Grade 09: Social science

In this unit, 'History: the French Revolution', you learn to explain causes and results of the revolution. 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 French Revolution' 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: explain causes and results of the revolution. 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, Explain the French society. Before 1789 French people were divided into three estates: clergy first, nobles second, and everyone else third, which was well over 95 in every 100 people. The third estate paid most taxes, while the first two had special privileges. Farmers paid taxes to the state, dues to nobles and a tenth of their crop.
2. Step 2, Explain more causes. The king's government was in debt after costly wars and court spending. The population grew to about 28 million, so grain and bread cost more while wages did not keep up. Thinkers wrote about liberty, equality and that rulers should serve the people, and ideas spread through newspapers and cafes.
3. Step 3, Explain the voting dispute. When the Estates-General met in May 1789, each estate had one vote, so the first two could outvote the third. With about 300 clergy, 300 nobles and 600 third-estate deputies, voting by estate gave the third just 1 of 3 votes, while by head it would be 600 of 1,200, which is 50 per cent.
4. Step 4, Sequence the main events. On 20 June 1789 the third estate swore the Tennis Court Oath to write a constitution. On 14 July 1789 crowds stormed the Bastille prison. In August 1789 feudal dues ended and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen was issued. In 1792 France became a republic.
5. Step 5, Explain the results. Absolute monarchy ended, rights and equality before the law were declared, and the tricolour became the flag. The years 1793 and 1794 brought the Reign of Terror, with many executions. Slavery was abolished in French colonies in 1794 but brought back in 1802. The ideas of liberty and equality inspired people across the world.
6. Step 6, Your turn: give one cause and one result of the revolution. Model answer: one cause was the unfair tax system, in which the third estate paid most but had least say. One result was the Declaration of Rights, which stated that people are born free and equal.

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. Explain causes and results of the revolution: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'History: socialism and nazism and the modern world', you learn to compare political ideas and their effects. 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: socialism and nazism and the modern world' 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 political ideas and their effects. 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, Begin with socialism in Russia. In 1917 the Tsar fell in February, and the Bolsheviks under Lenin took power in October. They aimed to end private ownership of factories and land. After 1928 Five Year Plans set targets for industry and forced collective farms.
2. Step 2, Explain Germany after the First World War. The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 made Germany accept blame and pay reparations. In 1923 prices soared so that people carried money in barrows. The Great Depression after 1929 left millions jobless.
3. Step 3, Read the data. The Nazi party won about 2.6 percent of the vote in 1928 and about 37.3 percent in July 1932, a rise of about 34.7 percentage points. Hitler became Chancellor on 30 January 1933, and the Enabling Act of March 1933 gave him power to rule by decree.
4. Step 4, Show effects. Nazis banned other parties and spread a racist ideology. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 stripped Jews of citizenship. About six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. The war began on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland.
5. Step 5, Compare with a model answer: 'Both Soviet socialism and Nazism built one-party states with state control, but their aims differ. Socialism claimed to serve workers by common ownership, while Nazism rested on racial hatred and war.'
6. Step 6, Your turn: give two causes of Hitler's rise. Model answer: 'Economic collapse after 1929 caused anger and unemployment, and resentment of the Versailles Treaty let Nazis promise to restore German pride.'

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 political ideas and their effects: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Geography: India, size, location and physical features', you learn to describe location, relief and drainage. 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: India, size, location and physical features' 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 location, relief and drainage. 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 location. India lies entirely in the northern and eastern hemispheres. Latitude runs from about 8 degrees 4 minutes N to 37 degrees 6 minutes N, a span of about 29 degrees, and longitude from 68 degrees 7 minutes E to 97 degrees 25 minutes E. The Tropic of Cancer, 23.5 degrees N, passes through the middle.
2. Step 2, Describe size and time. India covers about 3.28 million sq km, among the seven largest countries by area. Its east-west spread is about 29.3 degrees, so the Sun rises about 29.3 / 15, nearly 2 hours, earlier in the east. India therefore uses one Standard Meridian, 82 degrees 30 minutes E, giving a time 82.5 / 15 = 5.5 hours ahead of the prime meridian.
3. Step 3, Describe relief. The Himalayas in the north are young fold mountains with the highest peaks, the highest in India being Kanchenjunga, on the Nepal border, at about 8,586 m. The Northern Plains are fertile land built by rivers. The Peninsular Plateau is old hard rock, between the Western and Eastern Ghats. The Thar desert lies in the west, and there are coastal plains and island groups.
4. Step 4, Describe drainage. Himalayan rivers like the Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra are perennial, fed by snow and rain, and form big plains and deltas. The Ganga is about 2,500 km long. Peninsular rivers like the Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri are seasonal and depend on rain. Rivers flowing east make deltas, those west make estuaries.
5. Step 5, Link relief with drainage. Rivers from steep mountains carry silt and flow fast, then slow on flat plains and meander. Rivers across the plateau flow in fixed valleys with waterfalls. Draw a sketch map: mark the three big northern rivers, three peninsular rivers, two Ghats and the plateau, label each, and give the map a title.
6. Step 6, Your turn: why does India use one standard time, and what is the time difference with the prime meridian? Answer: the Standard Meridian is 82 degrees 30 minutes E, so 82.5 / 15 = 5.5 hours ahead; one time avoids confusion across the country.

