Upper School Curriculum

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Social Sciences

The Benjamin School’s Social Science Department provides students with an engaging look at our society, its institutions, its history and prepares students for engaged citizenship, not only in our country, but in the world. The courses and instructors are coordinated offering a systematic course of study drawing upon such disciplines as economics, geography, history, philosophy and political science - all parts of the essence of the social sciences.
Social Science students learn to think with rigor, write with clarity, and analyze evidence with confidence. Students who are particularly interested in the social studies may take more than one class per year, and students often take a full four years of social sciences. The instructors utilize a variety of instructional strategies, and aim to develop students’ skills and knowledge that will serve them in college, as citizens and as lifelong learners.
Students must complete 3 credits in the Social Studies Department, including: World History or AP World history; US History or AP US History, Government or AP US Government and Politics; and Economics or AP Macroeconomics.
Suggested course progression:
9th grade: World History / AP World History
10th grade: U.S. History / AP U.S. History
11th grade: Economics, U.S. Government / AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics, AP U.S. Government and Politics
12th grade: Electives / AP electives (see below)
Suggested interdisciplinary class pairings:
U.S. History / American Literature
Law / Speech
AP European History / AP Art History / AP Language
AP Microeconomics / AP Calculus

  • World History

    World History                                                                                         Full Year; 1 Credit
    World History surveys the development of the Western Hemisphere from the Renaissance through the twentieth century.  The course helps students understand the origins of western government, philosophy, economics, and social issues. It includes units of study such as absolutism, revolution, industrialism, and world war.  In addition, the course briefly examines the growth of civilizations in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It gives considerable attention to the teaching of study skills, academic writing, and strategies for success in future social science courses.
     
     
     

  • Economics

    Economics                                                         One Semester (Fall or Spring); ½ Credit
    This course introduces students to the basic principles of economics.  Concepts include supply and demand, economic systems, the role of business and the labor force, the business cycle, monetary and fiscal policy, and the institutions that help to develop and mold our modern economy.  The curriculum emphasizes current events, the role of technological development and globalization. Particular attention is given to the development of writing, research, and analytical skills.
     

  • United States Government

    United States Government                                               One Semester (Fall and Spring); ½ Credit
    This course is an introduction to the basic principles and institutions of our government.  The class investigates theories of government, individual rights, elections, Congress, the presidency and the court system.  The students discuss, analyze and debate current events and contemporary issues. Skills emphasized include writing, research, debate, discussion and group work.  The teachers encourage their students to be engaged citizens and to take an active part in our democracy.
     

  • Introduction to United States Government- Summer

    Introduction to United States Government                                                                                   ½ Credit
     
    Location: Upper School Campus                                                                        Fee: $750
    For students entering grades 10-12, this course is an introduction to the basic principles and institutions of our government. It will examine theories of government, individual rights, elections, congress, the presidency, and the court system, as well as current events and issues.  Students debate, discuss, analyze, research, and write with an eye toward being engaged citizens in a democracy.  
    Note: A minimum of six students is needed for this class to run.

  • United States History

    United States History                                                                                            Full Year; 1 Credit
    This course explores intellectual, diplomatic, social, cultural, political and economic history relating to the period of the settlement of the New World through the present day.  The course content and materials are designed to foster an appreciation and understanding of our nation’s history and to develop skills and knowledge that will serve students as active citizens.  They will leave this course with an understanding of U.S. History, an ability to analyze historical evidence and historical interpretation, and an ability to express historical understanding in writing.   
     

  • Personal and Business Economics

    Personal and Business Economics                      One Semester ( Fall and Spring); 1/2 credit

    This course is designed to give students a general overview of the business world.  The course consists of introductions to finance, marketing, strategy, management, and operations.  Students learn to identify and correctly use a variety of terms and concepts associated with the American business scene.  They have an opportunity to develop a business vocabulary and gain practice understanding business periodicals.  They also learn to identify potential areas of study for college.
     

  • History of Florida and the Caribbean

    A History of Florida and the Caribbean Islands 1Semester (Fall and Spring); ½ Credit
    A History of Florida and the Caribbean Islands is a one-semester course designed to help students gain an understanding of the roots, the development, and the nature of Floridian and Caribbean civilization.  Students study the political, economic, and social issues of the region. The gathering and analysis of evidence culminates in a mandatory research project. Required field trips to locations in Florida take place outside the normal school day on afternoons and weekends.  An optional on-site visit in the Caribbean may be offered.
     

