51220
. The adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive,
shall offer courses in the following areas of study:
(a) English, including knowledge of and appreciation for
literature, language, and composition, and the skills of reading,
listening, and speaking.
(b) (1) Social sciences, drawing upon the disciplines of
anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science,
psychology, and sociology, designed to fit the maturity of the
pupils. Instruction shall provide a foundation for understanding the
history, resources, development, and government of California and the
United States of America; instruction in our American legal system,
the operation of the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems, and
the rights and duties of citizens under the criminal and civil law
and the State and Federal Constitutions; the development of the
American economic system, including the role of the entrepreneur and
labor; the relations of persons to their human and natural
environment; eastern and western cultures and civilizations; human
rights issues, with particular attention to the study of the
inhumanity of genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust, and contemporary
issues.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, genocide may include the
Armenian Genocide. The "Armenian Genocide" means the torture,
starvation, and murder of 1,500,000 Armenians, which included death
marches into the Syrian desert, by the rulers of the Ottoman Turkish
Empire and the exile of more than 500,000 innocent people during the
period from 1915 to 1923, inclusive.
(c) Foreign language or languages, beginning not later than grade
7, designed to develop a facility for understanding, speaking,
reading, and writing the particular language.
(d) Physical education, with emphasis given to physical activities
that are conducive to health and to vigor of body and mind, as
required by Section 51222.
(e) Science, including the physical and biological aspects, with
emphasis on basic concepts, theories, and processes of scientific
investigation and on the place of humans in ecological systems, and
with appropriate applications of the interrelation and
interdependence of the sciences.
(f) Mathematics, including instruction designed to develop
mathematical understandings, operational skills, and insight into
problem-solving procedures.
(g) Visual and performing arts, including dance, music, theater,
and visual arts, with emphasis upon development of aesthetic
appreciation and the skills of creative expression.
(h) Applied arts, including instruction in the areas of consumer
and homemaking education, industrial arts, general business
education, or general agriculture.
(i) Career technical education designed and conducted for the
purpose of preparing youth for gainful employment in the occupations
and in the numbers that are appropriate to the personnel needs of the
state and the community served and relevant to the career desires
and needs of the pupils.
(j) Automobile driver education, designed to develop a knowledge
of the provisions of the Vehicle Code and other laws of this state
relating to the operation of motor vehicles, a proper acceptance of
personal responsibility in traffic, a true appreciation of the
causes, seriousness, and consequences of traffic accidents, and to
develop the knowledge and attitudes necessary for the safe operation
of motor vehicles. A course in automobile driver education shall
include education in the safe operation of motorcycles.
(k) Other studies as may be prescribed by the governing board.