Subjects: Civics, American Government, U.S. History, Geography

Grade Level(s): 9-12

Time Frame: Varies

Objectives [What the student should know and be able to do at the end of the lesson]:

1.0 Overall: Students become aware of certain characteristics of the membership (i.e., ethnicity, age, gender, and political party affiliation) of Congress and determine if Congress is representative of the public as a whole. Students will gain an understanding of the sociopolitical and sociological nature of Congress, an important aspect of "representation" and related to the unit What Every Student Should Know About Congress.

Bloom's Taxonomy: CongressLink lesson plans are built around Bloom's taxonomy. The purpose of the taxonomy is to provide a coherent format for lessons and to make it easier for teachers to design them according to CongressLink's standards.

2.0 Knowledge: Name the U.S. Representatives and Senators from your state. List the personal and political background of your representative and senators. List their committee assignments. List the ten elements of What Every Student Should Know About Congress

3.0 Understanding: Illustrate or diagram the social and political characteristics of the Congress members of your state and those from two surrounding states. Summarize the characteristics of the general population of the states.

4.0 Application: Determine if the states have congressional delegations that represent accurately the general population.

5.0 Analysis: Compare and contrast the ethnic, gender, age, and political party characteristics of your state with the surrounding states. Make inferences about the representativeness of Congress.

6.0 Synthesis: Formulate a plan to urge under-represented groups to run for Congress.

7.0 Evaluation: Each student will decide if a state's congressional delegation should reflect the ethnic, social, and political diversity of the state. Each student will decide if a Congress member has to be of the same social group as they are in order to represent them.

Procedures:

Class 1
Divide students into groups of three to research congressional representation. Students will access the web sites of their U.S. representative and two senators and write a resume for each to include personal and political background as well as committee assignments and other pertinent information. Students will read What Every Student Should Know About Congress.

Class 2
Student groups will research the ethnicity (white, black, other), gender, age, and political party affiliation of their Congress members and of the Congress members of two contiguous states. Students will determine the demographic characteristics of the general population of those states using the U.S. Census Bureau Web site. Each group will create a pie chart comparing and contrasting the characteristics of the Congress members with the general population of the areas they represent. Students can also visit the Profile of Congress to compare the total membership to the nation at large.

Class 3
Using the pie charts, students will compare and contrast the various characteristics of representation among the three states using bar graphs. In class discussion, students will compare and contrast the different states, making inferences about representation in Congress.

Class 4
Groups will formulate a plan of action to urge under-represented groups to run for congressional office. Groups will develop a two-minute television advertisement to encourage voters to support these candidates. Students will show their videos in class.

Class 5
After reflecting on the unit, students will write individual editorials expressing an opinion about whether Congress members should reflect the social and political makeup of the areas they represent. They could also decide if they want their Congress member has to be of the same social group they are in order to represent them.

Materials:

Students require access to the Internet to do research, primarily on CongressLink.
Profile of Congress
What Every Student Should Know About Congress
U.S. Senate
U.S. House
U.S. Census Bureau

National Standards Addressed by Lesson [based on National Standards for Civics and Government, Center for Civic Education, 1994. Citation based on section, subsection, standard of the document]:

I.A. 3. Students should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions on competing ideas regarding the purposes of politics and government and their implication for the individual and society.
I.D.3. Students should be able to evaluate the age, gender, religion, and ethnicity of Congress members to evaluate the different forms of representation.
II.B.4. Students should be able to identify the many forms of diversity in American society, e.g., racial, religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic.

Evaluation/Assessment: See: http://www.congresslink.org/rubric/pdf

Author(s):
Alene Bynum
Russelville High School
P.O. Box 1660
Russelville, AR 72811 (501) 968-3151

Jennifer Mantlo
Warren East High School
6867 Louisville Road
Bowling Green, KY 42101
(270) 781-1277