Grade 08: Social science

In this unit, 'History: the British Empire in India and the freedom movement', you learn to sequence causes and events of colonial rule and independence. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Place it: find where and when 'History: the British Empire in India and the freedom movement' happens, on a map, a timeline or in a local example.
• Gather: read or listen to two short sources and note who is speaking and why.
• Use it: sequence causes and events of colonial rule and independence. Give a reason and one piece of evidence for every point.
• Weigh it: say what another person might think, and why, before you decide.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Set the early dates. The East India Company received a royal charter in 1600. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and Buxar in 1764, it gained the Diwani of Bengal in 1765, the right to collect revenue. From 1757 to 1947 is 190 years.
2. Step 2, Explain the 1857 revolt and the change after it. Soldiers and others rose against company rule in 1857. In 1858 power passed from the Company to the British Crown. Causes included land revenue demands, annexation of states and religious worries.
3. Step 3, Trace the organised movement. The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885. Bengal was partitioned in 1905, which led to a swadeshi boycott of foreign cloth. On 13 April 1919 troops fired at a crowd at Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar, causing great anger.
4. Step 4, Work a case study. In the Dandi March of 12 March to 6 April 1930, Gandhi led marchers about 385 km to break the salt tax. Salt mattered because everyone needed it. The Quit India call came on 8 August 1942.
5. Step 5, Close the timeline. India became independent on 15 August 1947, and the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950. Model answer: 'The salt tax hurt every family, so a protest against it united people across regions.'
6. Step 6, Your turn: give one cause and one effect of the 1857 revolt. Model answer: 'A cause was the annexation of states; an effect was that Crown rule replaced Company rule in 1858.'

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Sequence causes and events of colonial rule and independence: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Geography: resources and their use', you learn to classify resources and describe conservation. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Place it: find where and when 'Geography: resources and their use' happens, on a map, a timeline or in a local example.
• Gather: read or listen to two short sources and note who is speaking and why.
• Use it: classify resources and describe conservation. Give a reason and one piece of evidence for every point.
• Weigh it: say what another person might think, and why, before you decide.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Classify with questions. By origin: biotic (forests, fish) or abiotic (minerals, water). By renewal: renewable (solar, wind) or non-renewable (coal, oil). By development: actual (in use) or potential (not yet used). Human skills and knowledge are human resources.
2. Step 2, Apply to examples. Crude oil: abiotic, non-renewable, actual. Wind: abiotic, renewable. Desert sunlight: renewable, and actual where solar panels already work, potential where none are built yet. Fish: biotic and renewable if not overfished.
3. Step 3, Calculate depletion. If a mine holds 1,000 million tonnes of coal and the country uses 50 million tonnes a year, it lasts 1,000 / 50 = 20 years. If demand rises to 100 million tonnes, it lasts only 10 years.
4. Step 4, List conservation measures. Reduce waste, recycle, use public transport, harvest rainwater, plant trees and shift to solar and wind. The UAE uses desalination for much of its drinking water, so saving water also saves energy.
5. Step 5, Write a model answer: 'Sustainable development means using resources for today's needs without harming future generations. For instance, planting a tree for each one cut keeps the forest resource renewable.'
6. Step 6, Your turn: classify natural gas, and say how to use less. Model answer: 'It is abiotic and non-renewable. We can use less by insulating homes and choosing solar energy.'

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Classify resources and describe conservation: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Geography: agriculture, industries and human resources', you learn to compare farming systems and industries. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Place it: find where and when 'Geography: agriculture, industries and human resources' happens, on a map, a timeline or in a local example.
• Gather: read or listen to two short sources and note who is speaking and why.
• Use it: compare farming systems and industries. Give a reason and one piece of evidence for every point.
• Weigh it: say what another person might think, and why, before you decide.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Contrast farming systems. Subsistence farmers grow mostly for their own families on small plots. Commercial farmers grow for sale, often with machines and fertiliser. Plantations such as tea in Assam grow one crop on large estates. Shifting cultivation clears forest patches for a few years.
2. Step 2, Link crops to seasons. Rice is a kharif crop sown with the monsoon and needs over 100 cm of rain. Wheat is a rabi crop sown in winter and harvested in spring, grown on the Punjab plains. Cotton needs warm weather and black soil.
3. Step 3, Compare yields. Farm A: 4 hectares gives 20 tonnes, so 20 / 4 = 5 tonnes per hectare. Farm B: 4 hectares gives 12 tonnes, so 3 tonnes per hectare. Farm A used better seeds and irrigation, so its yield is higher.
4. Step 4, Classify industries. Primary: mining and farming. Secondary: steel and cotton cloth made in factories. Tertiary: banking, transport and teaching. Cotton mills grew near cotton-growing areas and ports, such as Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
5. Step 5, Explain human resources. People are a resource when educated and healthy. India's 2011 census recorded literacy of about 74 percent (check the current figure). Training adds skills that raise output in farms and factories. Model answer: 'Skilled workers raise productivity, so schools are an investment.'
6. Step 6, Your turn: compare subsistence and commercial farming. Model answer: 'Subsistence farming feeds the farmer's family on a small plot, while commercial farming grows crops for sale, uses more machines and gives larger output.'

