Grades 9-12: Civics and Government

Other Florida Social Studies sets

• Kindergarten
• Grade 1
• Grade 2
• Grade 3
• Grade 4
• Grade 5
• Grade 6: World History
• Grades 6
• Grades 6-8
• Grade 7: Civics
• Grades 7
• Grade 8: US History
• Grades 8
• Financial Literacy: Grades 9-12 (2026)
• Grades 9-12: African American History
• Grades 9-12: American History
• Grades 9-12: Economics
• Grades 9-12: Economics
• Grades 9-12: Geography
• Grades 9-12: History of Communism
• Grades 9-12: Holocaust Education
• Grades 9-12: Humanities
• Grades 9-12: Psychology
• Grades 9-12: Sociology
• Grades 9-12: World History
• Personal Finance and Money Management (#2102371) (2026-)

Students will explain how the concept of citizenship in the United Stats has changed over the course of history (i.e., 13th, 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments). 

Students will compare birthright citizenship, permanent residency, and naturalization I the United States. 

Students will differentiate the rights held by native-born citizens, permanent residents, and naturalized citizens (e.g., running for public office). 

Students will discuss various ways in which U.S. citizens can exercise political and civic participation.

Students will identify historical examples of political and civic participation (e.g., Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Suffrage Movement).

Students will describe the ways in which individuals can be denied and limited in their right to practice political, and civic participation (e.g., losing voting rights for felony conviction, limitations on political contributions, limits on the type of protesting).

Students will identify various responsibilities held by citizens (e.g., voting, volunteering and being informed, respecting laws).

Students will understand the process of registering or preregistering to vote and how to complete a ballot in Florida (e.g., uniform primary and general election ballot).

Students will discuss appropriate methods of communication with public officials (e.g., corresponding, attending public meetings, requesting a meeting, and providing information).

Students will participate in classroom activities that simulate exercising the responsibilities of citizenship.

Students will examine situations when individuals’ rights have been restricted for the public good (e.g., limits on speech or rationing of goods during wartime, enactment of the Patriot Act). 

Students will analyze how environmental and financial policies place limitations on citizens and private industry for the public good.

Students will explain different services provided by local, state, and national governments to citizens to ensure their rights are protected (e.g., social services, law enforcement, defense, emergency response).

Students will identify historical examples of government-imposed restrictions on rights (e.g., General Orders No. 141, Executive Order 9066, USA PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act, Schenck v. United States, suspension of habeas corpus, rationing during wartime and limitations on speech).

Students will examine the rationale for government-imposed restrictions on rights (e.g., inciting a crime, campaign contributions, defamation, military secrets).

Students will examine the dangers of government-imposed restrictions on rights (e.g., restricting the right to free speech, restricting the right to peaceably assemble).

Students will explain how different groups of people (e.g., African Americans, immigrants, Native Americans, women) had their civil rights expanded through legislative action (e.g., Voting Rights Act, Civil Rights Act), executive action (e.g., Truman’s desegregation of the army, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation) and the courts (e.g., Brown v. Board of Education; In re Gault). 

Students will explain the role founding documents, such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, had in setting precedent for the future granting of rights.

Students will identify legal methods that citizens can use to promote social and political change (e.g., voting, peaceful protests, petitioning, demonstrations, contacting government offices).

Students will identify historical examples of citizens achieving or preventing political and social change through civic engagement (e.g., the Abolitionist Movement).

Students will explain the origins of the Republican and Democratic political parties and evaluate their roles in shaping public policy.

Students will identify historical examples of interest groups, media and individuals influencing public policy.

Students will compare and contrast how the free press influenced politics at major points in U.S. history (e.g., Vietnam War Era, Civil Rights Era).

Students will identify the different primary formats and how political parties nominate candidates using primaries.

Students will compare and contrast the different ways in which elections are decided (e.g., Electoral College, proportional representation, popular vote, winner-take-all).

Students will explain the process by which candidates register to be part of state and national elections.

Students will describe the different methods used to tabulate election results in state and national elections (i.e., electronic voting, punch cards, fill-in ballots).

Students will evaluate the role of debates in elections.

Students will explain trends in voter turnout.

Students will discuss attempts to increase voter turnout (e.g., get out the vote campaigns, social movements).

Students will explain how governmental action has affected voter participation (e.g., 15th, 19th and 26th Amendments; Jim Crow laws; poll tax; efforts to suppress voters).

Students will compare the reporting on the same political event or issue from multiple perspectives.

