Decathletes are challenged to use analytical skills, performance abilities, test-taking, and writing aptitude in 10 events: Art, Economics, Essay, Interview, Language & Literature, Math, Music, Science, Social Science and Speech. School teams study the theme using a curriculum that is provided by the United States Academic Decathlon. 

 

Each year, the Academic Decathlon selects a new theme for teams all over the country to explore. The theme shapes an entire course of studies - and brings it all together. The more years students participate in Academic Decathlon, the more themes they master. Since the USAD curriculum team develops these themes with special attention to national content standards, students find they're becoming more knowledgeable Academic Decathletes and stronger all-around students.

The following is some general information on the topics in each of the subject areas:

 

- ART: USAD’s art curriculum introduces students to the history of art—from ancient civilizations to the modern world—and focuses in-depth on eighteen artworks, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, and works of architecture, that connect to the overall curricular theme.

 

- ECONOMICS: USAD’s economics curriculum presents a comprehensive overview of economic fundamentals, microeconomics, and macroeconomics, and includes a focused case study that ties into the curricular theme.

 

- ESSAY: USAD’s essay component offers students a chance to refine their writing skills and apply their knowledge of the Academic Decathlon curriculum. Students are given 50 minutes to respond to a prompt that may focus on art, economics, literature, music, science, or social science.

 

- INTERVIEW: USAD’s interview event allows students to develop their communication skills by participating in an interview with a panel of judges. Students respond to questions about their past activities, as well as, their future plans.

 

- LITERATURE: USAD’s literature curriculum offers a view of the curricular theme through a literary lens and provides students with a guided analysis of one long work and several shorter works. The featured works can range from novels and plays to poems, essays, speeches, and short stories.

 

- MATHEMATICS: USAD’s mathematics curriculum is independent of the curricular theme and offers students an opportunity to reinforce and improve their knowledge of standard high school mathematics topics, including algebra, geometry, statistics, trigonometry, and calculus.

 

- MUSIC: USAD’s music curriculum explores the connections between the curricular theme and the world of music. Students are given an overview of the elements of music theory and learn in-depth about fourteen musical works that relate to the curricular theme. Works can range from classical to popular music, from Gregorian chants to jazz and rock and roll.

 

- SCIENCE: USAD’s science curriculum focuses on a scientific field that relates to the curricular theme. Past science topics include marine biology, astronomy, the biology of cancer, laser technology and its applications, neuroscience, environmental science, and the biology of infectious diseases, among others.

 

- SOCIAL SCIENCE: USAD’s social science curriculum offers students the chance to explore the curricular theme in-depth. Past topics include, among others, the 1960s, the history of healthcare, the Cold War, water’s role in human history, the American Revolution and the founding of the United States, the history of computers, and climate change in the past and present.

 

- SPEECH: USAD’s speech event gives students an opportunity to develop and refine their verbal communication skills. Students prepare and present a four-minute speech on a topic of their choosing and give a two-minute impromptu speech in response to a given prompt. demonstrate individual excellence.