Virtual Atlas Education
http://www.evergreen.edu./user/virtatpnw/
Lesson Ten
Washington State Government
Scavenger Hunt
Purpose:
To familiarize the students with their local government and legislative representatives. The lesson also familiarizes them with the Washington state government’s website.
Objectives:
Related Washington State EALRs:
Civics
1.1 understand and interpret the major ideas of foundational documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the constitution, and other foundational documents
2.1 understand and explain the organization of U.S. government the executive, legislative, and judicial branches at, and among, the local, state, and federal levels of government
National Geography Standards:
1 How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective
Curriculum Connections:
Civics, political boundaries, and state government systems.
Length of time required:
This lesson will require approximately 2 hours.
Materials:
Procedure:
Step 1 Briefly reinforce the way that Washington state government is set up.
Step 2 Explain their duties for this assignment. The students will need to log on to the Virtual Atlas and go to the Washington government homepage. There is a function on the website that allows them to enter their address and find out who their representatives are. They will then answer the questions on the provided worksheet. This will be a scavenger hunt so they will need to poke around the website to find answers to the questions.
Step 3 As this is a two hour lesson, the students may wish to complete a piece of it at their home. The paragraph concerning the Washington state constitution would make a great homework assignment. They should all be able to finish all of the work in the two hours set aside for the lesson. The master copy of the worksheet will not contain answers for many of the questions. Answers the students provide will vary depending on their place of residence.
Step 4 Evaluate or have them grade the assignment.
Key Vocabulary:
Government – system of political rule at local, state, and national scales.
Legislature – law and policy making body based on representation of local populations; area divided into legislative districts.
Representative – one that represents another or others. A member of a legislative body.
Conclusion:
In order to be a strong free democracy the citizens must participate in the government. To participate we must understand its workings. The WA government website is an excellent place to start.