ISBE 204 (middle grades) content test

cultural relativism

not judging a culture but trying to understand it on its own terms; the practice of judging a culture by its own standards

the trojan war (1200 bc)

10 year war fought between the Mycenaean Greeks and the city of Troy

Trojan War

a war, fought around 1200 B.C., in which an army led by Mycenaean kings attacked the independent trading city of Troy in Anatolia

1848 Revolutions

"When France sneezes, Europe catches a cold;" the French uprising against the increasingly oppressive Louis-Philippe which sparked a wave of revolt (German states, Austria, Russia, Poland, Italy) by the liberal middle and lower classes against conservative governments

-overall they failed because of internal class and ethnic divisions among the revolutionaries

Norman Conquest of 1066

-Led by William the Conquerer. His military victory at the Battle of Hastings led to Norman control of England

-This control would influence England more with continental Europe than Scandinavian culture; would also lead to rivalry between England and France for the next millennium.

millennium

term referring to a period of one thousand years

political socialization

the process by which people gain their political attitudes and opinions

a steam hammer

(James Watt): invention that led to increased production of wrought iron

a

A social science teacher wants students to be mindful of the importance of the concepts of freedom, diversity, and tolerance in US history. The teacher's treatment of which of the following social movements provides the best opportunity for achieving that aim?

a. the antislavery movement of the antebellum period

b. the temperance movement of the late 19th century

c. the labor movement of the Progressive Era

d. the environmental movement of the late 20th century

database software

-this software is used mainly for storing, modifying, and searching for information within a database on a computer

-researchers are likely to find such software particularly helpful when performing tasks requiring the organization and interpretation of diverse sorts of info

a

11. A social scientist has chosen a research topic and defined the problem that he or she wishes to address. Before stating the problem as a testable hypothesis, the researcher would be best advised to:

a. review the secondary literature on the problem

b. create a research design for the study

c. establish criteria for an effective treatment of the problem

d. prepare a tentative outline of the study

d

(Most middle grades students don't yet possess the knowledge base and skills necessary to detect the diverse forms of bias found in written sources; it's therefore important that teachers assign students readings that meet basic academic standards of objectivity and credibility; this is especially the case with regard to controversial subjects such as climate change)

12. A social science teacher who is preparing a list of readings for a unit on climate change has found numerous Web sites containing info on the subject. When deciding to include a specific Web site on the list, it is most important that the teacher be able to:

a. relate the info on the site to material scheduled for coverage in the unit

b. identify irrelevant or extraneous info on the site

c. compare and contrast info on the site with info on other sites

d. assess the credibility and authority of info on the site

c

(To avoid unethical practices in social science research, it is particularly important that researchers be able to distnguish between their own ideas and perspectives and the contributions of others... All serious academic work is cumulative and researchers who have the maturity to recognize what that means for their own scholarship are unlikely to engage in plagiarism and related unethical practices)

14. Which of the following skills is most necessary for the ethical conduct of social science research?

a. being able to distinguish fact-based interpretations from arguments based on opinion

b. being willing to consider multiple perspectives in the study of human motivation and behavior

c. being able to distinguish between one's own ideas and the contributions of others

d. being willing to collaborate with other researchers who have shared academic interests

Fifth-grade students are expected to provide a basic concluding statement when writing an informative/explanatory text, while eighth-grade students are expected to develop a concluding statement that directly follows from and supports the info presented in the piece

16. According to ILS, which of the following statements accurately describes a key difference in the sophistication of writing expected of fifth-grade students as compared to eighth-grade students when the students write about history?

Rugged Individualism

Herbert Hoover's belief that people must be self-reliant and not depend upon the federal government for assistance.

-readability range, word length, sentence length, paragraph length, and overall word count

17. Aspects of a text that a teacher may consider when evaluating texts quantitatively

D

(Correct Response: D. (Objective 0003) The question posed promotes students' evaluative thinking with respect to Bloom's taxonomy of learning by requiring students to critically evaluate the merits of a text-based on the author's background and authority in the subject matter addressed by the text.)

