Social Science

Students learn to increase their analytical skills in reading and writing by examining past and present historical events.  Our teachers combine formative and summative assessments to help students achieve the high school standards and prepare them for college and career.

Peninsula High School Social Science Course Overviews:

Economics: Students will be able to explore fundamental economic concepts on a personal, local, micro, and macro level. Students begin with the most relevant personal finance concepts, and branch out into larger issues in a survey course designed to help them function as economically knowledgeable citizens.

Modern World History: The Modern World History course covers a period of more than 250 years, highlighting major turning points that shaped the modern world, from the late eighteenth century through the present. This course offers a balanced approach to historical content, providing equal weight to the development of western civilization and the evolution of the non-western world. This course will offer students a truly global historical experience. In this course, students will critically learn about the history and culture of the world by considering multiple accounts of events in order to understand international relations from a variety of perspectives, in a way that allows students to place themselves in its narratives.

U.S. History: This course studies the development of the Unites States in the 20th and 21st centuries.

• How do presidents shape political visions? What does it mean for the U.S. to be on the grand world stage as international conflicts arise?
• How do issues of race, class, and gender come to a flashpoint during the 1960’s?

These are just some of the questions students will explore as they come to understand themselves and their relationship with the United States.

Ethnic Studies:  This course is designed for students to be politically, socially and economically conscious about their personal connections to local and global histories. It is intended to help build inter-ethnic understanding and socio-cultural bridges in an increasingly more multicultural and multiethnic nation, which is imperative to creating a just society.