Indiana Social Studies S.7.6

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Social Institutions

The Standard

Examine how technological innovations and scientific discoveries have influenced major social institutions

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students link a discovery or invention to changes in places like schools, hospitals, and families. They explain how the change happened, not just what came before and after.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain how germ theory led hospitals to adopt handwashing rules. They can also explain how vaccines led to school immunization rules and name people those rules affected.
Common Misconceptions: Students may say an invention changed society overnight without explaining who used it. They may confuse a scientific discovery, like germ theory, with a device, like a microscope. They may assume a change helped everyone equally.
How to Assess It: Ask: How did germ theory change hospitals? Name one hospital practice and explain why it changed.

Lesson moves

Give pairs cards for germ theory, vaccines, smartphones, and printing presses; have them match each to a change in hospitals, schools, families, or churches.
Ask students to write about one household rule that changed when smartphones became common and explain who made the rule.
Play a cause-and-effect relay: teams arrange germ theory, handwashing rules, and fewer hospital infections in order, then explain each link.
Show a school immunization policy and ask students how vaccine research shaped school rules and family choices.

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