Grades 2-7. American Government and the Election Process Unit Study SAMPLE PAGE. A Journey Through Learning

Authors: Paula Winget and Nancy Fileccia Copyright 2008 Can be copied for members of your household only. For group use, please see our website to purchase a classroom/co-op license Visit our website at: www.ajourneythroughlearning.com While there, sign up for our email newsletter and receive a FREE lapbook! You ll also receive great discount codes, special offers, and find out what s new and what s to come! Join us on Facebook and Twitter! Clipart is from Art Explosion 800,000 and www.clipart.com with permission Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 2

Welcome Thank you for purchasing from A Journey Through Learning. We hope that you enjoy our unit study entitled American Government and the Election Process. Getting started is easy. First, take the time to just browse through the pages to familiarize yourself with the layout. In this book, you will find several topics about America and the election process. Each topic has an: * information page * activity page * vocabulary study Information Page Each of the topics has an information page to read to your child. You will notice that some of the words in the information pages are underlined. Vocabulary Study The underlined words are vocabulary words. Read each sentence that contains the vocabulary word very carefully. It is important that your child hear the vocabulary words in context. Ask your child if he/she can get the meaning of the word from listening to the sentence it is contained in. Next, turn to the vocabulary pages in the back of the book. Here you will find an area for your child to write down the actual definition of each vocabulary word. Vocabulary study increases your child s knowledge of the topic! Activity Page When your study of the topic is complete, it is time to go on to the activity that correlates with the topic. Some of these activities are more for fun while others are more challenging. All of them will enrich your child s understanding and knowledge of each topic. We hope you and your child are blessed by this study! Please check our website frequently for new products! www.ajourneythroughlearning.com Thanks again, Paula Winget Nancy Fileccia Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 3

America s Early Years The Constitution Our Nation Rights of Citizens The Legislative Branch The Executive Branch The Judicial Branch Voting How to Cast a Vote Campaign Buttons How to Elect a President Job Description of the President Oaths of Office How Laws are Passed Political Parties Political symbols Electoral College Election Day Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 4

America s Early Years In 1776, Britain's American colonies broke from their mother country, England, and began to gain recognition as the new nation of the United States of America. The colonists formed what would come to be known as the thirteen colonies. The 19 th century was a time of rapid growth in the new Americas. It brought with it a time of great inventions and discoveries. America doubled its size with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. The explorations of Lewis and Clark opened the doors to a whole new world to the west. With these discoveries, Americans began to journey out into new and wide open spaces. It saw the California Gold Rush, the pioneers, and the American Indians. The original thirteen colonies During the 19 th and 20 th centuries, 37 new states were added to the original 13, bringing the total number of states to 50. America was beginning to expand across the new North American continent and also acquiring a number of possessions overseas. The two most traumatic experiences in the nation's history were the Civil War (1861-65) and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Buoyed by victories in World Wars I and II and the end of the Cold War in 1991, the US remains the world's most powerful nation state. Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 5

The Constitution At the beginning of the new American colonies, all agreed that there had to be one set of rules that all of the colonies would follow. They also agreed that not just one person was to be in charge. In England, the king had all of the power. This is called a monarchy. The people wanted a democracy, which is a government that is run by the people. A group of men got together and wrote out laws for the new nation. This set of rules would be called, "The Constitution of the United States". The Constitution is a document that lays out the structure and rights of the United States and its citizens. It is composed of 4,543 words. It is known as a "living document" because it can be amended or changed. It has been amended 27 times since it was written. The Constitution is organized into three parts: Preamble: Describes the purpose of the document and government. Articles: Establishes how the government is structured and how the Constitution can be changed. There are seven articles. Amendments: Changes to the Constitution; the first ten are called the Bill of Rights. The Constitution set rules in place for the people. It said that the government had three jobs. The first job is to make laws for the people. The second job is to make sure laws are obeyed, that the army, navy and air force are running properly, and to take care of our land by making sure we have safe food, water, highways, etc. The third job has many different parts such as judging fights among people, deciding punishments for people who do not follow the laws and deciding what different laws mean. These different areas of the government are called the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial branches. Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 6

Our Nation The United States of America is located on the continent of North America. There are 50 states in the U.S. Forty-eight of the states are connected. This is called the contiguous United States. Two of the states, Hawaii and Alaska, are not connected to the 48. Hawaii is set of island in the Pacific Ocean and Alaska is connected to Canada. The largest state in America is Alaska and the smallest state is Rhode Island. There are 3,615,123 square miles in the United States. Canada borders the U.S. to the north, and Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. The Atlantic Ocean borders the east coast and the Pacific Ocean borders the west coast. The highest mountain in the U.S. is Mount McKinley in Alaska. It is 20,320 feet above sea level. The lowest point is located in Death Valley, California. The largest cities in our nation are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Philadelphia. The Capital of the United States is located in Washington D.C. The motto of our country is "In God We Trust." Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 7

See how many of the states you can label by memory. When you are done, use an atlas to finish labeling the map of the United States. Use the list of the states to help you. Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 9

Label the states on the map. Place a check mark by them as you find them. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 10