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Compare farming systems and industries: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Civics: the constitution and the judiciary', you learn to describe the constitution, rights and courts. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Place it: find where and when 'Civics: the constitution and the judiciary' happens, on a map, a timeline or in a local example.
• Gather: read or listen to two short sources and note who is speaking and why.
• Use it: describe the constitution, rights and courts. Give a reason and one piece of evidence for every point.
• Weigh it: say what another person might think, and why, before you decide.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Describe the Constitution. It is the supreme law of the country, and every other law and government body must follow it. India's Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950. It tells how government is organised and what rights citizens hold.
2. Step 2, Describe the Preamble. It begins 'We, the people of India' and states the goals: sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic and a republic, and aims at justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. Sovereign means free from outside control, and republic means the head of state is not a hereditary ruler.
3. Step 3, Describe fundamental rights. There are six: equality, freedom, against exploitation, freedom of religion, cultural and educational rights, and the right to constitutional remedies. For example, the right against exploitation bans forced labour and child labour in dangerous work. Rights can be limited only by law, for example to protect public safety.
4. Step 4, Describe the structure. The legislature makes laws, the executive carries them out, and the judiciary decides disputes and checks if laws match the Constitution. This separation of powers stops any one body from holding all power. Fundamental duties remind citizens to respect the flag and the Constitution.
5. Step 5, Describe the courts. Local cases begin in district courts. Each state, or group of states, has a High Court. The Supreme Court is the highest court. Civil cases cover disputes such as land or contracts, and criminal cases cover offences such as theft. A person whose rights are violated can approach the Supreme Court or a High Court directly.
6. Step 6, Your turn: say whether each case is civil or criminal: (a) neighbours dispute a boundary wall, (b) a theft from a shop. Which right lets a person go to court if rights are violated? Answer: (a) civil, (b) criminal; the right to constitutional remedies.

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Describe the constitution, rights and courts: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

On the slide: L1 Basic · Community helpers

Notes: Name three community helpers and say what each does. Notes: use pictures of a nurse, a bus driver and a shopkeeper; learners match each helper to a tool and say one way they help the neighbourhood.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Needs, wants and rules

Notes: Tell needs from wants and say why rules help a group. Notes: sort ten picture cards into needs and wants, then vote on one class rule and count the hands: 14 for and 6 against, so 20 voters took part.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Government and markets

Notes: Describe local, regional and national government and how a simple market works. Notes: follow one pencil from maker to shop; if it costs 4 to make and sells for 6, the margin is 2, which is 50 per cent of cost. Learners name one service each level provides.

This course: Grade 08 Social science is at this level. Its units include History: the British Empire in India and the freedom movement; Geography: resources and their use; Geography: agriculture, industries and human resources; Civics: the constitution and the judiciary.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Rights, duties and prices

Notes: Explain how supply and demand affect price and why rights come with duties. Notes: if a bad season cuts mangoes from 100 to 60 crates while buyers stay the same, price tends to rise; learners draw the two lines and predict direction before stating a duty tied to a right.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Reading social data

Notes: Interpret a table of census or survey data and compare how two institutions work. Notes: a population rising from 2.4 to 2.7 million in ten years grew by 12.5 per cent; learners give two possible reasons and one limit of the data.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Theory and research methods

Notes: Apply core social science theories and methods to a social problem. Notes: compare a survey with interviews for one question. Practice: an economy of 600 billion with 50 million people is 12,000 per person, and learners explain what an average hides, such as unequal shares.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Causal research design

Notes: Design and critique a causal study with ethics, consent and clear limits. Notes: in a before-and-after comparison, the treated group rises 8 points and the comparison group 3, so the estimated effect is 5 points if trends would have run parallel. Learners test that assumption.