Designed for teachers of students in grades 1-12, this document provides an overview of program content and objectives for the 1981 Alberta social studies curriculum. Minimum expectations regarding core and elective components, evaluation, and time allocations are briefly described and the status and availability of various learning resources are outlined. The remainder of the document describes in greater detail the core of the prescribed social studies curriculum. Arranged by grade level and presented in chart format, the curriculum is organized around three major components: topics, social issues and competing values, and objectives. Objectives are further subdivided into values objectives, knowledge objectives, and skill objectives. While topics might pertain to a time period, a geographic region, a culture, or a system of human organization in general, 60 percent of the total prescribed content is devoted to Canadian studies. Unit topics include the following: families (grade 1); planning neighborhoods and local communities (grade 2); lifestyles in other times and places (grade 3); Alberta's natural and human resources and links with the world (grade 4); the exploration, settlement, and development of Canada and relations with the United States (grade 5); meeting human needs (grade 6); people and their culture (grade 7); people and their institutions (grade 8); technology (grade 9); participatory citizenship (grade 10); and global issues (grades 11 and 12). (LH)