Today we travel to the spring of 1980, where the presidential campaigns of Reagan and Carter take a back seat to an act of disobedience committed by a 14-year-old girl in Piscataway, New Jersey. The highest court in the land has to decide, how are your 4th Amendment protections different when you happen to be a student? This episode features the voices of Professor Tracey Maclin from Boston University School of Law and Professor Sarah Seo from Columbia Law School. This episode includes a one-page Graphic Organizer for students to take notes on while listening.
How a Bill Becomes a Law – Clean Water Act of 1972
The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, commonly known as the Clean Water Act, was originally passed in 1948. By 1972, Congress had voted on an amended version of the law that included the expansion of regulations to prevent pollution of the nation’s waterways. In this lesson, students consider how the Clean Water Act of 1972 became a law. They identify key moments in the evolution of this bill including its path in Congress, its veto by President Nixon and its eventual enactment. Preparing and organizing information, students interpret these key events and share them in a storyboard presentation. While intended for 8th grade students, the lesson can be adapted for other grade levels.
U.S. Capitol Tour, Worksheet, Quiz – Middle School
This 3-room video tour of the U.S. Capitol, featuring the Crypt, Rotunda, and National Statuary Hall, focuses on information relevant to students taking middle school level U.S. history and civics courses. A follow-along worksheet and a follow-along quiz are provided.
Take a Tour of the U.S. Capitol
Learn all about the U.S. Capitol by watching this video.
Videos About the U.S. Capitol
Find short videos about the U.S. Capitol, including Women in Capitol Art; virtual tours; exhibits; Capitol Moments and more.
Popularity Contest
A game demonstrating the ways that an Electoral vs. Popular Vote would affect a campaign strategy.
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.