100+ Free OSAT Middle Level Social Studies (127) Practice Questions

U.S. History (Subarea I)

Major events in U.S. history from the colonial period until 1789, from 1789 to 1877, and from 1877 to the present, including colonial settlement, the Revolution, the Constitution and early republic, westward expansion and Native removal, the Civil War and Reconstruction, industrialization, the Progressive era, the world wars, the Great Depression and New Deal, the Cold War, and the civil rights movement, with attention to historical thinking and primary and secondary sources.

Geography and Culture (Subarea II)

Physical geography of the earth including landforms, plate tectonics, climate, and map and globe skills; human geography and the development of human systems and culture including urbanization, migration, cultural diffusion, and demographics; and the interactions between the environment and climate and human populations, such as resource use and environmental change.

Government and Civics (Subarea III)

The role of government, different forms of government, and the roles of citizenship; the political and historical foundations of U.S. government including Enlightenment ideas, the Magna Carta, and key documents; and the U.S. Constitution, the functions of government, separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, tribal sovereignty, levels of government, and the rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizens.

Economics and World History (Subarea IV)

Fundamental economic concepts such as scarcity, opportunity cost, supply and demand, factors of production, GDP, inflation, economic systems, and international trade and comparative advantage; plus major developments in world history before industrialization (early civilizations, classical Greece, the Renaissance) and since the Industrial Revolution (industrialization, the world wars, and decolonization).

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Subarea V)

One constructed-response assignment applying social studies pedagogy: designing developmentally appropriate, standards-based instruction toward a specific learning goal, using formative and pre-assessment, analyzing source materials and student work, differentiating for English learners and diverse learners, and identifying next instructional steps. This bank includes scenario-style multiple-choice items to build those skills.