of climate change, energy, water management, green buildings and materials use. Topics will begin with relevant science and move through social ramifications to tangible solutions. The course will culminate in a second client project, this time for AISN. With the knowledge gained in the green buildings unit, students will leave their mark on AISN by assessing its facilities through the widely accepted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria and conducting building energy audits. The class will participate in facility meetings and provide a report and summary of final recommendations to the Board in June 2013.
This class is not only designed to expose and awaken students to topics within environmental sustainability, but also to ensure college preparedness. Though a challenging and rigorous experience at times, the course will prepare students for college-level work, bridging gaps in communication and numerical skills through frequent written and oral assignments.
Topics Covered Include:
International Development/Aid Environmental Thought
Paleoclimatology & Recent Climate Change Adaptation Planning
Geographic Information Systems Conventional & Renewable Energies
Water Management Green Buildings/LEED
Client Projects:
Fall 2012: Advising US Embassy Niamey on Integrated Solid Waste Management
Spring 2013: Conducting a LEED Assessment of AISN’s Facilities
The course will integrate case studies, student debates/presentations, simulation games, software and local field trips that highlight a particular element of the issues and make broad concepts more tangible. Students will be assessed based on group assignments, short papers and problem sets, two client projects, a document based question, a 15-page independent research paper of their own choosing, and a final exam.
In the second half of the course we will cover the issues of climate change, energy, water management, green buildings and materials use. Topics will begin with relevant science and move through social ramifications to tangible solutions. The course will culminate in a second client project, this time for AISN. With the knowledge gained in the green buildings unit, students will leave their mark on AISN by assessing its facilities through the widely accepted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria and conducting building energy audits. The class will participate in facility meetings and provide a report and summary of final recommendations to the Board in June 2013.
This class is not only designed to expose and awaken students to topics within environmental sustainability, but also to ensure college preparedness. Though a challenging and rigorous experience at times, the course will prepare students for college-level work, bridging gaps in communication and numerical skills through frequent written and oral assignments.
Topics Covered Include:
International Development/Aid Environmental Thought
Paleoclimatology & Recent Climate Change Adaptation Planning
Geographic Information Systems Conventional & Renewable Energies
Water Management Green Buildings/LEED
Client Projects:
Fall 2012: Advising US Embassy Niamey on Integrated Solid Waste Management
Spring 2013: Conducting a LEED Assessment of AISN’s Facilities
The course will integrate case studies, student debates/presentations, simulation games, software and local field trips that highlight a particular element of the issues and make broad concepts more tangible. Students will be assessed based on group assignments, short papers and problem sets, two client projects, a document based question, a 15-page independent research paper of their own choosing, and a final exam.
