- Oakmont High School
- Social Studies
The Oakmont HS Social Studies Department incorporates the Social Studies Standards and English Language Arts Standards into their curriculum. Common Core Standards ask for students to work with: key ideas and details, craft and structure of text, integration of knowledge & ideas, and read and complex level of texts. The Social Studies Standards require students not only to acquire core knowledge in history and social science, but also to develop the critical thinking skills that historians and social scientists employ to study the past and its relationship to the present.
-
Economics
Students in grade twelve will also master fundamental economic concepts, applying the tools (graphs, statistics, equations) from other subject areas to the understanding of operations and institutions of economic systems. Studied in a historic context are the basic economic principles of micro- and macroeconomics, international economics, comparative economic systems, measurement, and methods.
-
Government
Students in grade twelve pursue a deeper understanding of the institutions of American government. They compare systems of government in the world today and analyze the history and changing interpretations of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the current state of the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches of government. An emphasis is placed on analyzing the relationship among federal, state and local
governments, with particular attention paid to important historical documents such as the Federalist Papers. These standards represent the culmination of civic literacy as students prepare to vote, participate in community activities, and assume the responsibilities of citizenship. -
Military History
Military History is a course designed to provide all students with a comprehensive survey of the history, principles, effects, practices and the profession of armed conflict. Students will use skills in cooperative learning, project development, and world-class standards of technical reading, writing, research, decision making and public speaking as they study the processes and principles of warfare in the context of the complexities of modern-day foreign policy. Students will develop an awareness of the awful realities of war through eyewitness accounts, oral histories, film, video, pictures and literature. They will also apply knowledge and skills in tactics and strategy in the context of historical situations, and through the use of computer simulations, to learn the lessons of military history in relationship to today’s unpredictable global environment.
-
AP Psychology
The AP Psychology course introduces students to the systematic and scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. While considering the psychologists and studies that have shaped the field, students explore and apply psychological theories, key concepts, and phenomena associated with such topics as the biological bases of behavior, sensation and perception, learning and cognition, motivation, developmental psychology, testing and individual differences, treatment of abnormal behavior, and social psychology. As a condition of your enrollment in an Advanced Placement course at OHS students are expected to take the AP Exam offered in May.
-
United States History
Students build upon the tenth grade study of global industrialization to understand the emergence and impact of new technology and a corporate economy, including the social and cultural effects. They trace the change in the ethnic composition of American society; the movement toward equal rights for racial minorities and women, and the role of the United States as a major world power by focusing on key events and figures of the 20th century. An emphasis is placed on the expanding role of the federal government and federal courts as well as the continuing tension between the individual and the state. Students understand that our rights under the U.S. Constitution are a precious inheritance that depends on an educated citizenry for their preservation and protection
-
World Studies
Students in grade ten study major turning points that shaped the modern world, from the late eighteenth century through the present, including the cause and course of the two world wars. They trace the rise of democratic ideas and develop an understanding of the historical roots of current world issues, especially as they pertain to international relations. They extrapolate from the American experience that democratic ideals are often achieved at a high price, remain vulnerable, and are not practiced everywhere in the world. Students develop an understanding of current world issues and relate them to their historical, geographic, political, economic, and cultural contexts. Students consider multiple accounts of events in order to understand international relations from a variety of perspectives.
-
AP European History
AP European History is a rigorous in-depth examination of European History from 1450 to the present. Preparation for college testing in European History is the major focus of this course. Students are expected to have the skills necessary for college level performance. Students will engage in the process of framing an inquiry, selecting relevant sources and organizing evidence in support of a thesis. Primary and secondary sources of information will be examined and analyzed. Students will develop skills in logic, critical thinking and high-level expository writing. As a condition of your enrollment in an Advanced Placement course at OHS students are expected to take the AP Exam offered in May.
-
AP MacroEconomics
A course designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of the principles of economics in examining aggregate economic behavior. Students taking the course can expect to learn how the measures of economic performance, such as GDP, inflation and unemployment, are constructed and how to apply them to evaluate the macroeconomic conditions of an economy. Students will also learn the basic analytical tools of macroeconomics, primarily the aggregate demand and aggregate supply model and its application in the analysis and determination of national income, as well as evaluating the effectiveness of fiscal policy and monetary policy in promoting economic growth and stability. As a condition of your enrollment in an Advanced Placement course at OHS students are expected to take the AP Exam offered in May.
-
AP United States History
The AP U.S. History course focuses on the development of historical thinking skills (chronological reasoning, comparing and contextualizing, crafting historical arguments using historical evidence, and interpreting and synthesizing historical narrative) and an understanding of content learning objectives organized around seven themes, such as identity, peopling, and America in the world. In line with college and university U.S. history survey courses’ increased focus on early and recent American history and decreased emphasis on other areas, the AP U.S. History course expands on the history of the Americas from 1491 to 1607 and from 1980 to the present. As a condition of your enrollment in an Advanced Placement course at OHS students are expected to take the AP Exam offered in May.
-
AP Government
This course is designed for the advanced student who desires to continue studying at the college level. It provides students an opportunity to gain a critical perspective on government, politics, and economics in the United States. It involves both the study of general concepts used to interpret American politics and economics, and the analysis of specific case studies. Students will strengthen their skills in logic, analytical reading, critical thinking, and high-level expository writing. The Advanced Placement examination will be offered in May. A successful performance on the Advanced Placement Exam will enable students to obtain college credit at selected colleges and universities. As a condition of your enrollment in an Advanced Placement course at OHS students are expected to take the AP Exam offered in May.
-
IB History of the Americas HL 1
This course is designed to meet academic Individuals and Societies requirements of the International Baccalaureate Program and the US History Requirement. Students are provided with an introduction to the nature of history as a discipline as they study its increasingly international dimension. This course is a study of North American.
-
IB History of the Americas HL 2
This course is a continuation of IB History of the Americas HL 1. Please refer to the HL 1 course description. As a condition of your enrollment in an International Baccalaureate course at OHS, students are required to take the IB Subject Exam offered in May of Senior Year.
-
IB World Religions SL 1
The IB World Religions course is a systematic, analytical yet empathetic study of the variety of beliefs and practices encountered in nine main religions of the world. The course seeks to promote an awareness of religious issues in the contemporary world by requiring the study of a diverse range of religions. The religions are studied in such a way that students acquire a sense of what it is like to belong to a particular religion and how that influences the way in which the followers of that religion understand the world, act in it, and relate and respond to others.