Empowering Global Citizens

Students create a large classroom diagram of the three branches of govern—
ment. The diagram should show the interactions among the three branches.
It should also show how the system of checks and balances works. Teacher
should consider posting these questions so that the students can refer to

them in the comparative activities below.

Activity 6.6.1.5

The Amendments

The teacher will lead a general discussion on the amendments to the
Constitution, their history, and the first ten (the Bill of Rights).

Each student will be given an amendment to review and to understand
through research. Note that not all of the amendments should be included.
The suggested amendments are the first, the fourth—the seventh, the thir—
teenth, the fifteenth, the nineteenth, the twenty—fourth, and the twenty—
sixth. The student should keep the amendment they have been assigned
secret from the other students. The student should prepare a dilemma, much
like those in activity 1. The class should be broken into four groups. Each
student will present his or her dilemma to the class, and the groups should
work together to identify the amendment that addresses the dilemma and
to describe a resolution based on the amendment. Consider the following
example: A city has decided to allow citizens to vote only if they pay a tax.
The groups should identify amendment twenty—for and describe the resolu-
tion of this dilemma. The student who prepared this amendment should
then explain the history of the amendment, why it was put in place, and
what protections it affords.

Activity 6.6.1.6

Current Events and the Three Branches of Government
Students should research current events and how the three branches of gov—
ernment interact with the events. They should do this in groups of two to
three. At this point, the teacher should stress that not all new laws become

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