​KEY IDEA: GLOBALIZATION AND A CHANGING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT (1990–PRESENT): Technological changes have resulted in a more interconnected world, affecting economic and political relations and in some cases leading to conflict and in others to efforts to cooperate. Globalization and population pressures have led to strains on the environment.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Technological changes in communication and transportation systems allow for instantaneous interconnections and new networks of exchange between people and places that have lessened the effects of time and distance.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will explore how information is accessed, exchanged, and controlled and how business is conducted in light of changing technology.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will investigate the causes and effects of, and responses to, one infectious disease (e.g., malaria, HIV/AIDS).

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Globalization is contentious, supported by some and criticized by others.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will compare and contrast arguments supporting and criticizing globalization
by examining concerns including:
• free market, export-oriented economies vs. localized, sustainable activities
• development of a mixed economy in China and China’s role in the global
economy
• multinational corporations and cartels (e.g., Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries)
• roles of the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund, and microfinance institutions
• economic growth and economic downturns (e.g., recession, depression) on a
national and a global scale
• economic development and inequality (e.g., access to water, food, education,
health care, energy)
• migration and labor
• ethnic diversity vs. homogenization (e.g., shopping malls, fast food
franchises, language, popular culture)

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Population pressures, industrialization, and urbanization have increased demands for limited natural resources and food resources, often straining the environment.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine how the world’s population is growing exponentially for numerous reasons and how it is not evenly distributed.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will explore efforts to increase and intensify food production through industrial agriculture (e.g., Green Revolutions, use of fertilizers and pesticides, irrigation, and genetic modifications).

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine strains on the environment, such as threats to wildlife and degradation of the physical environment (i.e., desertification, deforestation and pollution) due to population growth, industrialization, and urbanization.

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING: Globalization has created new possibilities for international cooperation and for international conflict.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine the roles of the United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and efforts to build coalitions to promote international cooperation to address conflicts and issues. They will also examine the extent to which these efforts were successful.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will investigate one organization and one international action that sought to provide solutions to environmental issues, including the Kyoto Protocol.

CONTENT SPECIFICATION: Students will examine threats to global security, such as international trade in weapons (e.g., chemical, biological, and nuclear), nuclear proliferation, cyber war, and terrorism, including a discussion of the events of September 11, 2001.