Students will identify various forms of propaganda (e.g., plain folks, glittering generalities, testimonial, fear, logical fallacies).

Students will discuss the historical impact of political communication on American political process and public opinion.

Examples of political communication may include, but are not limited to, political cartoons, propaganda, campaign advertisements, political speeches, bumper stickers, blogs, press and social media.

Students will objectively discuss current public issues in Florida and use both the U.S. and Florida Constitutions to justify pro and con positions.

Students will examine the relationship and responsibilities of both the state and national governments regarding these public issues.

Students will analyze public policy solutions related to local, state, and national issues.

Students will explain how the methods of political communication has changed over time (e.g., television, radio, press, social media).

Students will describe how the methods used by political officials to communicate with the public has changed over time.

Students will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of different methods of political communication.

Students will analyze historic examples of governing systems (e.g., communism and totalitarianism) and actions that conflict with the principles of freedom and democracy (e.g., Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution, Stalin and the Soviet System, Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution, Vladimir Lenin and the Russian Revolution, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, Nicolás Maduro and the Chavismo movement).

Students will identify how authoritarian regimes victimize their citizens through restricting individual rights resulting in poverty, starvation, migration, systemic lethal violence, and suppression of speech.

Students will analyze how the principles of checks and balances, consent of the governed, democracy, due process of law, federalism, individual rights, limited government, representative government, republicanism, rule of law and separation of powers contribute to the nation’s longevity and its ability to overcome challenges, and distinguish the United States’ constitutional republic from authoritarian and totalitarian nations.

Students will identify the individual rights protected by the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and other constitutional amendments.

Students will describe the role of the Supreme Court in further defining the safeguards and limits of constitutional rights.

Students will explain why Article I of the U.S. Constitution established a bicameral legislative body and how the House of Representatives functions differently from the Senate.

Students will identify the methods for determining the number of members in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Students will identify and describe the “enumerated powers” delegated to Congress (e.g., assess taxes, borrow money, declare war, make laws).

Students will analyze the role of the legislative branch in terms of its relationship with the judicial and executive branch of the government.

Students will describe constitutional amendments that changed the role of Congress from its original description in Article I of the U.S. Constitution (i.e., 10th, 14th, 16th, 17th, and 27th Amendments).

Students will explain the qualifications one must have to seek the office of president and the process of presidential elections.

Students will explain different presidential responsibilities outlined in Article II (e.g., receiving foreign heads of state, delivering the State of the Union address, carrying out faithful execution of the law).

Students will examine the role of the executive branch in terms of its relationship with the judicial and legislative branches of the government.

Students will describe constitutional amendments (i.e., 12th, 20th, 22nd, and 25th) that have changed the role of the executive branch from its original description in Article II.

Students will describe the impeachment process.

Students will identify independent regulatory agencies (e.g., Federal Communications Commission, Federal Election Commission, National Labor Relations Board) and explain their purpose and effect.

Students will describe the advantages and disadvantages of delegating power to independent regulatory agencies.

Students will identify powers that are expressed in the U.S. Constitution to Congress (e.g., coin money, declare war, assess taxes, citizenship).

Students will identify that expressed powers are also known as enumerated powers found in Article I of the U.S. Constitution.

Students will analyze the role of the “general welfare clause” and “necessary and proper clause” in granting Congress implied powers.

Students will describe examples of concurrent powers as those powers shared by both state and national governments (e.g., build roads, tax citizens, make laws).

Students will explain how reserved powers define issues as matters for the people or the state governments.

Students will compare the roles of expressed, implied, concurrent, and reserved powers in United States’ federalism.

Students will examine the role of the judicial branch in terms of its relationship with the legislative and executive branches of the government.

Students will describe the role of the Supreme Court and inferior federal courts. 

Students will explain what Articles II and III say about judicial tenure, appointment, and salaries.

Students will describe the powers delegated to the courts by Article III including, but not limited to, treason, jurisdiction and trial by jury.

Students will examine the role of district courts, the courts of appeals and the Supreme Court in the judicial review process.

Students will explain the relationship between the concept of judicial review and the language of the Supremacy Clause in Article VI of the U.S. Constitution.

Students will compare the ways state and federal judges are appointed compared to other elected officials.

Students will distinguish the qualifications needed for a judge at the state or federal level versus other elected officials.

Students will compare the decision-making process of judges compared to other political figures.

Students will describe what Article III of the U.S. Constitution states about the relationship between state and federal courts.

