The North Carolina Social Studies Essential Standards were developed based on research from the national standards that support civics and government, history, geography, and economics. These national documents provided the framework for the development of standards that are enduring, clear, and measurable. The essential standards are focused on understanding the broad concepts of social studies. Standards address topics and facts; however, the goal of conceptually written standards is to help students recognize patterns and make connections in their learning that transfer beyond a single discipline, topic, grade, or isolated fact. The North Carolina Social Studies Essential Standards offer a sound, thoughtful, and defensible curricular framework that is designed to enable all students at all grade levels to acquire the essential knowledge, understanding, and skills needed to be informed, active citizens in the 21st century. The North Carolina K-12 Social Studies curriculum is comprised of the following five strands of study:

• History
• Geography and Environmental Literacy
• Economic and Financial Literacy
• Civics and Government
• Culture

The strands are studied in depth at each grade level, providing students with practical, applicable knowledge to enable them to make appropriate choices in their quest to become effective citizens on a local, state, and national level. To access the curriculum documents for the desired grade level, please click on the desired links as follows: