High School Government and Civics Standards Based Unit of Study Overview

American Origins and Branches of Government

       This unit of 9 lessons is organized around the question, "How do American origins and branches of government influence our democracy today”? Students explore why the U.S. Constitution is considered to be a social contract codified by laws between the people of the United States and the government and why the framers of the U.S. Constitution organized the government into three branches with powers that are separated, shared, checked, and balanced. Students will gain a greater understanding of the Constitution by analyzing and comparing the Constitution to an existing organization’s governance document(s). The end of unit assessment will ask students to explain how the selected organization’s governance document reflects: principles of democracy, influences of individuals, political theories, and political documents on the organization, structure and powers within the organization, and how and why the governance polices can/cannot change within the organization.

Forms and Powers of Government

       Forms and Powers of Government is a unit of 3 lessons (two lessons and a third optional lesson) organized around the big idea “Students will understand that the structure and purposes of governments influence how governments respond to protect their existence and needs of their citizens”.   Students explore how the needs and wants of people shape the structure and purposes of a government, how governments have used different sources (e.g., documents, national symbols, language) to represent powers, leaders, and individuals, and how societal changes impact the structure and purposes of governments?   In the end of unit assessment, students will develop a proposal for the best way to govern high schools of the 21st century based on knowledge of past and existing forms, purposes, and powers of governments and present to a town hall meeting.

Federalism 

         The Federalism unit consists of 5 lessons organized around the question, “How does federalism support a democracy”?  Students explore how federalism, under the U.S. Constitution and Kentucky Constitution, reflect purposes, values, and principles of American Representative Democracy, how powers are distributed and shared between the national government and Kentucky’s government and how conflicts and compromises (e.g., issues, court cases, policies, legislation, and funding) can arise between local, state, and federal governments in order to meet the needs of citizens and protect the “common good”. Through the end of unit assessment, students will gain a greater understanding of federalism in the United States by researching and analyzing important issues within the local community.  Students will then create a citizen’s guide to help inform the community about who is responsible within the government and what level of government is responsible for addressing identified issues of the community. 

Rights, Responsibilities and Duties

         Rights, Responsibilities, and Duties of Individuals, a unit consisting of 3 lessons, is organized around the question “How are the rights, responsibilities, and duties of individuals critical to the preservation of American representative democracy”? Students will explore the role of young people in sustaining American representative democracy, the meaning of being a responsible participant in a democracy, and how American representative democracy can resolve conflicts between the protection of individual rights and the promotion of the common good. Through the end of unit assessment, students will gain a greater understanding of a contemporary issue or societal problem explored throughout their studies on the rights, responsibilities and duties of individuals and create an analytical writing piece that develops a strategy for addressing the issue through civic engagement. Students then submit their analytical writing piece to an appropriate newspaper, magazine, internet site or other form of media for publication. 

International Relations (Coming Soon!)

Thanks for your interest in civics and for visiting this site. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Natalie Stiglitz, PhD n.stiglitz @ louisville.edu or 502-852-1462, Director, Office of Civic Education and Engagement