A+LS™ Sociology presents the study of groups, communities, and societies in an in-depth exploration of the process of socialization, norms, folkways and mores, scientific research, social behavior, social institutions, culture, population, minorities, and changes to the informal and formal structure of the society. Objectives from elective courses are not tested on national or state achievement tests. As a result, there are no course or adaptive assessments developed for our elective course titles.

Curriculum Planning Manual (CPM) –
Contains Teachers’ Guide and Scope and Sequence


   

 

• The Sociology course is presented as a social science and a behavioral science.

• All twenty-eight lessons contain a study guide, a practice and mastery test, and an essay or constructed response.

• Lessons include a variety of essay types such as descriptive, narrative, persuasive, compare and contrast, and letter writing. Additional activities include journals, short reports, summaries, and creating a collage, brochure, or graph. Directions for essays and rubrics for grading are provided for each of the writing assignments. Students will also complete a self-evaluation form to assess their performance.

• Study Unit lessons include a diverse selection of reading material for students to expand and apply their knowledge of sociology to the real world.

• This title is certified by MetaMetrics® with a Lexile® score.

• A+ PowerPack customers receive access to Encyclopædia Britannica®Online School Edition (EB) workspaces which contain learning materials. Learning materials may contain articles, games, images, maps, and/or videos. Clearvue (CV) video clips may be included as well.

 


• The content in these titles is designed to meet and exceed the standards of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS).

• Sociology lessons are designed to present a comprehensive description of sociology both as a social science and a behavioral science.

• Students apply research strategies to the detailed examination of sociological data and statistics from numerous studies by various United States federal agencies as they work through a series of study units.

 


• The Sociology course requires students to read resources that are linked to the lessons. The majority of these documents are provided as Portable Document Files (PDFs). As a result, students will need Adobe Acrobat® Reader® available on their workstations. Available at: www.adobe.com, select the Get Adobe Reader button.

• Due to the interactive nature of the A+ PowerPack, there are a few specific software requirements:

  • EB requires a web browser, the following are recommended:
    • Microsoft Internet Explorer® versions 6.0 or higher
    • Safari® versions 2.0 or higher

    Note: EB requires cookies enabled.

  • EB interactive activities require a web browser equipped with the Adobe® Flash® and Shockwave plug-ins. Available at: www.adobe.com (select Get ADOBE FLASH PLAYER and Get Shockwave Player).

  • EB video clips are offered in Windows Media® and MPEG-4 formats. You’ll need to have a media player installed that will support these formats:

• Links to the Internet are provided as resources for further exploration. Also, numerous links to the Internet are provided in the A+ PowerPack. An Internet connection is not required for completion of this course, but it is required to utilize the EB components of the A+ PowerPack.

• Students are required to complete the essay section for lesson mastery. This setting must be enabled on the “Settings for Assignment of A+LS Lesson” dialog box. The default setting does not require the completion of the essay for assignment mastery. The circled item shows the proper setting.

 


Section One (Lessons 1-16)
The lessons in the first section provide the student with an introduction and solid foundation in the basics of sociology. The social behavior of individuals and the main social institutions of the family, education, religion, political systems, and economic systems are addressed in this section. Students also study elements of sociological research and the history of sociology.

Overview of Sociology
Sociology as a Social Science
History of Sociology
Sociological Research
Sociology and Anthropology
Civilizations
Culture
The Family
Education
Religion
Political Systems
Economic Systems
Sociology and Psychology
Social Groups
Social Class
Social Justice

Section Two (Lessons 17-28)
These lessons, called Study Units, introduce the student to the real world of sociology and present an opportunity for the student to apply the background knowledge learned in Section One. Most of the source material identifying various aspects of American society for these lessons was taken from the 2002 Census Report.

There are two levels of questions in each of these study units: practice and mastery. The practice section includes fact-based questions and assures that the student investigates and reads the source documents from the lesson. The mastery section consists of advanced application questions that require the student to make valid inferences from the readings. These questions in the lessons enable the student to explore the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Each Study Unit lesson is developed in a format similar to a unit of study in a high school class. The students complete reading assignments that are related to a specific topic such as population.

Population Unit Outline

  • Read the Population Unit information in the study guide.
  • Read Population Change and Distribution 1990 to 2000 from the U.S. Census report and complete a ten-question test.
  • Read The Foreign-Born Population and complete a ten-question test.
  • Read Geographical Mobility: 1995 to 2000 and complete a ten-question test.
  • Complete a comprehensive Unit Test over the material from the three reading assignments.

NOTE: Each of the study units requires approximately 2.5 to 3 hours of study time to complete. For this reason, turn on the bookmarking feature of the A+LS management system to ensure that the student will complete the lesson.

Units and Reading Assignments

  • Population
    • Population Change and Distribution 1990 to 2000
    • The Foreign-Born Population 2000
    • Geographical Mobility: 1995 to 2000.
  • Households
    • Households and Families: 2000
    • Marital Status: 2000
    • Grandparents Living with Grandchildren: 2000
  • Employment
    • Employment Status: 2000
    • Household Income: 1999
    • Poverty: 1999
  • Gender
    • Gender: 2000
    • Occupations 2000
    • We the People: Women and Men in the United States
  • Race 1
    • The American Indian and Alaska Native Population: 2000
    • The Asian Population: 2000
    • The Black Population: 2000
  • Race 2
    • The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population: 2000
    • The Hispanic Population
    • The White Population: 2000
  • Crime and Punishment
    • The Justice System
    • Criminal Victimization, 2003
    • Felony Sentences in State Courts, 2002
  • Aging
    • Age: 2000
    • The 65 Years and Over Population: 2000
    • We the People: Aging in the United States
  • Healthcare
    • 2004 National Healthcare Quality Report
    • Disability Status: 2000
  • Urban and Rural
    • Migration and Geographic Mobility in Metropolitan and Non-metropolitan America: 1995 to 2000
    • Emergency and Transitional Shelter Population: 2000
  • Education
    • Educational Attainment: 2000
    • School Enrollment: 2000
    • Language Use and English-Speaking Ability: 2000
  • Future Sociological Trends (This lesson is presented in the traditional A+LS format)
    • Demographic Trends of the Twentieth Century
    • Tomorrow’s Jobs (Department of Labor)
    • The United States in International Context: 2000

A+ PowerPack
The A+ PowerPack includes the Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition, which has teacher resources and student learning materials. The materials include a wide range of interactive lessons, research projects, animations, and worksheets that support the Sociology course.

  • Sociology contains EB workspaces.
  • Each workspace may contain an article, diagram, study guide, video, or interactive media.

 

More information on this course can be found in the CPM, which contains the Teachers’ Guide and Scope and Sequence. Links to this PDFs can be found near the top of this page.