ConnectED
Crime Scene Investigation
How exactly does a crime scene investigation work? The resource, a unit on criminology, covers everything from the deductive reasoning skills needed for detectives to DNA fingerprinting, all the way to how to gather evidence and bring...
Judicial Learning Center
Why Study Landmark Cases?
Why study landmark Supreme court cases? A helpful lesson offers a brief but valuable argument for the importance of these cases in the field of criminology. It introduces scholars to some key terms necessary for studying court cases and...
Heritage Foundation
Exercising Judicial Power
We should all do more exercising, but should the judicial branch as well? High schoolers develop their understanding of what powers the judicial branch carries because of the US Constitution, as well as where their limits lie in the...
EngageNY
Grade 11 ELA Module 1: Unit 2, Lesson 9
Hamlet has an unusual take on the criminal justice system when he decides to determine his uncle's guilt by staging a play. With the resource, scholars continue analyzing Hamlet's third soliloquy from Act 2.2 of Shakespeare's Hamlet....
PBS
Analyzing Stop and Frisk Through Personal Stories and Infographics
How much can you learn about an important topic from a single image? High schoolers analyze an infographic that represents the number of stops performed during the Stop and Frisk police procedure. After building background information...
Civil Rights Movement Veterans
Timeline of Events: 1960’s Civil Rights Movement of St. Augustine, Florida
A timeline can be a powerful learning tool because it reveals a pattern in events. While few would consider St. Augustine, Florida a hotbed of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, a selection of background information and a timeline of...
Heritage Foundation
Crime and Punishment
You wouldn't give someone a 10-day timeout for eating a piece of candy. The US government, too, does not believe in unreasonable punishment. A variety of exercises exploring the clauses of the US Constitution prompts class members to...
Curated OER
The Lady or the Tiger? (all, Literature)
Students see how unfair a justice system would be like the one represented in the story, "The Lady or the Tiger?" and afterwards the class can discuss the advantages to our justice system in the US.
Curated OER
Mediation/Conciliation
Twelfth graders discuss the court system in Japan, and assume roles of family members and friends of air crash victims. They discuss whether they would file suit against airlines, compare methods of achieving justice in United States and...
Curated OER
The Legacy of the Warren Court
Students examine the major decisions by the Supreme Court when Warren was the Chief Justice. In groups, they research the life and other works of Earl Warren and discuss how ones background can influence decisions. They also examine...
Curated OER
The Jury's Still Out
Students examine the trials and executions of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. In groups, they use the internet to research the impact of the executions in the shape of political cartoons and writings. They discuss an article to...
Curated OER
Measure Twice, Cut Once
Elementary schoolers learn about metric units and how they are used by engineers. They learn how engineers use the units to measure mass, distance, and volume. Then, they estimate measurements of units, and compare them to actual...
Curated OER
Rules and Laws
Students investigate the difference between rules and laws. In this justice system instructional activity, students discuss the presence of rules of their lives and compare them the "Code of the West."
Curated OER
The Death Penalty
Students examine how people are punished in the American justice system. In groups, they identify the four different theories of punishment and how it is used in the justice system. They use the internet to read arguments for and against...
Teaching Tolerance
Jim Crow as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Just because slavery was illegal doesn't mean it went away ... Jim Crow Laws took its place. An eye-opening lesson focuses on how Jim Crow Laws were used as a form of racial social control against African Americans in the United States....
Judicial Learning Center
About Federal Judges: Qualifications of Judges
"Help Wanted: A Supreme Court Justice." What should be included in the ad? Learners ponder the question during a lively activity that asks them to examine the qualifications for various federal offices and then create job postings....
Constitutional Rights Foundation
What Is an Independent Judiciary?
While justice is supposed to be blind, it doesn't always follow the rules. Using a reading on the independent judiciary and case studies, learners consider what to do with judges who rule in their own self-interest rather than on behalf...
Curated OER
Justice
Students 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.
Curated OER
Justice Demands an End to Segregation, But it Does Not End
Students define human rights and describe how it applies to politics, economics and cultural rights. As a class, they watch a video how the Constitution was made and discuss its purpose. In groups, they present information to the class...
Curated OER
The Truth About Human Rights
High schoolers explore the concept of human rights. In this human rights lesson plan, students watch 2 videos regarding human rights violations around the world since 2001. High schoolers explore several websites that feature human...
Curated OER
How the Supreme Court Affects the Lives of Teens
Young scholars describe the structure and function of the United States Supreme Court. They examine and analyze decisions made by the Court. They participate in a debate about recent issues.
iCivics
James Bond in a Honda? Trial Simulation
Your class members will take on the roles of jury members in this exciting simulation. After reading a detailed script and reviewing pieces of evidence, they will determine whether Honda violated copyright and copied James Bond.
Curated OER
The Leed's footballers' trial
Learners explore what happens when someone is tried for a crime. They expand their knowledge of the name "Criminal Justice System" and develop discussion skills. Students read the story Leeds footballer guilty of fighting in public. ...
Utah State Courts
Judges in the Classroom
Class members explore the process of a disposition hearing for juveniles, particularly looking at how the judge decides what sentence the juvenile offender should receive. Task your pupils with evaluating different sample cases provided...