This lesson provides students with the opportunity to explore their members in the House of Representatives and how they represent their constituents as a fundamental part of civic literacy.
Lesson Plan: Choice Board – Researching Your U.S. Senators
This lesson provides students with the opportunity to explore their members of the U.S. Senate and how they represent their constituents as a fundamental part of civic literacy.
Should the Federal Government Regulate States’ Election Procedures?
Students will be able to identify and explain aspects of the election regulation debate, including its potential impact on voter turnout, election transparency, and voting equity.
Should the 1972 Equal Rights Amendment Be Ratified?
Students will be able to identify and explain aspects of the Equal Rights Amendment debate including various legal and societal considerations.
Congress and the Separation of Powers – Virtual Exhibit
Why does the U.S. Constitution separate the government into three branches? At the nation’s founding, the Constitution’s framers understood that executive, legislative, and judicial responsibilities differed, and they provided for these distinct functions. They also believed that concentrating authority in one body would result in tyranny. They therefore divided the government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, so that no single part would become too strong, and empowered each to limit or “check” the powers of the others. This exhibit examines Congress’s unique role and the ways in which it can balance or dynamically shape and challenge the powers of two other branches.
Life Stages: Death Podcast
It’s the final episode of our Life Stages series, and it’s euphemism-free. We speak to doctors, lawyers, professors, and funeral professionals about the rules of death; pronouncing, declaring, burying, cremating, willing, trusting, canceling, donating.
This short episode includes a one-page Graphic Organizer for students to take notes on while listening, as well as discussion questions on the back side.
Life Stages: Retirement Podcast
The prospect of retirement – of leaving the work force, aging, confronting a new body and a new way of life – is peppered with concepts and requirements so unwieldy they can make your brain turn off. So how do we make retirement prep easier? Shed the dread and face the future armed with a plan? Our guides to the next stage of life are Bart Astor, Tom Margenau and Cristina Martin Firvida.
This short episode includes a one-page Graphic Organizer for students to take notes on while listening, as well as discussion questions on the back side.
Life Stages: Marriage Podcast
What does it really mean to be married? Divorced? What changes in the law’s eyes? What do you have to do? And, most important, how and why has the government decided who is allowed to marry whom? And while we’re at it, what does love, Pocahontas, or a credit card application have to do with any of this?
This short episode includes a one-page Graphic Organizer for students to take notes on while listening, as well as discussion questions on the back side.
Life Stages: Work Podcast
The modern-day workplace is the product of a centuries-long battle for fair wages, reasonable hours and safe conditions. This episode tells the story of the labor in the United States – from slavery and indentured servitude to the Equal Pay Act and the weekend. What did Americans workers have to go through to make their voices heard, and how did they change labor in America?
This short episode includes a one-page Graphic Organizer for students to take notes on while listening, as well as discussion questions on the back side.
Life Stages: School Podcast
As Adam Laats said, “When it comes to schools, the most important thing is who you are, and where you live.” In this episode, we explore how K-12 education has developed in the US since the 1600s, what teachers can and can’t teach, what rights students have in public school, and how the federal government gets involved. The episode features Mary Beth Tinker, Dan Cassino, Kara Lamontagne, Adam Laats and Campbell Scribner.
This short episode includes a one-page Graphic Organizer for students to take notes on while listening, as well as discussion questions on the back side.