18. An eighth-grade social science teacher uses a self-questioning taxonomy with students to promote their disciplinary reading. Each time students complete a major class reading assignment, they must respond in writing to a question that represents a particular level of thinking. One week, the teacher poses the following question with each reading assignment.

What perspective or authority does the author have with respect to this topic? This question would likely benefit students most by promoting their ability to:

A. use their understanding of the text for an authentic purpose.

B. create new knowledge from the text.

C. explore relationships between the ideas presented by the author.

D. critically examine the author's message.

building on students' prior knowledge to promote their academic language development

21. A teacher has a high ELL population and makes a chart of English-Spanish cognates, comparing Spanish and English suffixes with their meanings

The teacher's actions are likely to support students' disciplinary literacy primarily by...

C

A seventh-grade social science teacher uses the Illinois Learning Standards in reading history and writing history to develop informal assessments and instruction that align with each standard. The teacher also maintains records of which students have demonstrated achievement of each standard. The teacher in this scenario demonstrates understanding of the importance of which of the following factors in the assessment of a diverse group of learners?

A. Providing effective feedback to students in a timely manner helps students progress toward mastery of a skill.

B. Using summative assessments to determine students' mastery of skills is helpful in informing what additional whole-class instruction students require in specific skill areas.

C. Identifying students who are struggling with key concepts and skills allows a teacher to differentiate instruction for those students as needed.

D Gathering assessment data frequently in a variety of areas helps build strong evidence for which instructional practices are successful with the greatest number of students.

b

A middle grades social science teacher has students examine and/or investigate the date of publication, genre, purpose, structure, and tone of several texts the students will be reading on the same topic. Which of the following statements describes the best rationale for having students engage in this prereading exercise?

A. Like historians, middle school students need to set a clear purpose for reading a text, so they will not be confused or swayed by texts that present information contrary to their current beliefs.

B. Historians view each text on a topic as an attempt to persuade the reader, so middle school students need to learn to examine the source and context of each text as part of the process of comparing and contrasting texts.

C. Like historians, middle school students need to carefully examine multiple texts on same topic in order to gain enough knowledge about the subject matter to be able to discuss and write about it with certainty.

D. Historians examine peripheral elements and details in a text in addition to the central theme of the text, so middle school students need to pay attention to the smallest details as they read a text in order to get the text's gist.

b, d, a, c

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-Note: Norman Conquest = 1066; Magna Carta = 1215; Hundred Years' War = 1337; Tudor dynasty = 1485

Put the following major events in English history in chronological order:

a) the beginning of the Hundred Years' War

b) the Norman Conquest of England

c) the establishment of the Tudor dynasty

d) the granting of the Magna Carta

c

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(the invention of the cotton gin removed a major obstacle in commercial cultivation of short-staple cotton and provided a major impetus for the settlement of lands ranging from the SC upcountry across the Old Southwest and beyond during the first half of the 19th century)

29. A teacher developing a unit to help students understand the cause-and-effect relationship between tech innovation and territorial expansion in the U.S. during the 19th century would be best advised to focus on which of the following inventions?

a) the refrigerator

b) the steam hammer

c) the cotton gin

d) the repeating rifle

b

30. A teacher is looking for ways of helping students understand that many major historical developments have multiple causes, but that not all of the causes are of equal significance. The teacher could best achieve this objective by having students read and discuss which of the following historical documents?

a) the Northwest Ordinance

b) Declaration of Independence

c) U.S. Constitution

d) Articles of Confederation

Enacted in 1787, it is considered one of the most significant achievements of the Articles of Confederation.

