The Preamble is the introduction to the United States Constitution, and it serves two central purposes. First, it states the source from which the Constitution derives its authority: the sovereign people of the United States. Second, it sets forth the ends that the Constitution and the government that it establishes are meant to serve.

Students will learn how the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution was shaped by historical events and how it reflected the fundamental values and principles of a newly independent nation.

Lesson Plan outline for introducing Presidential Debate.Teachers will help establish the context for the purpose and history of Presidential debates.Outline includes sample note-taking format on style and substance of the debate. 

This site presents materials on elections and the voting process. It links to other election and electoral college resources.

Each presidential speech is unique. By working with primary sources from the online collections of the Library of Congress, students can explore the people and events that shaped these speeches. They can also identify the components of an effective speech and discover persuasive strategies that will help make their own speeches presidential.

In order to become informed participants in a democracy, students must learn about the women and men who make decisions concerning their lives, their country, and the world. The President of the United States is one such leader. As a nation, we place no greater responsibility on any one individual than we do on the president. Through these lessons, students learn about the roles and responsibilities of the president and their own roles as citizens of a democracy.

Use a 3 ½ minute Ted Talk video in EdPuzzle to learn about and answer questions about our government. Standard 5.05 Explain why people create governments and describe the structure of the government in the United States and how it functions to serve citizens.I can describe the purpose of a democracy/government.I can identify the three branches of government; Legislative, Judicial, and Executive.I can describe the functions of the three branches of government and checks and balances.Pre-lesson: Review prior knowledge on American Revolution

This course provides an overview of macroeconomic issues: the determination of output, employment, unemployment, interest rates, and inflation. Monetary and fiscal policies are discussed. Important policy debates such as, the sub-prime crisis, social security, the public debt, and international economic issues are critically explored. The course introduces basic models of macroeconomics and illustrates principles with the experience of the U.S. and foreign economies.

The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a fundamental understanding of the principles of macroeconomics. Macroeconomists study how a country's economy works and try to determine the best choices to improve the overall wellbeing of a nation. Typical topics include inflation (the overall level of prices), employment, fiscal policy (government taxing and spending), and money and banking (interest rates and lending policies). By studying macroeconomics and understanding the critical ideas and tools used to measure economic data, the student will have a better perspective on the issues and problems discussed in contemporary economics. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: Discuss key macroeconomic concerns, including national income accounting, saving and investment, and market forces; Describe the determinants of total output and the ways to measure nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as real GDP; Compare and contrast definitions of total employment and unemployment, the three forms of unemployment, and inflation; Explain different ways of computing the general movement in prices, and define the relationship between inflation and unemployment; Explain the model of aggregate demand and aggregate supply; Analyze the government's role in the economy and examine how it uses its fiscal policy and monetary policy to influence macroeconomic variables in order to enable macro and micro economic stability; Describe the mechanics of money supply in detail. They will specifically be able to identify different types of money; explain the money creation process, the money multiplier, and the process of interest rate determination; and discuss the role of the Federal Reserve System and its tools of monetary policy; Identify and analyze major theories of economic growth; Analyze various strategies for developing of less-developed nations; Present the concepts behind international trade. (Economics 102; See also: Business Administration 201)

In this project, you will explore a real-world problem, and then work through a series of steps to analyze that problem, research ways the problem could be solved, then propose a possible solution to that problem. Often, there is no specific right or wrong solutions, but sometimes one particular solution may be better than others. The key is making sure you fully understand the problem, have researched some possible solutions, and have proposed the solution that you can support with information / evidence.Begin by reading the problem statement in Step 1. Take the time to review all of the information provided in the statement, including exploring the websites, videos and / or and articles that are linked. Then work on steps 2 through 8 to complete this problem-based learning experience.

Is public transportation a public good? How about national defense? Knowing the characteristics of public goods will help you understand why private firms excel at producing private goods, but they have little incentive to produce public goods. Rather, if society wants public goods, government must produce them. This episode of The Economic Lowdown defines the characteristics of private and public goods and explains why these characteristics help determine who is best positioned to produce each.

This course will examine public opinion and assess its place in the American political system. The course will emphasize both how citizens’ thinking about politics is shaped and the role of public opinion in political campaigns, elections, and government.