  • Introduction to Law

    Introduction to Law                                                             One Semester (Fall); ½ Credit
    The goal of this course is to introduce students to practical law.  The curriculum will expose students to both criminal and constitutional law, with an emphasis on constitutional law as it relates to the Civil Rights movement. Students will not only learn laws and legal procedures, but will also develop problem-solving skills that are necessary for survival in today’s society. Students will analyze case studies and participate in mock trials and role-plays. as well as use local community resources to gain knowledge about the legal and political systems.
     

  • Modern Asian Studies

    Modern Asian Studies                                                 One Semester (Spring); ½ Credit 
    This one-semester course will survey the emergence of India and China as they arrive on the cusp of superpower status. The curriculum will trace the modern political, economic, religious, and cultural rise in the latter half of the twentieth century and its potential role in the twenty-first century. Careful attention will be given to India’s and China’s relations with the United States and the overall geopolitical structure. The goal of the course is to provide the student with a better understanding of how each of these burgeoning Asian giants will shape the near and distant future.
     

  • History and the Olympics

    History and the Olympics                                              One Semester (Spring); ½ Credit
    This course will explore the historical, cultural, religious, diplomatic, social, and political factors which occurred before, during and after the modern Olympic games.  Course topics include the Ancient Olympic beginnings, and the creation of the modern Olympics, focusing on, but not limited to, Olympic site selection, amateurism versus professionalism, how world events affected or did not affect the Games and case studies such as the 1936, 1972 and 1980 Olympic Games.   The class will commence with a discussion on the Ancient Greeks and the first Olympic games and will end with current and future Olympic games. The class grade will be based on writing summaries, map quizzes and individual and group projects and presentations.
     

  • AP Economics

    This elective is open to juniors, seniors and select sophomores. AP Economics is a two-semester course designed to help students develop critical thinking skills through the understanding, application and analysis of economic concepts.  In the 1st semester, students examine microeconomic concepts such as scarcity, supply & demand, the theory of the firm and resource markets.  The second semester reviews macroeconomic issues such as unemployment, inflation, national income accounting, monetary policy, and fiscal policy.  Student assessments include multiple choice tests, free response questions, oral presentations, graphing, notebook development and class participation.    
     
    Prerequisite: Permission of the Social Studies Department.  At least an A- in current introductory level course, World History, Introduction To Economics/Government, American History. At least a B in current Advanced Placement course.  Overall GPA of 3.33 or higher.

  • AP United States History

    AP United States History                                                                                       Full Year; 1 Credit
    AP US History is a college survey of United States History from 1492 through present day.  The course examines history chronologically, exploring intellectual, diplomatic, social, cultural, political and economic themes.  The AP U.S. History course is intended to provide students with necessary skills and factual knowledge. The course emphasizes critical and evaluative thinking skills, conceptual thinking, essay writing, analysis of historical scholarship, and interpretation of original documents - all skills which prepare students for the AP exam in May (and potentially earn college credit). 
    Prerequisite: Permission of the Social Studies Department, including a sign-off by the current history teacher and the department head.  At least an A in a current introductory level course (World History, Economics, U.S. Government, U.S. History) or at least a B in current Advanced Placement course.  Overall GPA of 3.5 or higher.

  • AP European History

    AP European History                                                                              Full Year; 1 Credit
    An elective open to juniors, seniors and select sophomores, AP European History is a survey of European history from the Renaissance to the present.  In addition to providing a basic narrative of events and movements, AP European history develops an understanding of some of the principal themes in modern European history, an ability to analyze historical evidence and an ability to analyze and to express historical understanding in writing.  The text was written for college students, and the course is structured along the line of a college-level course. Multiple-choice tests, free response essays, document-based essays, oral presentations, notebook development and class participation are the basis of evaluation.  
    Prerequisite: Permission of the Social Studies Department, including a sign-off by the current history teacher and the department head.  At least an A in a current introductory level course (World History, Economics, U.S. Government, U.S. History) or at least a B in current Advanced Placement course.  
    Overall GPA of 3.5 or higher.
     

  • AP World History: Modern

    AP World History                                                                                     Full Year; 1 Credit
    In AP World History: Modern, students investigate significant events, individuals, developments, and processes from 1200 to the present. Students develop and use the same skills, practices, and methods employed by historians: analyzing primary and secondary sources; developing historical arguments; making historical connections; and utilizing reasoning about comparison, causation, and continuity and change over time. The course provides six themes that students explore throughout the course in order to make connections among historical developments in different times and places: humans and the environment, cultural developments and interactions, governance, economic systems, social interactions and organization, and technology and innovation.
    Prerequisite: At least an A in the current social science course and permission of the Social Sciences Department, including sign-off by the current history teacher and the department head.