The law established a system for setting up governments in the western territories so they could eventually join the Union on an equal footing with the original 13 states

What is the Northwest Ordinance?

b

32. A description of which of the following geographic factors would provide the most appropriate context for a study of Inca engineering achievements?

a) the problems resulting from earthquakes and landslides

b) rugged topography of the Inca Empire

c) the challenges arising from the need to expand crop lands

d) the diverse mineral resources of the Inca Empire

b

33. A teacher can best help students to understand the subjective nature of historical interpretation by creating a classroom exercise designed to develop which of the following analytical skills?

a) identifying main ideas in historical narratives

b) assessing the relevance and adequacy of historical evidence

c) recognizing cause-and-effect relationships

d) distinguishing between past, present, and future times

c

34. A teacher who is seeking to show students how broad social developments have influenced the perspectives that scholars bring to the writing of US history could best do so by preparing a lecture on which of the following topics?

a) the effect of WWI on the study of the American Revolution

b) the effect of the Great Depression on the study of US participation in world trade

c) the effect of the civil rights movement on the study of slave culture

d) the effect of the Vietnam War on the study of major Civil War campaigns

everyone must obey the same laws

36. The Mayflower Compact excerpt best illustrates which element of democracy?

"A general association must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike"

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(Wilson's effort to secure US support for the League of Nations encountered stiff resistances in the Senate. Some senators had strong isolationist convictions while others worried that US participation

37. Which proposal from Wilson's 14 Points met the strongest resistance within the US?

word choice

this is a key component of an author's craft

c

(think: reading a secondary text as opposed to a primary source therefore you're likely to assume there won't be a bias that would be demonstrated in a primary source, but you do have to be concerned about how credible the info in the secondary source is)

3. Social science researchers are more likely to ask which of the following questions when reading historical monographs than when they are examining written primary sources?

a) Does the doc reveal evidence?

b) What's the author's purpose?

c) Does the author provide adequate support for claims made in the text?

d) What assumptions does the author make?

the discovery of the germ theory of disease and changes in world population growth

(Answer: Louis Pasteur's discovery of the germ theory of disease formed the basis for the creation of the science of immunology, which revolutionized the treatment of diseases that shortened the lifespan of people since the beginning of human existence; his scientific breakthrough resulted in a massive increase in world population)

5. Which of the following cause-and-effect pairing provides the best basis for an examination of the causal relationship between major scientific breakthroughs and changes in human society?

Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, discovered the germ theory in 1861

-his discovery resulted in a massive increase in the world population

Who is responsible for the discovery of the germ theory? What was the result of this discovery and when did this discovery occur?

c

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(Although most Illinois Republicans supported the Emancipation Proclamation, state Democrats overwhelmingly rejected the measure, declaring that it represented a perversion of the Civil War's original aims.

They would fight to restore the Union, but they had no wish to help create a society in which African Americans enjoyed the same rights as the white majority)

38. Difference concerning which of the following political issues most bitterly divided Illinois during the Civil War?

a) Governor Yates's plan to recruit state regiments

b) distribution of federal funds within Illinois

c) Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation

d) proposals to expand the state's railroad network

b

39. The decade of the 1920s is most closely associated with which of the following developments in the US economy?

a) the introduction of assembly-line production

b) the rise of mass consumerism

c) the formation of major agricultural processing firms

d) the organization of industrial unions

1913

What year was the assembly line created?

In 1794, with the formation of the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers) in Philadelphia; this marks the beginning of sustained trade union organization among American workers.

When did industrial unions form in the US?

c

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(think: Chicago history class discusses how during Daley's time in office, there was a decrease in manufacturing jobs, leading to unemployment)

40. Which of the following responses best describes an important reason why major US labor unions suffered substantial membership losses during the last three decades of the 20th century?

a) the movement of manufacturing plants from metropolitan areas to suburban locations

b) changes in international demand for goods produced by US workers

c) a marked decline in the proportion of the labor force working in manufacturing industries

d) the failure of wage increases to keep pace with changes in the rate of inflation

a

44. Which of the following discussion questions for a unit on early American history is best designed to promote student consideration of multiple historical perspectives?

a) Why did so many European indentured servants decide to risk the hardships of bound labor in an overseas colony?

b) What effect did mercantilist policies have on the economic development of GB's North American colonies?

c) Which factors most influenced the evolution of religious freedom in the colonies?

d) How did conflict between royal governors and colonial assemblies contribute to the rise of representative govt?

b

45. Compared with cultures that developed during the Paleolithic period, cultures that emerged during the Neolithic Revolution were most likely characterized by:

a) a division of labor based on gender

b) the cultivation of domesticated plants and animals for food

c) the use of stone tools and weapons

d) the creation of artworks as forms of personal and ritual expression

-name for the Old Stone Age (750,000 BCE - 10,000 B.C.E.)