Rights of Citizens A citizen is a person who is a full member of the United States by birth or legal process. You are a citizen no matter how old you are. Even before you are of legal age to vote, you can take an active part in helping to improve your community and the way the government runs. Everyone, no matter your race, social status or age, can work to make a difference in our country. It is your right in our "free" country to express your concerns and views. Some ways that you can express your ideas are: writing to your representatives, campaigning, demonstrating and lobbying. However, even if you do all the right things to have your voice heard, if you do not register to vote when you turn 18, your voice will not count. America is based upon the right to vote. The first Americans wrote the Constitution of the United States in order to preserve our freedom, to preserve the right to voice our concerns, and to enable us to share in the decisions of correcting problems. They realized that a government was like a business, but that it is owned by the people. They wrote a book of rules that told our government how it should be ran. America is the greatest country in the world. The reason it works is that it has a government run by the people and for the people. The citizens of this country keep it running by paying taxes, serving in our defensive forces, voting, and working together. Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 11

The Legislative Branch The legislative branch is one of three branches of government. It is made up of two parts- the House of Representatives and the Senate, which together is called Congress. Congress usually meets at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. to discuss new laws and changing old ones. Laws tell us what we can and cannot do. They keep us safe and make sure that everyone is doing the correct thing. Laws protect us from crime, stop stores from selling bad products, and keep our roads and highways safe. The ideas for the laws are written down on something called a "bill." The members of Congress do not always agree on the bill. When they do agree, the bill is sent to the President. If the Presidents disagrees with, or vetoes, the bill, it goes back to Congress for more discussion. If the President agrees with the bill, he signs it, and it then becomes a law. Congress also decides how the government should use the money of the people. The money that the people pay is called taxes. Taxes are used to help pay for expenses that the country has like medical insurance, roads, buildings, and schools. The House of Representatives is larger than the Senate and its members are referred to as Congressmen. The qualifications to become a member of the House are: 1) must be at least 25 years old, 2) must be a citizen for seven years, and 3) must be a resident of the state from which he or she is elected. The Senate is the smaller. Each state has two Senators, which gives equal power to smaller states. The qualifications to become a Senator are: 1) must be at least 30 years old, 2) must be a citizen for nine years, and 3) must be a resident of the state he or she represents. A Representative serves a 2 year term. The more people a state has, the more Representatives it has. There are currently 435 Representatives. A Senator serves a 6 year term. Each state has 2 Senators. There are 100 Senators. Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 12

The Executive Branch The executive branch, setup in Article II of the Constitution, insures that the law is carried out. The executive branch is headed by the president. It includes the Vice President and the Secretaries of all the national departments. Before a bill becomes a law, the President must agree to it and sign it. If he does not like the bill, he can veto it or send it back to the Congress. Even if he decides not to sign a bill, the Congress can still get it passed. This is one example of the system of checks and balances in the United States government. The Congress must pass laws the President agrees with, but the President cannot refuse to sign a law without taking a stand on it. The executive branch is responsible for the spending that Congress has set for them. They also make sure that the United States follows the laws set by the Congress. The people who work for the executive branch enforce the laws. They examine airplanes and factories for safety, watch that people pay their taxes, and make sure that the food coming in and out of the country is safe for eating. The executive branch is also responsible for the building and maintaining of our national parks, memorials, highways and bridges. Places like Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park are under their care. Some scientists and doctors also work for the executive branch. They help with learning about new medicines, studying outer space and helping to find ways to make our planet a better place. Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 13

The Judicial Branch The last branch is the judicial, outlined in Article III of the Constitution. The purpose of the judicial branch is to interpret the law. This branch includes all of the courts of the United States- the state and local courts, the federal courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court. It is here where the courts have to ask specific questions in order to determine what an appropriate punishment should be for the crime committed. Most of the time, a jury is used to determine the innocence or guilt of a person. It is everyone's constitutional right to have a trial by jury. A trail by a jury means that the people from the community you live in decide your guilt or innocence. Because juries and courts can make mistakes, people can "appeal" convictions. There are several levels of courts and appellate courts. The last court of appeals is the Supreme Court. Whatever the Supreme Court says is the final word. There is no court higher than the Supreme Court. The people who are in charge of the courts are called judges. The judges of the United States courts are not elected. They are appointed by the president. The Senate must agree on the president's choice before the person can be appointed a judge. Judges that serve in local and state courts are appointed and elected by the people in elections. Judges usually spend many years learning the laws and interpreting them. Most judges started their careers as lawyers. Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 14

Take 2 paper plates. Cut one in half. Staple the half over the full paper plate. Now you have a paper plate pocket holder. Make 2 more just like this. Cut out the labels below and glue a label on each pocket. Next, cut out the strips of paper and see if you can place them in the correct pocket. Legislative Executive Judicial Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 15

Cut out the strips and place in the correct holder. Answer key in back. Makes the laws Is made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate Is called the Congress Each Representative comes from a district in one of each of the states. There are 435 Representatives. Bigger states have more Representatives and every state has at least one. Main role is to make sure the law is carried out. Is headed by the president, and includes the vice president and the secretaries of all the national departments. The Congress must pass laws the president agrees with, but the president can't refuse to sign a law without taking a stand on it. Responsible for the building and maintaining of our national parks, memorials, highways and bridges. The role of the branch is to interpret the law. The Senate is made up of 100 Senators, two from each state. Senators are elected by the people of the state. Includes all the federal courts, up to the Supreme Court. When the Congress wants to pass a law, both the House and the Senate must agree to the exact same law. The last court of appeal is the Supreme Court. Whatever the Supreme Court says is the end, because there is no appeals court higher. Copyright 2008 A Journey Through Learning 16