Praxis 5087 cheat sheet

Content Knowledge for Praxis 5087

• Praxis 5087 is the Social Studies: Content and Interpretation exam; it is built around history, geography, civics/government, and economics plus social studies skills and interpretation of sources.

• Chronological anchors for U.S. history: 1607 Jamestown, 1620 Mayflower/Plymouth, 1776 Declaration, 1787 Constitution, 1803 Louisiana Purchase, 1861-65 Civil War, 1865-70 Reconstruction amendments, 1898 Spanish-American War, 1933 New Deal begins, 1954 Brown v. Board, 1964 Civil Rights Act, 1965 Voting Rights Act.

• Founding documents: the Declaration states natural rights and consent of the governed; the Constitution establishes federalism, separation of powers, and checks and balances; the Bill of Rights (1791) protects individual liberties against the federal government, and the 14th Amendment (1868) applies due process and equal protection to the states.

• Key constitutional clauses: Commerce Clause (Art. I, Sec. 8) supports federal regulation of interstate commerce; Necessary and Proper Clause implies federal powers; Supremacy Clause (Art. VI) makes federal law supreme; Full Faith and Credit (Art. IV) requires states to honor other states' acts and records.

• Landmark cases to distinguish: Marbury v. Madison (1803, judicial review), McCulloch v. Maryland (1819, implied powers), Dred Scott (1857), Plessy v. Ferguson (1896, separate but equal), Brown v. Board (1954), Engel v. Vitale (1962, school prayer), Miranda v. Arizona (1966), Tinker v. Des Moines (1969, student speech), Citizens United (2010, campaign spending).

• Geography essentials: latitude measures distance north/south of the equator and drives climate zones; longitude measures east/west and sets time zones; the five themes are location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and region; push-pull factors explain migration; demographic transition moves from high birth/death rates to low ones as industrialization proceeds.

• Economics essentials: scarcity forces choices and opportunity cost; demand slopes downward and supply upward, with equilibrium where they meet; price ceilings cause shortages and price floors surpluses; GDP measures final goods and services; inflation is a sustained rise in the general price level; the Federal Reserve uses open market operations, reserve requirements, and the discount rate to influence money supply and interest rates.

• World history anchors: ancient river civilizations (Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, Huang He); Greek democracy and Roman republic/republican law; Silk Road and Indian Ocean trade; Renaissance and Reformation; Columbian Exchange (post-1492); Industrial Revolution (c. 1750 onward); imperialism and decolonization; Cold War (1947-1991) and post-Cold War globalization.

• Social studies skills: primary sources are produced at the time by participants, secondary sources interpret them; corroboration compares sources, sourcing asks who made a source and why, and contextualization situates it in time and place; maps, charts, timelines, and political cartoons are interpreted for bias, purpose, and point of view.