In this game, test your knowledge of the branches of the U.S. government!

What are some of the new things you learned about the Branches of Government? Take this quiz to test your knowledge!

This game immerses students in the workings of our three branches of government. Players take on the roles of legislator, president and Supreme Court justice to get constitutional laws enacted. Players must juggle several bills at once while holding press conferences and town hall meetings.

Case background and primary source documents concerning the Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education. Dealing with the principle of Equal Protection, this lesson asks students to assess the role played by the Court as the protector of individual rights against the tyranny of the majority.

The Court decided that state laws requiring separate but equal schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. This resource includes teacher materials, guides, and activities for teaching about this Supreme Court case.

In this lesson, students will study the Supreme Court case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2013). They will examine the facts of the case and analyze the arguments made on both sides through primary source documents and preceding cases. They will then assess the majority and minority decisions for the case.

Case background and primary sources concerning the Supreme Court case of Bush v. Gore. Dealing with the 2000 election, this lesson asks students whether or not they think the United States Supreme Court correctly decided the case.

Short information and humorous video collection on the basics of government form and function, among other subjects

Short video clips designed to complement teaching about the civics, the Constitution, and social studies. See Consitutional Foundation clips onHow Electorial Votes are Counted, SCOTUS' lemon test, Legal Protections for Gun Manufacturers, Internal Fragmentation of Democracies & more. Most topics cover current relevance. To save to your own classroom, you need to create a login (free). Includes many intreviews with historians, making this ideal for history classsrooms.

Join our panelists Thomas Duckenfield, Trustee for the Nomini Hall Slave Legacy Project, Dr. Andrew Levy, Author of The First Emancipator: The Forgotten Story of Robert Carter, the Founding Father Who Freed His Slaves, and Gerry Underdown, Actor Interpreter with Colonial Williamsburg, as they discuss those that physically built the nation, those that built the nation with enlightened ideas, and their combined lasting legacy.
This is part of our national conversation series, US: Past, Present, Future. Learn more at colonialwilliamsburg.org/us.

This documentary tells the story of Lilly Ledbetter, whose fight for equal pay for equal work eventually involved all three branches of government. Her U.S. Supreme Court case, Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., turned on the interpretation of the 180-day statute of limitations for filing a discrimination complaint under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After losing at the Supreme Court, Ledbetter urged Congress to start the 180-day clock for filing a complaint on the date an employee learned of the discrimination. The result was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.

Closed captions available in English and Spanish.

This project provides students with an opportunity to apply and showcase what they have learned throughout their study of the Being an American curriculum. Students will identify a topic related to the curriculum that they wish to learn more about, research that topic, and then develop a product to share with the class on an assigned date.

Particularly applicable when teaching first semester government classes, discuss with students Constitution Day and the importance of recognizing and celebrating it. Have students read the article ÒWhy Celebrate Constitution DayÓ and have them answer the accompanying questions to better clarify their understanding of the writing of the Constitution and why the day of signing is celebrated. AB

Dedicated to the civil, nonpartisan promotion of constitutional literacy within our local, state, and national communities. Focus on 5 areas: Educational Programs, Federalism, The Quill Project, Equal Liberty & the Constitutional Rule of Law, and Property & Free Markets.

In this lesson, students will analyze James Madisonâ"s contributions through diligence to the establishment of the United States Constitution and early republic, exploring events that earned him the title, "Father of the Constitution."

The Founders designed a system of checks and balances into our Constitution so we'd avoid abuses of power that had been experienced under British rule. Join James Madison and John Marshall for a discussion along with 21st century politicians to learn if that system still functions as intended.

The principle of checks and balances prevents one branch of government from becoming too powerful. Examples of checks and balances include vetoing of bill, ratifying treating, judicial review and others. This lesson provides video clips with examples and explanations of checks and balances.

In this lesson students will examine the concept of "citizen" from a definitional perspective of what a citizen is and from the perspective of how citizenship is conferred in the United States. Students will discuss the rights and responsibilities of citizens and non-citizens and review the changing history of citizenship from colonial times to the present.

The purpose of this lesson is to engage students in a discussion of the Constitutional Convention. Students will explore the key disputes that arose during the convention, including most prominently how power would be divided between the federal and state governments and the various branches of government. Furthermore, students with understand the importance of compromise during the Constitutional Convention. They will then apply these observations to other historical examples of debate and compromise to understand the nature of decision-making and civic discourse--discussion rooted in mutual respect for differences and desires for understanding--in the United States.

The United States Founders believed that certain civic virtues were required of citizens in order for the Constitution to work. Numerous primary sources—notably the Federalist Papers and the Autobiography of Ben Franklin—point us to the "Foundersâ" Virtues." Before exploring the Documents of Freedom, it is important to understand civic virtue as an essential element of self-government.