Inquiry Based Lesson Plan

Teachers: Mr. Denogean

Subject: U.S. Government

Standard:
PO 5. Analyze the structure, power and roles of the legislative branch of the United States government:
e. Election process and types of representation.
f. influence of staff lobbyists, special interest groups and political action committees(PACs)
Objective (Explicit):

Student will be able to comprehend the election process, roles of the legislative branches of the
United States government by watching a presentation, taking notes, and discussing as a class.
Students will be able to comprehend the significance of lobbying in the United States government by
writing a petition to their local state representative on an issue that is a hot topic in their community,

Evidence of Mastery (Measurable): In class the student will begin to write their petition to their local state
representative based on some of the research that they did outside of the class. This will have them arguing why their
stance on a particular issue should be heard and why their local representative should try to address this issue. The
students were provided with a rubric in which I will be using to grade this assignment on. They will be graded on
their persuasiveness in the issue and their solutions for this problem. I.E. Such as if the student has written about the
decay of the local parks due to cutbacks and how this has led to an increase in juvenile crime rate. Their solution
could be to propose a 1% sales tax to go towards the maintenance of the local parks and present an example of this
working in another community in their petition.
Sub-objectives, SWBAT (Sequenced from basic to complex):

Students will be able to write a series of notes based on the presentation.

Students will be able to comprehend to the true power of the legislative branch of the government.
Students will be able to form an opinion on the legislative branch of the government.
Students will be able to form an opinion on lobbying through analyzing some examples of this and
through their own research for their petition

Key vocabulary: Super PACs, PACs, gerrymandering,

midterm elections, veto, filibuster, Impeachment, Seniority
Rule, Bicameral, bill, incumbent, Joint Session,
Apportionment, Coalition, Bipartisan

Materials/Technology Resources to be used: Prezi

presentation, examples of petitions, examples of
lobbying at both local and federal levels

Engage (Make content and learning relevant to real life and connect to student interest) When the students arrive they
will have question on the board with instructions. Take out their notebook to write a response to the question posed on
the board.
1. Imagine if the student government was given more power and had the ability to determine the lunch menu and
completely cut out numerous unhealthy meals that had empty calories. Would you be for or against this act? What
would you do to voice your displeasure or approval of the situation?
(Post-Bellwork): If there is time then the students will share and discuss their responses. This kind of dilemma is
exactly what lawmakers and their constituents have to deal with on a daily basis such as when New York banned the
sale of soft drink cups larger than 20 oz. This led to massive outcry and the people petitioning their local government
both in favor and against this issue. This will allow the students to see that their voice does in fact matter and is a nice

bridge into their own petitions to local government officials.

Explain

Explore

Teacher Will: Explain the legislative process by

presenting them with examples of how it works and
how special interests groups can have their effect on
this process.

Student Will: Engage in prezi by asking questions

me questions and taking notes.

Use of a Prezi to convey content

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation
Students will be given the information on paper so they have an actual hard copy of the notes.
Students will be provided a cloze activity whereby key information will be filled in.
Students will be provided with the lecture in audio (via podcast) or video format (via YouTube, Blackboard,
etc.).
Teacher Will: Explain how certain petitions have
taken effect and have gotten the government to
respond. Will give them examples of this through
written, oral and internet petition. Will highlight a
humorous petition on change.org that asked for the
U.S gov to build a death star and the governments
response to this petition.

Student Will: Discuss the meaning behind the

different types of petitions shown. Engage in
petitions by asking questions and debating their
importance.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation
Students will check in with teacher and tell them whether they think lobbying is important. Teacher will
offer feedback, guidance.

Elaborate

If the students do not have an opinion the teacher will guide the students in forming an opinion and provide
ideals for their petition
Teacher Will: Clearly explain standards/expectations
for the petition, give students the proper directions
needed to complete the task. Will provided
encouragement and foster ideas for the petitions and
offer suggestions/assistance for those struggling

Student Will: Listen to standards/expectations and

write a petition to their local representative on an
issue they feel is worth lobbying for.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation
If necessary, students can record an oral petition.
Students can use software such as create their own change.org petition.

Evaluate: They will be evaluated based on the standards set forth in the rubric that was given to them.