U.S. Government. Gorman Learning Center (052344) Basic Course Information

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1 U.S. Government Gorman Learning Center (052344) Basic Course Information Title: U.S. Government Transcript abbreviations: US Government / Gov Length of course: Half Year Subject area: History / Social Science ("a") / Civics / American Government UC honors designation? No Prerequisites: None Co-requisites: None Integrated (Academics / CTE)? No Grade levels: 12th Course learning environment: Classroom Based Course Description Course overview: Government is a one-semester required course that explores our representative democracy with the primary focus of developing civic education to shape our seniors into thoughtful, responsible, and engaged citizens of their various communities. Students will learn that this Government course is very relevant to their lives and that many aspects of their adulthood are shaped and influenced by some aspect of politics. The goal will be to stay up to date with current events and politics happening in real time. Major topics of this course include democracy, federalism, separation of powers, checks and balances, civil right and liberties, civil participation, constitutional interpretations, political process, and public policy. Students will also be developing deep-thinking, building on their writing skills with research papers, and cooperating with fellow peers on many group projects. This course will encourage overall learning and academic improvement and students will have opportunities to improve their grades so long as they demonstrate a desire to do so and will retake assignments/assessments or do alternative projects that will contribute to their learning.

2 Course content: Unit 1 Students will identify the principles of government and identify essential features of a state and describe the theories about the origin of government and how government affects people s daily lives. Then, students will study the origins of American government, starting with the political struggles of the Colonial Period and the rising philosophies of the Founding Fathers. They will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation and learn how it developed into the U.S. Constitution. Finally, students will analyze the structure and principles of the U.S. Constitution, including the three branches of government, amending the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Students will read opinion articles about the relevance of the Constitution in America today and debate it in class. It will be followed with a discussion of what constitutions look like in other countries of similar political values and economic strength. Unit 2 Students will explore the dual federal system, including the national and state powers, relations among states, and the relationship and struggle between national and state powers. They will evaluate state versus national power of laws over various time periods of American history and trace the impact federalism had and has on shaping laws and rights today, focusing on current issues like gay marriage, health care, and potentially gun control. Students will complete an Eras of Federalism packet where they track the evolution of federalism by defining each notable era with the date range, basic and Constitutional features, court cases, and overall impact on America. They will also take part in a Federalism Meets Issues project where they describe how federalism has impacted and been impacted by an issue (medical marijuana, gay marriage, abortion, death penalty, drinking age, immigration, education, and healthcare). Unit 3 Students will be exploring the makeup of the American demography and how it has changed in various parts of the United States over time. They will also examine how the American political

3 culture, upbringing and personal backgrounds, education, and media contribute to forming a person s political ideology. Students will interview a parent or guardian to learn in depth about their political ideology, reflect on their own political ideology, and see if there are any commonalities and analyze why there may or may not be any. In addition, we will determine how the media impacts American politics by examining the relationship between politicians and the press and the press with the general people. Students will also scrutinize the rights of the media through the lens of the First Amendment. Students will begin with a Political Ideologies packet where they will complete several online surveys that will tell them how liberal or conservative they are and then they will evaluate how those results compare with their party affiliation, ideology, and political efficacy and that of their parents. They will also examine whether they feel that they are influenced by their parents. Students will also watch the documentaries, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Fahrenhype 9/11 (they interpret the events of 9/11 very differently), and contrast the two movies and determine how the political perspectives of the creators skew the bias in both films. Unit 4 In this unit, students will review the history of party eras, noting instances of party realignment and the reasons for and consequences of them. Then, they will read the current Democratic and Republican party platforms and compare and contrast them, seeing how real life politics aligns with the written party platforms. We will evaluate how party polarization has become increasingly problematic in creating policy gridlock in Congress as well as in producing very left and right wing presidential candidates for elections. Finally, students will learn about the electoral process, starting with presidential nominations (understanding how caucuses and primaries work) to campaign finance laws (soft money, PACS, and the birth of Super PACs), and voter behavior (turnout). Through the electoral part of the unit, we will examine the role interest groups and lobbyists have on campaigns and elections. Students with read the Democratic and Republican party platforms then create a t-chart comparing and contrasting them, noting the starkest differences between the two and how they play into the partisan politics we have today. Unit 5 Students will first examine how a bill becomes a law then analyze the organization of Congress, including Congressional membership (the House of Representatives and the Senate), Congressional committees, Congressional staff and supporting agencies. They will also evaluate

4 the development of Congressional powers, including investigations, the filibuster, and oversight. With this knowledge, students will create a large flow chart poster that highlights the roles and relationships of all Congressional members. After studying Congress, students will study the Presidency (the President and Vice President, process for electing the President, the Cabinet, and the Executive Office) and the order of succession for presidency should the President not be able to fulfill his/her duties. Students will create a Congressional Flow Chart that shows and defines the relations among all Congressional players (e.g. Senator, Speaker of the House, joint committee, etc.) and analyze the duties and impacts of those roles on the legislative process. Then, students will take part in the Duties of the Presidency project, where they will evaluate a US president in the effectiveness of his roles as Chief Legislator, Commander in Chief, Chief Executive, Head of State, Chief of Party, Guardian of the Economy, and Chief Diplomat and give him a grade rating. Unit 6 Students will begin this unit examining the federal budget and learning why we have such a large deficit. Then, they will try to balance the budget as a class by assuming various interests and groups (e.g. banker, farmer, union, etc.) to determine what areas will cut spending and what areas will receive funding. Students will also examine the federal bureaucracy (departments, agencies, administrations, authorities, and commissions) and how they carry out responsibilities assigned to them through Congressional legislation. They will also evaluate whether or not government regulation is beneficial to and necessary for the people. In the 1-2 day Balance the Budget project, students will role play an interest group (and represent and advocate for the group) and participate as a classwide group in finding ways to balance the nation s budget to eliminate the accrued debt. Unit 7 Students will analyze the Judicial branch (powers of the Federal Courts, lower Federal Courts, and the Supreme Court) as well as how the Supreme Court shapes public policy and influences court decisions. They will review the criteria Presidents use in considering appointments to the federal bench. A key part of this unit is also having the students be able to differentiate a civil right from a civil liberty. Students will examine how interpretations of the Constitution changed

5 during various Supreme Court eras and how justices John Marshall, Earl Warren, and Thurgood Marshall influenced progress for civil rights and liberties. Students will research and participate in a Civil Rights and Civil Liberties project presentation (two separate projects) where they have to trace the development of a civil right and civil liberty outlined in the Bill of Rights and use Supreme Court cases to track how their civil right or liberty has been interpreted differently over the years. The Supreme Court case presentation will separately focus on a landmark case where students explain the opinion and dissenting opinion of a given case and how the case set precedent for future cases. Course Materials Textbooks Democracy in McGraw-Hill McGraw-Hill 2006 Glance.mheducation.com Yes Action MAGRUDERS AMERICAN GOVERNMENT Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy Edwards, Wattenburg, Lineberry

Social Studies. Smyth County Schools Curriculum Map Subject:U.S. Government. Grade:12 th

Social Studies. Smyth County Schools Curriculum Map Subject:U.S. Government. Grade:12 th Standards Grade:12 th 1st Quarter Gov. 1 ( Skills) Gov. 2 (Political Philosophies) Gov. 3 (Concepts of Democracy) Gov. 4 (U.S. Constitution) Gov. 5 (Federalism) Gov. 6 (Elections) Gov. 7 (Powers of the