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Activity
Cornell University

Cornell University: Roper Center for Public Opinion Research

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site is useful because it offers a database of over 300,000 questions asked on surveys since the 1930s. Also contains Latin American and Japanese data bank retrieval system as well. Listing of general social surveys 1972-1998.
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Website
PBS

Pbs American Experience: Vietnam Online

For Students 9th - 10th
A PBS website that describes the events and people of the Vietnam War. Includes a timeline of the era.
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Interactive
British Library

British Library: Taking Liberties

For Students 9th - 10th
A series of where-do-you-stand scenarios weighs the rights of citizens alongside issues of online censorship, freedom from want, the monarchy, voting restrictions for prisoners, and a host of contentious contemporary concerns among the...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: Public Opinion: Voice of the People

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Examine public opinion and the various means in which to collect it as well as how the government uses the opinions collected. This resource offers video, readings, web resources, and activities.
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Website
Other

Gallup Home: Gallup

For Students 9th - 10th
Official homepage of the Gallup Organization. Fascinating look at all sorts of polls.
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Unit Plan
iCivics

I Civics: Media and Influence

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
In this library of mini-lessons, students will learn about sources of influence on our society and our government such as the media and special interest groups.
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Online Course
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: Open Course Ware: Public Opinion and American Democracy

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Illustrate the significance of public opinion during political events by utilizing these reading resources.
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Article
Patrick McSherry

Spanish American War Centennial: Black, White, and Yellow

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains information on the type of journalism that the press used during the Spanish-American War. It includes a brief history of how yellow journalism influenced the Spanish-American War.
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Website
Stanford University

Political Communication Lab

For Students 9th - 10th
An interactive website that is dedicated to gathering and disseminating public opinion on a variety of issues that shape U.S. politics.
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Activity
Other

Ncpp: 20 Questions a Journalist Should Ask About Poll Results

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The NCPP site asks 20 questions journalists should consider when using poll information. Click on each question to get a discussion of the answer. A click on a sidebar gives analysis of polls from elections from 1936 to present.
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Website
Other

Polling report.com

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This non-partisan site reports the results of the latest national public opinion polls. Constantly updates and informational.
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Website
Other

Polling report.com

For Students 9th - 10th
How's the President doing? What do people think of the death penalty? Who will win the next election? This polling site offers the results of a number of national polls on a variety of topics. Most are current and include tables and charts.
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: The Art of Creating a Poll

For Students 9th - 10th
You are the head of the Public Relations committee for your hometown Waste Removal Department. Create a poll for your department to find out how the public feels about waste incineration.
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Activity
Other

Nes Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior

For Students 9th - 10th
Since 1948, the National Election Studies group has been polling Americans on public policy issues. Information is presented statistically and graphically on a wide range of topics involved in the "flow of public opinion and electoral...
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Article
University of Pennsylvania

Draft Resistance in the Vietnam Era

For Students 9th - 10th
Analysis of number of men who resisted the draft during the Vietnam War, the types of evasion, and the reasons they gave for resisting.
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Handout
Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center: Global Indicators Database

For Students 9th - 10th
About the Key Indicators Database: Pew Research Center conducts public opinion surveys around the world on a broad array of subjects ranging from people's assessments of their own lives to their views about the current state of the world...
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Lesson Plan
iCivics

I Civics: Interest Groups

For Teachers 9th - 10th
students will learn how people form interest groups, and how they influence the government. This lesson uses the battle over school lunch ingredients to illustrate how interest groups and lobbying affect public policy.
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Lesson Plan
iCivics

I Civics: The Public Sphere

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students discover the relationships among the concepts of public sphere, public agenda, public opinion, public policy, and how they influence the issues we all discuss and care about.
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Handout
Digital History

Digital History: The War at Home

For Students 9th - 10th
By the middle of the 1960s, American public opinion was beginning to favor US withdrawal from the Vietnam War. After the Tet Offensive in 1968 and Nixon's secret bombings of Cambodia, the majority of Americans were calling for complete...
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Lesson Plan
Cynthia J. O'Hora

Mrs. O's House: Government, Statistics and the Media

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Dig into the role media has on public opinion by discussing questions raised and reviewing resources provided with this lesson.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs: Message Control (Lesson Plan About Propaganda)

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
A lesson that guides learners through an examination of various forms of propaganda and how propaganda is used to manipulate public opinion. Includes research into the history of propagandistic communications.
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Lesson Plan
American Forum for Global Education

American Forum for Global Education: Move, Feet, Move

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Making good choices is the economic principle explored here at the American Forum for Global Education. Children learn to "identify alternative choices in conflict situations" through the use of verbal and nonverbal cues.