1. Government and society respond to major public problems in diverse ways.

 2. America's strength lies in its ability to strike a balance between the forces of unity and diversity.

 3. The United States is interconnected to the rest of the world in economic, social, political and geographic ways.

The period from 1975 to the present is an exciting one to teach since our students have lived part of it. However, that proximity in time makes it a difficult period to analyze. The activities in this unit are designed to give students an awareness of some of the numerous issues that surround them and that may become a challenge to them in the future.

 We have focused around three basic themes -- the interconnectedness of the United States to the rest of the world, the question of striking a balance between the unifying and diversifying factors that exist in our society, and the means of addressing public problems. These lessons are all important to the understanding of this period; however, they may be taught in random order. It is important to remember that this will be a time in the academic year when resources might be limited and student energy might be waning. Therefore, we suggest that the teacher gather resource materials ahead of time and choose the order of the lessons based on the interests of the students. Also, one might want to think about using the wide variety of audio-visual materials that are available for this period. And, do not overlook the primary resource of parents and grandparents.

Question/Problem 1 : What have been the governmental and societal responses to major public problems since 1975?

Question/Problem 2 : America's strength has always depended partly on its ability to strike a balance between unity and diversity. How did American society in the 1980s balance unity and diversity?

Question/Problem 3 : How is the United States interconnected to the world?