Back to Standards Index: National Council for the Social Studies C3 Framework

Standards Index: D2.Geo.12.9-12.

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Evaluate the consequences of human-made and natural catastrophes on global trade, politics, and human migration.

Image from The Second Amendment: Siege at Waco
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The Second Amendment: Siege at Waco

Students will learn how the federal government’s botched raid on the compound of the Branch Davidian religious sect in 1993 led to decades of controversy over Second Amendment rights.
Image from Ecology: The Yellowstone Wildfires of 1988
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Ecology: The Yellowstone Wildfires of 1988

Students will learn how the Yellowstone fires of 1988 created a national controversy that challenged long-held assumptions about the role that fires should play in forestry policy.
Image from How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees
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How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees

Students will examine the question of what obligation countries have to refugees. As Afghan and Ukrainian migrants settle in the U.S., this video asks whether refugee resettlement is better now than it was for the Vietnamese 50 years ago.
Image from Love Canal and the Environmental Protection Agency
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Love Canal and the Environmental Protection Agency

Students will learn how toxic waste dumped under the community of Love Canal led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund program.
Image from Nuclear Power: From Three Mile Island to Fukushima
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Nuclear Power: From Three Mile Island to Fukushima

Students will learn how nuclear energy’s prospects were dimmed by accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, and how modern concerns over climate change have sparked a complex debate about the future of nuclear energy.
Image from Influencing Policy: Evolution and the First Amendment
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Influencing Policy: Evolution and the First Amendment

Students will learn how some students, scientists and advocacy organizations have sought to influence the way evolution is taught in public schools, and how this debate relates to court rulings involving the First Amendment’s establishment clause.
Image from Influencing Public Policy: The Story of Thalidomide
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Influencing Public Policy: The Story of Thalidomide

Students will learn how a prescription medication’s devastating side effects shocked the nation decades ago and led to today’s federal drug safety guidelines.
Image from Unprepared: Lessons From Two Massive Oil Spills
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Unprepared: Lessons From Two Massive Oil Spills

Students will learn about the Exxon Valdez and BP Deepwater Horizon oil spills, as well as examining the long-term effects on ecosystems and coastal communities.
Image from Influencing Public Policy: Vaccines
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Influencing Public Policy: Vaccines

Students will learn about the importance to public health of vaccines. They will gain news literacy by examining troubled reporting and public health messaging around the measles vaccine, and discover why we’re dealing with the repercussions today.
Image from Influencing Public Policy: Food Safety
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Influencing Public Policy: Food Safety

Students will learn how human-made catastrophes can help to shape federal policy on food safety.