Unit: Why do we need government?

Lesson 3: Why do we have different levels of government?

Essential Questions Standards of Learning (be sure to include integrated standards here too)
What is government? What are the basic purposes of government? Who does the government protect? VA Social Studies SOL 3.10: The student will recognize the importance of government in the community, Virginia, and the United States of America by a) explaining the purpose of rules and laws; b) explaining that the basic purposes of government are to make laws, carry out laws, and decide if laws have been broken; c) explaining that government protects the rights and property of individuals.

Objectives

VA Social Studies SOL 3.11: The student will explain the importance of the basic principles that form the foundation of a republican form of government by a) describing the individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and equality under the law Students will be able to define the three levels of government (local, state, and national), distinguish among their functions, and examine one function of government that affects their lives most. Students will implement their knowledge of government by designing their own form of government. Teacher Materials: Brain Pop Jr. Local and State Governments Video: http://www.brainpopjr.com/socialstudies/government/localandstategovernments/preview. weml Branches of Government song Fairfax County Government- Federal, State, and Local Government: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dmb/federal-state-local-government-responsibilities.pdf Smart board Signs for Local Government, State Government, Shared Powers, and National Government to place around the room

Materials

Student Materials: Social studies notebook Index cards with branches, powers, and services to sort

Procedures (introduction, instructional strategies,

Introduction (5 minutes): Remember yesterday we talked about the three branches of government. Does anyone remember what they are? Review the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches in terms of their purpose and the people they consist of.

summary/close)

Sing the Branches of Government Song with students (post lyrics on the board and sing 2-3 times for students to pick it up). Yesterday we were focused on the national government, but today we are going to talk about the three levels of government: national, state, and local government.

Instructional Strategies (30 minutes): Watch the Brain Pop Jr. video on State and Local government. Explain that when we talk about local government, we mean government for our community. A Community is a place where people live, work, and play. Create a web on the board with community in the center and ask students to share where they live, work, and play. Record their answers as branches of the web to provide a visual of community. Have students record the definition of community and 3 examples of things in their community in their social studies notebooks. Explain that there are three levels of government: o Our National, or Federal government is responsible for the entire countrys citizens. o Our state government is responsible for the citizens of Virginia. o Our local government is responsible for the citizens of Fairfax County. Each level of government has 3 branches within it (State and Local governments also have executive, legislative, and judicial branches). This is another way our Founding Fathers implemented separation of powersby dividing power between the national, state, and local governments. The main rule with these levels of government is that the Federal government has more power than the state governments, and the state government has more power than the local government. Now lets figure out what each level does! Teacher places 4 signs in each corner of the room: National Government, State Government, Shared Power, and Local Government. Each student gets a card with an item from the chart below with a government power, responsibility, or component. Display the Fairfax County government page Explaining Federal, State, and Local Government on the Smart board. Give students 5 minutes to read about the different powers. Then, give students 5 minutes to place their card in the correct corner of the room. Have the class walk to each corner of the room to see which cards were placed with each sign. Allow students to correct any errors they may notice.

Summary (5 minutes): Review the branches, services, and powers each level of government has. Class discussion: What did you know already? What surprised you? Have students quick write for ~3 minutes about what level of government affects their lives most and why as an exit ticket. Today we started learning about responsibilities of the government and how they affect us. Tomorrow, we will talk even more about how the government protects us as citizens.

Extension: Unit project Students have 10 minutes in their groups to decide how many levels their countrys government will have. How do you want to divide your government in your country? Is 3 layers of government too

many/too few? Decide how many layers you want your government to have, and list responsibilities for each level (must be a total of 10 responsibilities).

Formative Assessment

Exit ticketscheck that students chose a level of government that affects them and supported their answer with information from todays lesson. Teacher will also take anecdotal notes during class discussion time.

Differentiation

Teacher provides 1:1 support for students with special needs during the levels of government sort. ESOL: Sort cards have pictures as well as words to help students with meaning. Multiple Intelligences Addressed: Bodily-Kinesthetic (moving around the room to sort local, state, and federal govt) Musical (singing the Branches of Government song) Linguistic (Quick write exit ticket) Visual (pictures and words included on the sort cards)

National Government

State Governments

Shared Powers

Local Government
Legislative Branch: City Council Judicial Branch: Circuit/District Court Executive Branch: Mayor

Legislative Branch: Legislative Branch: Congress General Assembly Judicial Branch: Judicial Branch: US Supreme Court VA Supreme Court Executive Branch: President Print Money Executive Branch: Governor Create local governments Create courts

Education

Declare War

Issue Drivers Licenses

Create and collect taxes

Police

Establish Military

Regulate business Build highways within a state

Fire stations

Form treaties with other countries

Hold elections

Borrow money

Construction

Regulate business between states

Approve amendments to the Constitution

Make and enforce laws

Parks

Create a post office

Public Transportation

Amend the Constitution

Branches of the Government Song To the tune of Happy and You Know it

The Legislative Branch makes the laws. The Legislative Branch makes the laws. Its the Congress you can bet, Thats the House and the Senate. The Legislative Branch makes the laws.

The Executive Branch enforces laws. The Executive Branch enforces laws. President and the Cabinet, Highest office you can get. The Executive Branch enforces laws.

The Judicial Branch makes sure its fair. The Judicial Branch makes sure its fair. As for judges, there are nine, They can serve for a lifetime. The Judicial Branch makes sure its fair.