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 location, relief and drainage: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Civics: democracy in the contemporary world', you learn to compare democratic and non-democratic systems. 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: democracy in the contemporary world' 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 democratic and non-democratic systems. 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, Define democracy. In a democracy, citizens choose rulers through free and fair elections. Every adult has one vote. Several parties may compete, rights such as speech are protected, and courts are independent so that the law applies to rulers as well. Elected leaders rule by majority, but must respect minorities.
2. Step 2, Define non-democratic systems. In one-party rule only one party may take power. In military rule soldiers take control. In an absolute monarchy a king or queen holds all power. In these systems people cannot remove leaders by voting, opponents may be jailed, the press may be controlled and courts may not be free.
3. Step 3, Study a case. In 1973 the army in Chile took power on 11 September and ruled until 1990, which is 1990 - 1973 = 17 years. Parties were banned, and opponents were jailed. Democracy returned after voters said no to continued military rule in 1988. In Poland, one-party rule ended after partly free elections in 1989.
4. Step 4, Compare with five tests. Who chooses rulers: voters or the ruler's own group? Can opposition parties compete? Are rights protected? Are courts independent? Can government be changed peacefully? A democracy passes all five, while a non-democratic system fails most of them. Draw a table with two columns and fill it in.
5. Step 5, Apply the tests. In Country X a single party wins 99.8 per cent of votes, the press is state-run, and the opposition cannot stand. Such a result shows no real choice, so Country X is non-democratic. Voting alone does not make a democracy: the vote must be free, fair and open to rivals.
6. Step 6, Your turn: Country Y holds elections every five years with many parties, but opposition leaders are jailed. Is it fully democratic? Answer: no, it fails the tests for open competition and protected rights, even though elections take place.

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 democratic and non-democratic systems: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Economics: the story of a village and poverty', you learn to analyse production, work and poverty. 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 'Economics: the story of a village and poverty' 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: analyse production, work and poverty. 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, Analyse production. Farming and other production need four factors: land, labour, physical capital such as tools, seeds, tubewells and fertiliser, and human capital, meaning knowledge and skill. In a village, land is fixed, so more output must come from using it better. A hectare is 100 m by 100 m, or 10,000 square metres.
2. Step 2, Analyse farm output. Multiple cropping, growing two or three crops a year on the same land, raises production, as do improved seeds and irrigation. A farmer with 2 hectares getting 3,000 kg per hectare has 6,000 kg of wheat. Sold at 20 rupees per kg, that is 6,000 x 20 = 120,000 rupees; these are supposed figures.
3. Step 3, Work out income. If seeds, fertiliser, water and labour cost 45,000 rupees, income is 120,000 - 45,000 = 75,000 rupees. Small farmers have little land, so low income. Landless workers get daily wages, which may be low and uncertain. Compare two households with different land to see unequal incomes.
4. Step 4, Analyse non-farm work. Not all work is farming. Villagers run dairies, make jaggery, repair vehicles, sell goods in small shops and drive transport. These jobs add income and use workers when fields are quiet. More roads, power and credit allow more non-farm activity and reduce dependence on rain.
5. Step 5, Analyse poverty. The poverty line is based on the money needed for basic food, for example older norms of 2,400 calories per person a day in rural areas and 2,100 in urban areas (check the current figure), plus other needs. Poverty ratio = poor households / all households x 100. If 30 of 150 families are poor, it is 20 per cent. Causes include landlessness, unemployment, low skills and low pay.
6. Step 6, Your turn: 40 of 200 households are below the poverty line. Find the poverty ratio and give one cause with one remedy. Answer: 40 / 200 x 100 = 20 per cent. A cause is lack of land or jobs; a remedy is skills training or work in non-farm jobs.

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. Analyse production, work and poverty: 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.

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.

This course: Grade 09 Social science is at this level. Its units include History: the French Revolution; History: socialism and nazism and the modern world; Geography: India, size, location and physical features; Civics: democracy in the contemporary world and more.

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.