GED Social Studies study guide
GED Social Studies · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The GED credential is a high school equivalency diploma earned by passing the GED test, and Social Studies is one of its four subjects - alongside Math, Science, and Reasoning Through Language Arts. It is built for adults who left high school without a diploma and want a credential that nearly all colleges and employers accept. The official site reports more than 21 million graduates and notes that GED grads can earn, on average, $9,000 more a year. You do not have to sit all four subjects at once. Topics on this exam: Civics and Government, United States History, Geography and the World, and Economics. The GED Social Studies study guide has 4 sections and about 1,144 words.
01Civics and Government
Civics questions test how the U.S. government is built and how power is limited. Learn the three branches and their core functions: Congress makes laws and controls spending; the president carries out laws, commands the military, and appoints officials; courts interpret laws and decide cases. Popular sovereignty, limited government, rule of law - authority comes from the people, and no official is above the law.
298 words, about 1 min02United States History
History questions on the GED stress cause and effect, chronology, and the meaning of documents far more than memorized dates. Founding era : colonial self-government, the Declaration of Independence (natural rights, consent of the governed), the weak Articles of Confederation, and the compromises of the Constitutional Convention. Expansion and conflict : westward movement, the spread of slavery, sectionalism, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Industry and reform : immigration, urbanization, labor organizing, the Progressive Era, and the New Deal response to the Great Depression.
276 words, about 1 min03Geography and the World
Geography items ask you to read maps and graphs and to explain why people and activities are located where they are. Map skills : title, legend, scale, compass rose; latitude (east–west lines measuring distance north or south of the equator) and longitude (north–south lines measuring distance east or west of the prime meridian). relative location : a set of coordinates versus a description such as "just north of the city." Physical geography : landforms, climate, natural resources, and how these shape settlement and farming. Human geography : population density, urbanization, migration, culture, and trade.
274 words, about 1 min04Economics
Economics on the GED is mostly about choices made under scarcity and how markets respond to change. Scarcity and opportunity cost : every choice has a cost - the value of the next-best option given up. Supply and demand : demand slopes downward, supply slopes upward, and equilibrium is where they meet. A shortage pushes price up; a surplus pushes it down.
296 words, about 1 min