Indiana Social Studies 7.C.2
The Standard
Compare and contrast historical and contemporary governments in Africa, Asia, and the Southwest Pacific.
2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students study the 1940s Gold Coast and Ghana today, past and present Japan, and Tonga before and after 2010. They compare how leaders are chosen and who makes laws. They use facts to describe what changed and what stayed the same.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students identify the Gold Coast's British-appointed governor and Ghana's elected president. They contrast rule by Japan's shogun with its present-day parliament. They explain how Tonga's parliament gained power while its monarchy remained.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat Africa, Asia, or the Southwest Pacific as if each had one government. They may assume a king or emperor always holds full power. Some confuse an appointed colonial governor with an elected leader.
How to Assess It
- Give students six fact cards, one past and one present for each place. Ask them to name one change in who holds power for each pair, using a fact from the cards.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs six printed fact cards on past and present Ghana, Japan, and Tonga; sort them by who chooses leaders and makes laws.
Ask: How did power shift in Tonga after 2010, and what role does its monarch still have? Use the cards as evidence.
Play a matching game: pair each government card with its leader selection rule, then explain one match to a partner.
Show a current Ghana election headline, then ask students to contrast how its president is chosen with a Gold Coast governor in the 1940s.
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Related Standards
- 7.C.1
Compare, contrast, and evaluate the different routes to independence from colonial rule taken by countries in Asia, Africa, and the Southwest Pacific.
- 6.C.1
Compare and contrast major forms of governments in Europe and the Americas throughout history.
- 7.G.2
Describe and compare major cultural characteristics of regions in Africa, Asia, and the Southwest Pacific.
- 7.H.6
Compare and contrast the institution of slavery in its various forms in Africa, Asia, and the Southwest Pacific, and analyze the impact slavery had on different...
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