Federalism -- Issue 7 -- Feb. 11-17
This week's standards: Students understand the purpose of government. (Social Studies: Power, Authority and Governance) Students identify key ideals of the United States' democratic republican form of government. (Social Studies: Civic Ideals and Practice)

Activities:
  1. Look through the newspaper for several days. Collect names of state officials: the governor, lieutenant governor, and state representatives or state senators. Make a collage of the names you find.
  2. Interview three friends and adults. Ask them if they can name a law about driving or school. Compare their responses. Remind them that these laws are made by your state. Ask each one to tell you a law they would like to see in your state.
  3. Use resource books and the Internet to find out when the federal government admitted states to the union. What was the date your state joined the union? When were the states around your state admitted? What were the last five states admitted?
  4. Find a newspaper story about a situation where the federal and a state government are working together. Write several sentences describing the situation. Then list the contributions each level of government is making to address the situation.
  5. Find a newspaper story about a law being considered by your state legislature. Write a paragraph discussing the law. Include this information: What is the law? What legislators or groups are supporting the law? How does the law demonstrate the state*s power? What do you think about the law?
(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)
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