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...

A group of citizens in North Canada has decided to leave their country, and they are asking for help in setting up an American-style democracy. Using a carefully structured activity, pupils lay out the principles in the American...

Students discuss the Constitution of the United States and its amendments, then apply this discussion by creating a "Who should Decide What?" list, based upon their ideas about whether controversial issues such as abortion and medical...

Students explore the limits of the Bill of Rights. The student and teacher roll play a situation where speech is limited.

Present your seniors with a controversial topic while studying the first amendment: pornography. This multi-layer resource has scholars writing a pros and cons research paper. They also attend a city council meeting to prepare for an...

Learners assume identities of lawmakers, judges, writers, and protestors during times in American history when freedoms of speech and press were limited because country was on the brink of war or fighting one. Students use primary source...

Students defend the Constitution against a group of Senators who decide that all media must be approved by the government, all Americans must take a loyalty oath, join an official U.S. religion and subscribe to approved clubs.

Students explore the Bill of Rights, which rights have limitations on them, and how these rights apply to their personal lives. They write their own Bill of Rights for the class community.

Students study the individual rights enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. They determine where these rights come from, and why we value them as we do. They consider that our individual rights are not absolute, and may be limited by other...

Students investigate the Founders' ideas about what kind of government is most likely to protect the basic rights of people. They distinguish between limited and unlimited government.

Students study basic workplace rights and the limits of those rights. They determine how many of the rights guaranteed in the Constitution only regulate governmental actions, not private actions. They examine the concept of at-will...

Twelfth graders list, describe, and illustrate the specific rights guaranteed to individuals and how they are secured. Then they examine landmark Supreme Court cases, such as, Airport Commissioner vs. Jews for Jesus, New Jersey vs. TLO,...

Eighth graders watch the video "Separate But Equal." They choose an incident or event from the video that is interesting or meaningful to them and write an objective news article and an editorial.

Students investigate the Bill of Rights and explain how non-profit organizations take care of those rights. In this Bill of Rights lesson, students work in groups to look at the rights that are included in the Bill of Rights. They...

Learners examine the issue of tribal sovereignty for Native Americans. Following a mock trial simulation based on the case of Johnson v. McIntosh, they write opinion papers based on the results of the Supreme Court decision in 1823.

Pupils investigate the consequences of eliminating one or more of the amendments to the Bill of Rights.

Students examine the roles of each of the branches of U.S. government. In this checks and balances activity, students watch Discovery video segments and discuss the concept of federalism as they create a school-wide policy for government...

Young scholars distinguish between the privileges of being a U.S. Citizen and privileges that are forfeited if not a U.S. Citizen.  For this history lesson, students analyze the rights of people in a democratic society through...

The process of nominating and confirming federal judges can sound like a lot of bureaucratic hoops, but a resource breaks down the steps of the Supreme Court nominations in a simpler manner. Learners participate in four activities that...

Young scholars view video The Electric Valley, discuss film clips and review news articles and other documents pertaining to eminent domain, prepare declarative statement on issue that has pro or con side, and present case to opposing...

High schoolers examine the platforms of early political parties in the United States. In this political parties lesson, students discover details regarding the attributes and ideals of the federalists and the democratic-republicans. High...

Students examine a poster of Brown v. Board of Education and discuss what the important details are. They read the story behind the poster and court case. They role play different sections of the case such as the court case or Linda...

Students research the major events of the Vietnam War and construct a timeline. They do the same with the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson or the 1960's. They act as an advisor to President Johnson to recommend a course of action...

Students collect information about British actions in Boston and send it by secret message to leaders in Philadelphia.