U.S Government
Essential Question
How does the US government work?
The US Government is a federal government meaning that it shares power with the states. It is made up of 3 branches; the Executive branch, the Legislative branch, and the Judicial branch. Their powers have been the same ever since the constitution was written since the constitution describes how the government work and their powers. The exutive branch is the President, he/she is chief of millitary, enforces laws, and makes treaties. The Legislative branch is made up of two parts; the senate and the house of representatives. Their main purposes are to represent the citizens of america, create/pass laws, control government spending, propose ammendments, and declare wars. The Judicial branch interpret laws to determine if they are constitutional, and they can overule lower court decisions. To amke sure no one branch is too powerful their is a set of checks and balances to maintain equal. The exeutive branch appoints judges and can veto laws. The Legislative branch can overide the presidents veto, impeach him/her, ratify his/her treaties, and approves of judge apointments. The Judicial Branch can declare laws unconstitutional, and presedential acts unconstitutional.
What is the political spectrum and where do I fit on it?
The political spectrum is a system that classifies where someone stands on a political position, depending if they are right or left wing, or conservative or liberal. The decision of where someone stands on the spectrum is identified on their beliefs for different topics, for example if someone was pro abortion they probably would be a left wing liberal. Left wings support social equality, Right wing support social hierarchy, Liberals are more leniant to changeing for the better, while Conservatives do not like change and stay traditional. I am pretty much in the middle but slighlty more left wing and liberal. This is because I ams not too passionate about certain topics yet however, I feel that minorities should be helped and have equal rights as others, and also that we need to make our country safe with gun control which classified me as a left wing, libretarian.
Learning Reflection
A. What are you currently learning about in Social Studies? Give some examples of what you have learned this unit.
We have been learning about how the US government works, and how it was created. We started off by learning about the constituion, including what its importance to the government and the citizens. After that we started learning about how the constitution affects our lives. We learnt all about the rights that are protected for citizens, the branches of government, their powers, and how they are all equal to protect from overuling. We also learned a little about the judicial system and how precedents are used and how they have changed our world we live in.
B. What do you enjoy about this particular SS unit? Explain.
I enjoyed learning about the different rights that are protected by the constitution for american citizens. Because now I know how I can defend myself and what my rights are, but also I can observe and identify how an act could be violating somronrs rights.
C. What do you find challenging about this particular SS unit? Explain.
I feel that memorizing the different opinions and arguments for controversial issues depending on either a republican view or a democratic view was slightly challenging. This is because there were many issues with each 2 different points of views and reasons to back up claims htat we had to memorize.
D. What is something you have done well in this SS unit? Explain.
I feel that I was good at memorizing the court cases and being able to identify which right was being violated. For both of these we had worksheets to fill out to practice and after doing that I spent time both memorizing the court cases and identifying and memorizing rights. And I feel confident with y ability to do so.
E. What is something you would like to improve? Explain on how you plan to make improvements.
Although we did not use our presenting skills in this unit, I'd like to keep improving my presentation skills. Since presenting is a major part of school it's a very good quality to have to be a good presentor. I'll try and improve by making sure I know what I need to say and practice as much as I can, and learning how to keep the audiences attention.
Word Wall
Checks & Balances - the system that allows each branch of government to limit the powers of the other two branches.
Executive Branch - the part of government that carries out, or executes, the laws.
Legislative Branch- Flip cardlegislative branchthe lawmaking part of government, called the legislature. To legislate is to make a law.
Judicial Branch - the part of government, consisting of the Supreme Court and lower federal courts, that interprets the laws).
Federalism - the constitutional system that shares power between the national and state governments.
Liberal - believing that government should be active in supporting social and political change.
Conservative - believing in the value of established and traditional practices in politics and society.
Judicial Review - the power of the Supreme Court to decide whether laws and acts made by the legislative and executive branches are unconstitutional.
Bill of Rights - a formal listing of the basic rights of U.S. citizens.
Double Jeopardy - putting a person on trial more than once for the same crime.
Due Process- the concept that the government must follow clear rules and act reasonably as it carries out the law.
Self Incrimination - giving testimony that can be used against oneself.
Precedent - a previous court case that helps guide justices for similar cases in the future.
Other Projects
About Nation States
During this unit we played a game that had us be a ruler of our own country and deal with problems that occur according to how we feel would work best.
About Win The White House
During this unit we played a game that had us become candidates for a presidential race. We got to chose what controversial topics to talk about and had to compete against the opposite political party.
The Constitution Preamble