Melissa Harris
I have been a Social Studies teacher at Owen Valley High School since 2001. I teach Economics, Geography and History of the World A&B, Psychology, and Current Problems, Issues, and Events. I also teach the Ivy Tech course Teaching & Learning. I am the Social Studies Department Chair and a certified School Safety Specialist. Additionally, I am a Hope Squad advisor.
I have lived in Owen County my entire life. My husband and I are both OVHS grads. We have 2 children, Derek & Jenna.
Economics-
This is a senior level class. Passing this class is a graduation requirement.
Topics of Study
Unit 1/Standard1- Scarcity and Economic Reasoning
Unit2/Standard2- Supply and Demand
Unit3/Standard3- Market Structures
Unit 4/Standards4&5- The Role of Government, National Economic Performance
Unit5/Standards6&7- Money and the Role of Financial Institutions, Economic Stabilization
Unit6/Standard8- Trade
Review/Cumulative Final Exam – Should have a folder to keep all materials through the end of the semester.
Grades will be figured on a total points system. The school grading scale will be followed.
Late work will receive 75% of the total points earned
Each day, students will be required to read and respond to a quote, given to them the first 5 minutes of class.
Psychology-
This class is a Social Studies elective.
Unit 1: History & Scientific Method---Chapters 1&2
Mobile Project
Unit 2: Development---Chapters 3,4,5
Unit 3: Cognition---Chapters 9-12
Unit 4: Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Behavior---Chapters 18-20
Unit 5: Biological Dimensions of Behavior---Chapters 6,7,8
Unit 6: Personality, Assessment, Stress & Abnormal Psychology---Chapters 13-17
Personality Tests
Final Project on a Mental Disorder
Grades will be figured on a total points system. The school grading scale will be followed.
Each day, students will be required to read and respond to a quote, given to them the first 5 minutes of class.
Each unit they will also be required to do vocabulary. The words will be directly from the material we will cover in that unit.
Geography and History of the World A&B
Students must take either World History 1&2 or Geography and History of the World A&B to graduate. (each section is a semester long)
GHW A
Unit 1— Culture Hearths
Students examine the physical and human geographic factors associated with the origin and development of culture hearths in various regions of the world.
Unit 2 — World Religions
Students examine the physical and human geographic factors associated with the origins, spread and impact of major world religions in different regions of the world.
Unit 3 — Population Characteristics, Distribution and Migration
Students examine the physical and human geographic factors associated with population characteristics, distribution and migration in the world and the causes and consequences associated with them.
Unit 4 — Exploration, Conquest, Imperialism and Post-Colonialism
Students examine the physical and human geographic factors associated with the origins, major players and events, and consequences of worldwide exploration, conquest and imperialism.
Unit 5 — Urban Growth
Students examine the physical and human geographic factors associated with the origin and growth of towns and cities in different regions of the world and with the internal spatial structure of those urban centers.
Unit 6 — Innovations and Revolutions
Students examine physical and human geographic factors that influenced the origins, major events, diffusion and global consequences of new ideas in agriculture, science, culture, politics, industry and technology.
Review/Cumulative Final Exam – Should have a folder to keep all materials through the end of the semester.
GHW B
Unit 7 — Conflict and Cooperation
Students explore the physical and human geographic factors affecting the origins and the local, regional and supranational consequences of conflict and cooperation between and among groups of people.
Unit 8 — Trade and Commerce
Students examine the physical and human geographic factors that encourage or impede economic interdependence between and/or among countries and the local, regional and global consequences of those exchanges.
Unit 9 — Human and Environmental Interactions: Resources, Hazards and Health
Students examine the physical and human geographic factors associated with examples of how humans interact with the environment, such as deforestation, natural hazards and the spread of diseases, and the regional and global consequences of these interactions.
Unit 10 — States, Nations and Nation-States
Students analyze and evaluate the physical and human geographic factors that contribute to the formation of states (countries) and the forces that function to either unite and bind a country together or to divide a country.
Unit 11 — Sports, Recreation and Tourism
Students examine the physical and human geographic factors associated with sports, recreation and tourism along with the local and global consequences of these activities.
Unit 12 — Global Change
Students examine the human causes of change to the environment on a global scale along with the impact of these changes on the lives of humans.
Review/Cumulative Final Exam – Should have a folder to keep all materials through the end of the semester.
Grades will be figured on a total points system. The school grading scale will be followed.
Late work will receive 75% of the total points earned
Each day, students will be required to read and respond to a quote, given to them the first 5 minutes of class