This standalone Civics course was developed by educators in Puyallup School DIstrict in Washington state.

Civics is the study of our national government, constitution, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Topics include democracy and other forms of government; legislative, executive, and judicial functions; the political process; and foreign and domestic policies. It also includes a summary of Washington State History and local native sovereignty.

After a car and pedestrian accident occurs near the local school, concerned students, parents, and neighbors launch a neighborhood safety project. Students consider potential hazards and then collect traffic and pedestrian data that might shed light on the situation. A survey is conducted to determine how children in the neighborhood travel between home and school, and students challenge their classmates to increase their use of human-powered (foot and pedal) transportation. Students use spreadsheets to enter and represent data, analyze their observations and survey data to determine the most significant problems, and study possible solutions. They develop a proposal for improving traffic safety, create slideshows and brochures, and present their ideas to the local city council.

This unit plan was originally developed by the Intel® Teach program as an exemplary unit plan demonstrating some of the best attributes of teaching with technology.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson plan connects redlining with current issues of environmental and racial justice.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This is a thoroughly sourced and cited lesson plan. All of the external links meet our quality standards for accuracy and current information. Additionally, the external links are well-sourced, and the data is provided for tools like the Tree Cover Equity map. This lesson has passed our scientific quality assessment.

Positives
-This environmental racism lesson plan clearly connects redlining in the 1930s and environmental injustice today.
-This lesson is extremely powerful because students make the connection between redlined areas and their case studies. It is nuanced and will not always line up perfectly. Overwhelmingly, however, neighborhoods that were redlined are experiencing environmental injustice - higher rates of asthma, unbearable heat, air pollution, and less tree cover. It is an incredibly meaningful "aha moment" for the students.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-There might be some pushback with those who do not understand racism.
-Students might think “I’m not racist.” But it’s important to know that racism exists whether one perpetrates individual racist acts or not.
-For some background information and definitions, use this resource from Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How to Be an Antiracist.
-It may be useful to discuss how climate change is a “threat multiplier.” For things like urban heat islands and urban tree cover, climate change makes inequities even worse.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-It may be best to group students of different abilities when they are exploring their case studies.
-If you live in the United States you can adapt case study #4 - the American Forests Tree Equity Score Map - to whichever major city is closest to your school. The lesson is designed for students to explore Philadelphia, but students can simply look at any other city to make the connection between redlining and urban tree cover.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn how redlining connects to tree equity and racial justice.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson introduces the concepts of redlining, tree equity, and environmental racism to students. It walks students through the history of these practices and how the effects of these policies are still seen today. The links all provide detailed information about where their data is from and have been reviewed for accuracy. This resource is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson provides a clear story between redlining in the 1930s and environmental injustice seen today.
-This lesson shows students a tangible effect of systemic racism.
-Students are given voice and choice in this lesson.
-Students are empowered to think about solutions to environmental injustice.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Students should have some basic understanding that racism exists whether one perpetrates individual racist acts or not.
-Students should have some basic understanding that systems or policies can be racist.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Extension activities can have students explore other forms of environmental injustice stemming from redlining. Examples include health issues, air pollution, urban heat, industrial pollution, water quality, etc.
-Student groups can pair up to compare and contrast different regions in New Jersey.
-Students can research policies or movements in addressing redlining in New Jersey.
-Students can research the relationship between redlining and voter suppression.

The familiar magnetic stripe credit cards used for decades in the United States are being phased out. Read about the new smart-chip credit cards, designed to reduce fraud and improve security, in the March 2016 issue of Page One Economics: Focus on Finance.

This is a collection of essential questions about civics that you can use in your history or social studies class. These questions could form the foundation of an individual lesson (i.e. a writing assignment, a class discussion) or they could be used to re-organize your curriculum (i.e. the basis for identifying topics for inclusion and a method of summative assessment). You'll also find links to a slidedeck and to background reading on the topic.

In this activity, students will have the opportunity to create a campaign commercial to run as the new president of Boise State. They will practice using vocabulary related to governments and actions that political figures take. Students will be able to discuss preferences relating to politics and government.

A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring the topic of the Spanish-American War, including yellow journalism, the USS Maine and Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.