Curated OER
Voting
Students participate in a role play where they run for office and address the issues they want to fix. In this voting lesson plan, students then vote on which candidate they want to run their classroom.
Curated OER
Honoring An Imperial Legacy
Students research, compare, and identify imperial Rome's impact on modern governments. They compare the political system of ancient Rome to modern political systems throughout the world.
Curated OER
Civil Service Reform: Senate Debates
Students examine the 1883 Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. They discuss the spoils system, answer discussion questions, read and analyze speeches, complete a worksheet summarizing their findings, and report their findings to the class.
Curated OER
John Gary Evans and the Politics of Race
Young scholars read letters written by Evans and Gunton regarding race relations. For this Progressive Movement lesson, students interpret the intentions and tone of the letters to understand contemporary racial beliefs. Young scholars...
Curated OER
The Global Warming Debate and the Arctic Ice Cap
In this global warming and the Arctic ice cap worksheet, students use two graphs showing data about the amount of Arctic sea ice between 1950 and 2006 and the percent of people surveyed that believe the Earth has gotten warmer over the...
Curated OER
Do We Need a Permanenet International Criminal Court?: War Crimes, Violence, International Law and Politics, Nuremberg
In this instructional activity, students explore the history, relevance and current application of international tribunals for war crimes. Students look at cases from the Nuremberg trials, Tokyo trials and the Bosnian War.
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Social Studies: Debating Aid to Micronesia
Students simulate a debate about continued U.S. aid to the Federated States of Micronesia. In two large groups, they research the history of Micronesia and how it was affected by colonization and trusteeship. After the debate, students...
Curated OER
Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
Students examine the transcripts of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates and create a platform for each candidate in the 1858 Senate race. They utilize the candidates' arguments to explore the historical and political impact.
Curated OER
Civil Service Reform: Senate Debates
Eleventh graders outline civil service reform proposals made by Senators during debates on Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. They interpret 1883 Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act to see if it incorporated Senators' proposals or...
Curated OER
The Ratification Debate
Eighth graders investigate the debate in order to understand the Ratification in context of the period of history being studied. They read text answer questions through identifying the differences between Federalists and Antifederalists.
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Tread Lightly: Global Climate Change Debate
Students participate in a group simulation to negotiate their country's stance on climate change initiatives at the U.N. In this climate change lesson, students write statements and engage in negotiations to create climate change policy....
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The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858: Interactive Map Activity
Eleventh graders utilize an interactive map to explore the 1858 Senate campaign in Illinois and how factors such as population, transportation, and party strongholds can affect campaign strategies.
Curated OER
Does Rick Warren Represent Diversity?
The topic of this lesson focuses on whether or not Obama was able to convincingly defend his choice of choosing Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration. This is considered a controversial or hot topic because it...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Defense of the Electoral College
Each presidential election year, the debate about the electoral college rages. Michael C. Maibach's "A Defense of the Electoral College" offers young political scientists an opportunity to examine a reasoned argument for why the...
Center for History Education
Continuity or Change? African Americans in World War II
While World War II was a pivotal moment in history, historians debate its importance to the civil rights movement. Class members consider the implications of segregation and the war using a series of documents and a jigsaw activity....
Anti-Defamation League
Sexism and the Presidential Election
Young historians investigate how sexism impacted the 2020 United States presidential election. They examine media coverage of the six women candidates, engage in a four-corners debate reacting to statements about gender and the...
Deliberating in a Democracy
Cyberbullying—Alternate Lesson Plan
Should schools be permitted to punish young scholars for off-campus cyberbullying? After reading a passage that details statistics about cyberbullying and Supreme Court rulings about schools' ability to limit student speech,...
Curated OER
The Search for a Meaningful Dialectic
Students explore a framework of political and social values to evaluate the validity of any public policy debate, bill, or law. They participate in cooperative learning in terms of the group investigation model.
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Presidential Endorsements: Newspapers Decide
Students read The Plain Dealer editorial about its "non-support" of a candidate and other articles about this and discuss the newspaper's role in the political process. Students then form an editorial board and debate which candidate...
Curated OER
Images of Immigration
High schoolers evaluate how images of immigrants reflected political and social attitudes toward them in the United States. They interpret visual images in the context of historical and political developments.
Curated OER
The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said
Middle schoolers list some ideas proposed and debated during the Constitutional Convention, and discuss the important issues requiring compromise during the Constitutional Convention.
Curated OER
Roe v. Wade: A History of Controversy
Students research what is legal now as far as abortions are concerned. Does it matter what state you live in? Does it matter how old you are? If you are a teen, does the doctor have to notify your parents? Students prepare a panel...
Curated OER
Life Choices
By examining two differing perspectives on the topic of abortion, upper graders will be able to build an opinion of their own. A teacher-led lecture outlines key points in the debate for or against abortion including, the role of...
BBC
Eu, Un, and Commonwealth: Keeping Peace
What are the UN, the EU, and Commonwealth? Have the class brainstorm all they know about these powerful international organizations. Then have them compare and contrast the ways in which different countries or political groups...