Social Studies
Domain 2: Social Studies
The OSAT Elementary Education Social Studies domain tests history, geography, civics, economics, and inquiry skills, with attention to Oklahoma and United States content. Candidates should be able to interpret sources, maps, charts, and timelines and to explain how people and places change over time.
Core rules and concepts
- Primary sources come from the period studied-letters, artifacts, photographs, diaries, laws. Secondary sources interpret or analyze primary sources.
- Map scale converts map distance to real distance. Latitude lines run east-west but measure north-south; longitude lines run north-south but measure east-west.
- The U.S. Constitution separates powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches and uses checks and balances. Federalism divides power between national and state governments.
- Economics begins with scarcity, which forces choices and creates opportunity cost-the value of the next-best alternative.
- Oklahoma history includes the forced removal of the Five Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee Creek, Seminole) in the 1830s, the land runs beginning in 1889, oil development, the Dust Bowl, and statehood in 1907.
Worked example
A map legend states that 1 inch represents 50 miles. The distance between two Oklahoma cities on the map is 3.5 inches. Multiply 3.5 by 50 to get 175 miles. Reasoning: the scale is a ratio; keep the units consistent, multiply the measured map distance by the scale factor, and label the answer in miles. If the map distance were 3.5 centimeters and the scale were 1 centimeter = 50 kilometers, the answer would be 175 kilometers.
Traps that cost marks
Do not reverse latitude and longitude. Do not call a textbook excerpt a primary source. Do not confuse a want with a need. Do not treat state and federal powers as identical.