-characterized by the use of stone tools and the use of hunting and gathering as a food source

Define the Paleolithic period and list its characteristics

"New Stone Age", also known as the First Agricultural Revolution

-About 10,000 years ago; began around 8500 BC

-was marked by advances in the production of stone tools. Shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture

Define the Neolithic period and list its characteristics

the Neolithic Revolution

Which time period involved the emergence and gradual spread of farming and herding?

Paleothic Age (Old Stone Age; think: paleo = older or ancient, especially relating to the geological past)

Which time period was marked by hunting and gathering?

the control of major trans-Saharan trade routes

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(Domination of the trans-Saharan trade in gold and salt provided the main source of enormous wealth that under girded state power in the Ghana, Mali, and Songhai empires)

46. Which best describes the major basis of power in the great West Afrrican empires that flourished between the 9th and 16th centuries?

a political theory of ancient China in which those in power were given the right to rule from a divine source

Define the Mandate of Heaven

c

47. What is the dynastic cycle based on as a framework for understanding change and continuity in Chinese history?

a) the evolution of legal principles

b) changes in the ethnic composition of Chinese society

c) the rise and fall of govts

d) changes in relations among major social groups

a

48. The main purpose of the Five Pillars of Islam is to:

a) define the basic identity of Muslims

b) promote the spread of Islam

c) regulate social relations among Muslims

d) clarify the doctrinal bases of Islam

b

49. Which of the following responses best describes a major consequence of the Protestant Reformation in Western Europe where large numbers of people embraced the movement?

a) more and more areas of daily life were regulated by the church calendar

b) rates of literacy among the general populace increased

c) members of the clergy became an increasingly visible presence in communities

d) aristocratic families suffered a marked decline in wealth and prestige

a (see explanation on site)

50. The revolutionary activities that took place during 1848 in the locations shown on the map were primarily an expression of the social, economic, and political perspectives of:

a) nationalism and liberalism

b) Enlightenment rationalism

c) romanticism and progressivism

d) Marxist communism

b

53. The map projection (depicting the Mercator map) shown above would be most useful for:

a) comparing the relative size of major world regions

b) determining accurate compass directions for navigation between locations

c) calculating the exact distance between two places

d) obtaining an accurate portrayal of the shape of land areas

d

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(Mental maps are a combination of objective knowledge and subjective perceptions that individuals use to organize info about people, places, and environments)

54. Which of the following best describes an appropriate research application of mental mapping?

a) identifying the approximate location of different political cultures in a country

b) illustrating the spatial dynamics of a major historical event

c) analyzing the effect of changing transportation routes on retail trade areas in a town

d) determining the reasons why people decide to migrate to different locations

c

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(Although GB appreciated the potential benefits of a waterway that would permit travel b/t Europe and South Asia without sailing around Africa, the British initially opposed construction of the Suez Canal bc they feared it might allow other European countries to interfere with the India trade

Once the waterway opened, the British prohibited other countries from using it and by 1882, GB had secured control of the canal)

56. The operation of the Suez Canal from its opening in 1869 through the first half of the 20th century can best be used to illustrate the significance of economic and political connections between:

a) Belgium and its African colonies

b) the Ottoman Empire and China's Qing dynasty

c_ Great Britain and India

d) Egypt and Persian Gulf countries

1869

When did the Suez Canal open?

the British initially opposed construction of the Suez Canal bc they feared it might allow other European countries to interfere with the India trade

Once the waterway opened, the British prohibited other countries from using it and by 1882, GB had secured control of the canal

What was GB's initial thoughts on the opening of the Suez Canal and why?

The spread of ideas, customs, and technologies from one people to another

define cultural diffusion

58.