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Arrest- A Legal System Simulation
What would your class do if a police officer arrested a student in class? This is exactly the anticipatory set that gets pupils engaged in a unit on the legal system. The plan is to get the officer to simulate an arrest, and then guest...
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Plant Systems
Young scholars examine plant systems. For this life science lesson, students explore leaf and root systems on paper in a terrarium that they design and construct.
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The Earth, Sun, Moon, And Stars
Fifth graders explore the solar system. In this solar system unit, 5th graders investigate numerous projects while rotating through learning centers. Students write about space and construct a space shuttle model. Students practice map...
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Homemade Political Parties
Use this 5-day lesson to clarify the platforms of the two major parties, comparing and contrasting against students' beliefs. Begin by looking at unlabeled summaries of both party platforms, having learners identify most with one. Groups...
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Laws...Who Needs Them?
Who needs laws? Junior high schoolers sure do! Provide your 7th-9th graders with an understandng about why laws are important and how they are used to create a functioning society. Learners use a series of handouts and readings to build...
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Law in the Future
Students develop a legal system. In this justice system lesson, students examine case law in the Untied States and draw on that experience to create a legal system for a "moon colony" which integrates the legal systems on Earth.
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Symbolic Speech
Ninth graders consider the right of freedom of speech as it is outlined in the U.S. Constitution. They receive background information for the US Supreme Court, the Bill of Rights, and free speech. They discuss a series of actual cases...
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Articles of Confederation Game
Why did the Articles of Confederation fail? Your historians will find out firsthand through this simulation activity, during which they will use money (consider using extra credit) to demonstrate the inherent flaws. It's simple: each...
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Creating a Government
A simulation gives scholars a personal look at what goes into forming a government. Each of them is assigned 1 of 4 tribes which make up Borka, a hypothetical country. The tribe distribution is based on the percentage of people in each....
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Justice
Pupils consider the role of justice in the formation of the United States and in the operation of today's criminal justice system. They investigate symbols associated with justice and references to justice in the Constitution.
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Presidential Election Year: Major Issues
Whether or not it's a presidential election year, this debate activity will spark research on current political issues. Split your government scholars into 4 groups and assign each a political party. One person will be the "candidate"...
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Your Own Classroom Court
Students role play a court with lawyers, a judge, jury, and more. In this classroom court lesson plan, students review rules of the law in the judicial system.
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Smile Metric Style
Students practice working with the metric system. Students use a metric ruler to measure and record lengths of group member's smiles, and graph their results. Students find the sum of all the smiles.
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The U.S. Constitution Power Grab Game
Students study the powers and limitations of the three branches of the American government. They explain how the system of "checks and balances" protects the individual citizens. They explain how the amendments to the Constitution...
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Owl Pellets
Students utilize owl pellets to explain part of the natural food chain, and the skeletal system. They construct a rodent skeleton from the skeletal parts foundin the pellet.
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Everybody Needs a Rock
Here is a instructional activity that rocks! Young scientists choose a rock and list words that describe it. They estimate the mass of their rocks and rank them within a group. They measure their rocks for volume and write a story that...
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Spaceship Earth
Students consider the earth and its problems as a system. They examine the fragility of that system when population, pollution, 1st world verse 3rd world, terrorism, etc., are considered as interactive parts of a spaceship earth.
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Bark Casts
Students make a plaster cast of tree bark. They use plaster casts of tree bark to make a simple classification system. Also, they use plaster casts of tree bark to identify individual trees.
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How Man Negotiates Away His Natural Freedom
Young scholars recognize that our legal-political system has developed through a process of moving from philosophical ideals to compromised working models.
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Snapshot Day Definitions and Activities
Here is a document full of teaching notes on water quality and bodies of water that you can use in your ecology curriculum. It has information specific to the Hudson River area, but can easily be adapted to any local body of water....
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The Bill of Rights is for US Today
The first ten Amendments of the U.S. Constitution are vital for young people to understand. Provide the foundation of the laws that govern our country with this junior high school lesson. Groups use the newspaper to identify rights...
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Topical Discussions
Engaging in topical discussions can be a great way to teach kids how to build strong arguments and support their opinions with concrete evidence. High schoolers choose a controversial topic, build an argument for or against that topic,...
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The Declaration Versus The Communist Manifesto
Upper graders put their knowledge of the U.S. Constitution to the test when they are asked to mark which of several statements are from either the Constitution or the Communist Manifesto. A class discussion follows. Use this resource as...
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Planning a Government
Demonstrate the complexities of running a government with this group activity. Young politicians are arranged into small groups and become leaders of a hypothetical country (outline of country provided). Groups must outline 6 (listed)...