Students will recognize the role of the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789 in establishing the structure and jurisdiction of the federal court system.

Students will identify the differences between civil trials and criminal trials at the state level.

Students will describe the relationship among the Supreme Court, federal appellate courts, and federal district courts.

Students will recognize landmark Supreme Court cases (e.g., Marbury v. Madison; McCulloch v. Maryland; Dred Scott v. Sandford; Plessy v. Ferguson; Brown v. Board of Education; Gideon v. Wainwright; Miranda v. Arizona; Korematsu v. United States; Mapp v. Ohio; In re Gault; United States v. Nixon; Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier; District of Columbia v. Heller; Schenck v. United States; Brandenburg v. Ohio; Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College).

Students will explain the foundational constitutional issues underlying landmark Supreme Court decisions related to the Bill of Rights and other amendments.

Students will explain the outcomes of landmark Supreme Court cases related to the Bill of Rights and other amendments.

Students will identify examples of the powers reserved and shared among state and the national governments in the American federal system of government. 

Students will examine the role the Great Compromise had on the eventual establishment of a federal system of fifty equal states.

Students will explain specific rights that are granted to the states in the language of the U.S. Constitution and its amendments (e.g., 10th Amendment, defense, and extradition).

Students will analyze how states have challenged the national government regarding states’ rights (e.g., Civil War, the New Deal, No Child Left Behind, Affordable Health Care Act, Civil Rights Movement).

Students will explain the concept of federalism as it applies to each issue.

Students will use historical and issue-based scenarios to demonstrate understanding of how disputes between Florida, other states and the national government are resolved (e.g., water rights arguments between Florida and Georgia, national and state conflict over rights to adjacent waters and sea beds, civil rights).

Students will explain the role of the U.S. Constitution in interpreting law at the state and national levels.

Students will explain the process used by judges at the state and national levels when making a decision or writing summary opinions.

Students will incorporate language from the U.S. Constitution or court briefs to justify a legal decision when interpreting state or national law.

Students will identify local government officials and employees who affect the daily lives of citizens.

Students will identify the role of state governmental officials and employees who affect the daily lives of citizens.

Students will identify the role of national governmental officials and employees who affect the daily lives of citizens.

Students will explain how government at all levels impacts the daily lives of citizens.

Students will differentiate between government systems (e.g., autocracy, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy republic, theocracy).

Students will differentiate between economic systems (e.g., capitalism, communism, mixed market, socialism).

Students will analyze the disadvantages of authoritarian control over the economy (e.g., communism and socialism) in generating broad-based economic prosperity for their population.

Students will explain how the policies of other nations influence U.S. policy and society.

Students will identify agencies of the U.S. government that contribute to its foreign policy agenda (e.g., National Security Agency, Central Intelligence Agency).

Students will explain the advantages and disadvantages of how nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) influence foreign policy (e.g., Red Cross, American Woman Suffrage Association, Amnesty International).

Students will explain how U.S. trade policy influences its relationships with other nations (e.g., China, Saudi Arabia).

Students will explain how the use of embargos and economic sanctions by the United States has affected other nations (e.g., Cuba, Iran, Syria).

Students will explain the U.S. response to international conflicts.

Students will explain how U.S. foreign policy aims to protect liberty around the world and describe how the founding documents support the extension of liberty to all mankind.

Students will recognize indicators of democratization as a system of free and fair elections, active civic participation, the protection of human rights and the rule of law.

Students will recognize terrorism as being politically or ideologically driven acts of violence.

Students will analyze acts of terrorism that occurred prior to and following the attacks on September 11, 2001 (e.g., Oklahoma City Bombing, Air India Flight 182, 1998 U.S. Embassy Bombings, Camp Speicher Massacre).

Students will compare global responses to terrorism following the events of September 11, 2001 (e.g., United Nations Security Council Resolution 1368, North Atlantic Treaty Article 5).

Students will analyze government actions that attempt to balance national security with civil liberties (e.g., General Orders No. 141, Executive Order 9066, USA PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act).

Students will describe the timeline of events on September 11, 2001, including the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93.

Students will explain the ways in which first responders (including, but not limited to, police officers, firefighters, and paramedics) and civilians were involved in the rescue and recovery of victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Students will analyze how the heroic actions of passengers on United Airlines Flight 93 reflect the principles of liberty and the responsibilities of citizenship.

Students will explain the ways in which humanitarian, charitable and volunteer aid following the events of September 11, 2001, reflect the principles of civic responsibility, civic virtue and the common good.