  • AP Psychology

    AP Psychology                                                                                      Full Year; 1 Credit
    The AP Psychology course is designed to introduce students to the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields within psychology. They also learn about the ethics and methods psychologists use in their science and practice.
    Prerequisite: Permission of the Social Studies Department, including a sign-off by the current history teacher and the department head.  At least an A in a current introductory level course (World History, Economics, U.S. Government, U.S. History) or at least a B in current Advanced Placement course.  
    Prerequisites: Overall GPA of 3.5 or higher. Open only to seniors.
     

  • AP Comparative Government

    AP Comparative Government and Politics              One Semester (Spring); ½ Credit
    The AP Comparative Government and Politics course explores the fundamental concepts used by political scientists to study the processes and outcomes of politics in a variety of country settings.  This course will aim to illustrate the rich diversity of political life, to show available institutional alternatives, to explain differences in processes and policy outcomes, and to evaluate the importance of global political and economic changes.  Policymaking and institutions are analyzed in the case studies of Great Britain, China, Iran, Nigeria, Mexico and Russia. Comparison of political systems produces useful knowledge about the policies countries have successfully initiated to address problems and/or what they have done to make things worse.  
    Prerequisite: U.S. Government or AP US Government.  Permission of the Social Studies Department, including a sign-off by the current history teacher and the department head.  At least an A in a current introductory level course (World History, Economics, U.S. Government, U.S. History) or at least a B in current Advanced Placement course.  Overall GPA of 3.5 or higher.

  • AP Human Geography

    AP Human Geography     Full Year; 1 Credit
    This course introduces students to the systematic study of patterns and processes that have shaped human understanding, use, and alteration of Earth’s surface. Students employ spatial concepts and landscape analysis to examine socioeconomic organization and its environmental consequences. They also learn about the methods and tools geographers use in their research and applications. The curriculum reflects the goals of the National Geography Standards (2012).

    Prerequisite: Permission of the Social Studies Department, including a sign-off by the current history teacher and the department head.  At least an A in a current introductory level course (World History, Economics, U.S. Government, U.S. History) or at least a B in current Advanced Placement course.  
    Overall GPA of 3.5 or higher. Open only to seniors.

  • Environmental Issues

    Environmental Issues                                                     One Semester (Fall); ½ Credit
    This course offers a broad-based, interdisciplinary introduction to current critical global environmental issues through evaluating current policies and proposing future courses of action.  Topics will include sustainability, population growth (and associated migration), greenhouse gases and climate change, energy and pollution, economic regulation, ecological footprints, biodiversity, food systems, water, environmental economics, built and 
    natural landscapes, national and international governing frameworks--and the roots of the mainstream and alternative philosophies that have shaped the various sides of the major global environmental debates of the 21st century. Students will present, over the course of the semester, their insights into the development and manifestations of environmental problems that they have selected.
     

  • General Psychology

    General Psychology One Semester (Fall); ½ Credit
    General Psychology is a survey of the major psychological topics, theories and approaches to the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. The course will include discussions and projects on the following topics: the history of psychology; cognitive, biological, social, emotional, and personality development; learning and memory; social psychology; and mental health and wellness.  The course would include a guided notebook for note taking, including pertinent journal articles and readings.

  • WWII History

    WWII History (with a concentration on  D-Day and the Holocaust) -       One Semester (spring); ½ Credit
    January-Spring Break: D-Day
    Starting with the opening paragraph of The Guns of August and exploring the path from that day in 1910 through WWI and the interwar period to the early days of WWII to set the context, the course will explore the planning and preparation, including mathematics, industry, science, spycraft, intelligence, diplomacy, and leadership before conducting a deep dive into June 6, 1944 itself. The day's plan will be outlined before analyzing individual units and soldiers from both sides. Primary and secondary sources will be utilized. A final project will be to explore the activities of one person on that day and to present back to the class. In a future world, a summer trip to Normandy would be an amazing capstone.
    Spring Break - End of Year: Holocaust 
    The second part of the course explores WWII as a global war in which perceptions of race, class, and gender shaped the experience of all people who lived during the 1940s. Racial ideologies also led to the brutalization of soldiers, which in turn fueled violence against civilians, as exemplified by the Holocaust and Japanese war crimes. Finally, the course turns to the global order emerging after the war and the different narratives that appeared in response.

Department Faculty

Main Address & Lower/Middle School

11000 Ellison Wilson Road
North Palm Beach, FL 33408
Ph: 561.626.3747

Upper School

4875 Grandiflora Road 
Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33418 
Ph: 561.472.5998
A premier PK3 - Grade 12 independent, coeducational day school with campuses in North Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens. Since 1960, The Benjamin School has provided a challenging college preparatory education to a diverse student body in a structured, nurturing community environment.
 
After hours emergency contact:
Leslie Downs/Chief Operating Officer
Ph:  561.657.0075 or 561.747.0585