Curated OER
Using the newspaper to learn about state and local government
Students investigate the purposes of state and local government. They categorize newspaper articles into state and local issues. Pupils summarize nonfiction text. Students given an oral presentation on a news report to the class.
Curated OER
Your Tax Dollars at Work
In order to understand how tax dollars are spent, young economists use given data and graph it on a circle graph. Circle graphs are highly visual and can help individuals describe data. A class discussion follows the initial activity.
Curated OER
Citizenship Worksheet 5 - Local and State Government
The Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution delegates rights that have not been defined by the federal government to the states. But what are the responsibilities of state governments? What about county and city governments?...
Curated OER
Identifying the Purposes of Local Government
Students work cooperatively in small groups to identify the purposes of local government. They review the five broad purposes of local government and match the services of government to the appropriate purpose.
Curated OER
Understanding Tax: Your Role as a Tax Payer
Every adult should know that it is their responsibility to help fund public goods and services by paying taxes. Help young people get a handle on the history, evolution, purposes for, and reasons why they should pay taxes too.
Curated OER
What is Taxed and Why
Young scholars are exposed to the need for federal, state and local governments to tax constituents to provide goods and services for their residents. They identify the different kinds of taxes and give examples of the goods and services...
Council for Economic Education
Government Spending: Why Do We Spend the Way We Do?
Students examine the categories for federal spending using the internet to locate them. They create a list of expenditures noting them as government purchases or transfer payments. They analyze the patterns of spending during the past 40...
Curated OER
Government Goods and Services
Fifth graders investigate the connection between taxes and government services. In this economics lesson, 5th graders discuss the process and benefits of paying sales and income taxes. Using calculators, students compute the amount of...
Internal Revenue Service
Fairness in Taxes: How Taxes Affect Us
Students are able to compare the effects of the following, using income as a measure of ability to pay: a progressive tax, a regressive tas, and a proportional tax. They explain how a mixture of regressive and progressive taxes could...
BBC
Local Democracy
Expanding our students' understanding of government at a local level is a great way to build an understanding of government at a global level. Start the understanding by using any of these fun teaching ideas. Learners engage in several...
K12 Reader
What is a Tribal Government?
What is life like on a Native American reservation? Learn about the ways a tribal government works with a reading comprehension activity. After reading a short passage, kids use context clues to answer five comprehension questions.
iCivics
Taxation
A paycheck stub can offer loads of information on the taxes American citizens pay. This resource not only includes analysis of a stub as an activity, but also provides a wealth of informative reading material on such topics as the...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan: Figuring Sales Taxes
Students define and discuss sales tax, identify items for which they do or do not have to pay sales tax, research information online about sales tax in their state, and complete practice sheet that requires calculating sales tax percent...
Curated OER
The Wealth Tax of 1935 and the Victory Tax of 1942
Students explain that during the Great Depression and World War II, the Roosevelt administration implemented new, broader, and more progressive taxes in order to cover the costs of the New Deal programs and the war.
Curated OER
Prairie Voices: Community Development, Investigating Local History
Students investigate local history. In this research skills lesson, students examine historic landmarks, tax records, fire maps, town plans, historic photographs, newspapers, and other primary sources to learn about local communities in...
Curated OER
Qualifying to Vote Under Jim Crow
Literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather laws? Scholars study the systematic ways African-Americans were kept from voting even after it was made a law. They analyze a series of primary source documents, complete a worksheet, and engaged...
American Bar Association
What Is Separation of Powers?
Who has the power? Scholars investigate the creation of the three branches of government in the United States Constitution. They analyze just why the framers created the branches the way they did.
Curated OER
The Role of Government
Students are introduced to the economic roles of the federal government. Using the internet, they read information related to government spending and the actual dollar amounts attached to budget items. In groups, they develop their own...
Curated OER
Understanding by Design
Fourth graders examine the origins, structures, and functions of the Colorado government. In this understanding by design lesson plan, 4th graders explore the three branches of government. Students identify the roles of state leaders and...
Curated OER
The Tax Man Cometh
Students examine websites and resources related to Bush's 2001 tax plan. They discuss the history of taxes and other tax topics. They look for evidence in the local newspaper of government spending at work.
iCivics
Counties Work
Turn learning into a game by asking pupils to play an online interactive activity! Learners choose their own characters, departments, work toward building the population of their towns, earn money, and must maintain an approval rating...
Curated OER
Academic Raceway 500
In this community government PowerPoint, students participate in a game with a race track format in which they answer questions about local government, the election process, and the decision making process used in a democracy.
Carolina K-12
Are You a Democrat or a Republican? Are You Really?
Have new or soon-to-be voters examine different political parties and their platforms as they figure out which one aligns most with their beliefs. After taking a few online quizzes, students split into pairs to discuss and then in larger...
Curated OER
The Cost of Community Services
Students identify the types of services provided to citizens by local government and evaluate tax revenue versus the costs of delivering these services to developments. They evaluate the advantages of spatial relations to delivery of...