4 SS3

LO 1

State Government Investigation

Formative Assessment:

· Who makes the laws in Missouri’s government?

· What does it mean to enforce a law? Who has this job in Missouri’s government?

· What does it mean to interpret the law? Who has this job in Missouri’s government?

Instructional Strategies or Activities:

Define and explain for students what it means to enforce the law and to interpret the law and who in Missouri’s state government has those duties. In addition, explain who in Missouri’s system of government makes the laws.

Students will be using the web site http://www.teachervision.com/leson-plans/lesson-3264.html to locate information about state government offices, their directors, and their missions.

At this web site there will be a copy of a State Government Investigation worksheet and a state offices matching quiz.

Working in twos or threes, students should go to the Yahoo directory of state governments at http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S_Government/State_Government/

and select their home state.

Students should fill in the worksheet using the links from the Yahoo site. Students will need to look for the name of the director (information may be located in different places, depending on the website) and the purpose of the office (most sties provide a mission statement or summary).

Summative Assessment:

Have student groups exchange their papers and check the answers as a class. Have student volunteers show the students the answer they’ve found on the Internet.

After students have reviewed their worksheets, have them put their work away and complete the State Offices Matching Quiz at the above website.

Check their answers using the State Offices Matching Quiz Answer Key.

Split the class into two teams. Allow about five minutes for each team member to write a brief (one-to three-sentence) scenario describing but not naming a state office. For example, “You are building a series of houses on land near a creek and need information about the water quality. Which office would you need to visit?” (Answer: the Office of Geological Survey.) Students should read their questions to the other team, game-show fashion, with a score kept for the State Government Guru Award.

Have students make a chart listing the three branches of Missouri government—Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. Under each heading have them correctly place the General Assembly, the Governor, and the Courts. Finally, have them write the duties of each of these branches of Missouri Government.