Target Grades: 4-6
In this lesson, students use a school policy to define policy, understand that policies change, and recognize what and who influences policy making and changes.
Civics Lessons
Lesson Topic: Public Policy
Teaching How Citizens Influence Public Policy
To Amend or Not to Amend, That’s Been the Question…Many Times
This lesson asks students to examine recent proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution, analyze them for public policy triggering mechanisms, and compare and contrast them to amendments that have been ratified.
Why Do We Have a House and Senate, Anyway?
Students learn why there are two houses of Congress and discover how a bicameral legislature ensures that states have a voice in bills. Together, the class creates a school cell phone policy and experiments with different voting groups that demonstrate why the bicameral compromise was necessary. Students also examine how things might be different today if there were just a House or a Senate.