Government Lesson Plan: Lesson Plan 9

Students identify 4 branches of law-criminal, civil, consumer, and family. using a newspaper, they locate examples of how laws affect citizens on a daily basis.

Civil rights meets biotechnology in a instructional activity that scrutinizes the collection of DNA of citizens who have been arrested, but not yet convicted of a crime. Real-life cases are examined in which the DNA of a relative was...

What's the difference between civil and criminal law? How do the court proceedings differ in these two types of trials? How do the standards of proof differ? Why do these differences exist? As part of their examination of the...

Why were laws created? Spark a group discussion on why we need laws to co-exist. Should the sale of some things be outlawed on Sundays? Read a case summary between Target and the state of Minnesota that debated this issue. Ask your...

Most young scholars are aware of the criminal courts system, but the United States Constitution allows for a much broader role. What other roles do courts play in settling other questions? A case study and WebQuest-style activities...

Include moments of heroism in a social studies module that includes three units. Focusing on the murder of Emmett Till, the movement of nonviolent resistance, and segregating schools in Boston, the units explore key events of the...

The American Civil War was a complex test of a relatively young democracy in the mid-nineteenth century. Discuss the events and factors that led to the Civil War with a thorough slideshow presentation.

Imagine being an ex-slave after the Civil War and not understanding if you were considered a citizen of the United States. Scholars analyze the early Supreme Court battles in civil rights cases and especially the Fourteenth Amendment....

Almost every American is familiar with the Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education. Far fewer understand the constitutional reasoning or the wide-ranging consequences of the ruling in the field of criminology. The interesting...

Learn about the two types of court cases - criminal cases and civil cases - and what types of crimes and disputes fall into each category.