Academic Decathlon Curricular Theme and Topics for 2011–12
The curricular theme for 2011–2012 is The Age of Empire. Some general information on the
topics in each of the subject areas is presented below - 
SUPER QUIZ: The Super Quiz™ topic will be The Age of Imperialism: The Making
of a European Global Order. The Super Quiz Resource Guide will include readings
on such topics as mercantile empires, the Atlantic economy, motives for imperialism,
the role of technology in the age of imperialism, New Imperialism, tactics of colonial
rule, and decolonization and postcolonial immigration.
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LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: The language and literature curriculum will
include critical reading, one novella, three poems, and two short stories. The featured
novella will be Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.
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ART: The art curriculum will cover art fundamentals and will focus on art and imperial
power.
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MUSIC: The music curriculum will cover basic elements of music theory and will focus
on music of the Romantic era.
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SCIENCE: The science curriculum will present an introduction to physical science and
will include discussions of significant scientific advances made during the nineteenth
century.
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ECONOMICS: The economics curriculum will cover fundamental economic concepts,
microeconomics, and macroeconomics. The economics curriculum will also include a
thematic section focused on the economics of imperialism.
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MATHEMATICS: The mathematics curriculum will cover topics in general mathematics
and geometry and will include a brief introduction to differential calculus.
The full subject area outlines will be posted on United States Academic Decathlon’s website
(www.usad.org ) on May 1 and will also be published in the Academic Decathlon® Study
Guide, which will begin shipping on May 15.
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REMINDERS ABOUT THE 2011-12 NEBRASKA ACADEMIC DECATHLON

There are no limitations on the number of students who may participate in
preparing for the competition. A minimum of six students are needed for a
team and a maximum of twelve students can compete at both levels of
competition.

A team needs at least two students in each of the following three categories:
with an “A” grade level average in all academic courses over the last two
year; with a “B” grade level average in all academic courses over the last
two years; with a “C or below” grade level average in all academic courses
over the last two years.

The Regional Competition will be held at several locations across the state
on January 21, 2012. The locations will depend upon the locations of the
participating schools.

At the Regional level, schools compete against schools of similar size. There
are four sizes in Nebraska - - large; medium; small; and very small.

The State Final will be held in Omaha at Creighton University on February
17 (evening only) and 18, 2012. At the State Final, there are two divisions –
Large School (combining large and medium from the Regional) and Small
School (combining small and very small from the Regional). Separate
medals and trophies are awarded.

Scholarships are earned by all regular team members of the 1st , 2nd, and
3rd place teams at each Regional and in each division at the State Final.

Each first-time competitor receives from an anonymous donor (at no
cost) a curriculum package which contains 10 copies of the six
resource guides, 10 copies of the art reproduction booklet, 10 Music
CDs and a Practice Test.

The Nebraska Academic Decathlon will provide a copy of the required
novel and online testing system for nine students.

The entry fee is $175. An anonymous donor will pay the entry fee of
the first 10 first-time competitors in the 2011-12 year. If any
current participating school signs up a first-time competitor and the
new school competes at the Regional level, the entry fee from the
sponsoring school will be returned.

The top scoring first-time competitor at the Regional level will be
given a position at the State Final because the school is the Rookie
of the Year.
PHONE: 402-498-0798
FAX: 402-445-2828
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E-MAIL: jranstey@aol.com
2011-2012 NEBRASKA ACADEMIC DECATHLON ENTRY FORM
SCHOOL INFORMATION - - -PLEASE PRINT OR TYPE
School Name _____________________________________________________
Address _________________________________________________________________________
(Zip Code)
Phone Number (_____)___________________
Fax Number (_____)__________________
E-mail address for Coach(es) ________________________________________________________
NAME, HOME ADDRESS, HOME PHONE NUMBER OF DECATHLON COACH/
COACHES - -PLEASE PRINT OR TYPE
COACH 1:
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
(_____)_______________
Cell Phone (_____)_______________
COACH 2:
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
Cell Phone
(____)_______________
(___ _)_______________
* If there are additional coaches, please provide the necessary information on the back of this sheet.
NOTE:
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Upon the receipt of the entry form and fee, a study guide will be sent to your Decathlon
coach as soon as possible. If no coach has been selected, the study guide will be sent to
you. Additional study guides for the students and information on team selection deadlines will be sent at a later date.
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FIRST-TIME COMPETITORS: If a particular administrator or teacher at another
school convinced you to enroll in the 2011-12 Nebraska Academic Decathlon, please
enter the name of the school on the following line.
____________________________________________
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NOTE:
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Please return this form and the $175 entry fee to Nebraska Academic Decathlon,
Inc. ; 2175 North 124th Avenue Circle ; Omaha, NE 68164. Please make the check
payable to the Nebraska Academic Decathlon Foundation, Inc. The entry deadline for a first-time competitor is September 15.
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THE U.S. ACADEMIC DECATHLON (USAD) CURRICULUM
AND NATIONAL CURRICULUM AND CONTENT STANDARDS
Overview
USAD’s curriculum is an interdisciplinary curriculum in which a selected theme is integrated
across six different subject areas: art, economics, language and literature, music, science, &
social science. Students also study mathematics and participate in essay-writing, speech, and
interview events. The theme for the 2010–11 Academic Decathlon curriculum is The Great
Depression. While in most subjects the majority of the topics relate to the overall curricular
theme, some topics that cover fundamentals may also be included to encourage a thorough
understanding of the subject area as a whole. The Academic Decathlon mathematics curriculum
is unrelated to the theme and focuses on standard high school mathematics topics.
This document provides a summary of the national content standards met by USAD’s 2010–11
curriculum. In sum, USAD’s 2010–11 curriculum addresses aspects of the following:
 Five of the six National Content Standards for Visual Arts
 All twenty of the Voluntary National Content Standards in Economics
 Eleven of the twelve Curriculum and Content Area Standards for English Language Arts
 Four of the five National Content Standards for School Mathematics
 Four of the nine National Content Standards for Music
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Seven of the eight categories of National Science Education Content Standards
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Four of the ten National Curriculum Standards for U.S. History and two of the nine National Curriculum
Standards for World History
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