Introduction

The Task

The Process

Activities:

Constitutional Requirements

Primaries & Caucuses

Candidates & Issues

General Election

Evaluation

Conclusion

Resources

Student Page

Teacher Page

 

Student Page

Electing the President of the United States
A Cross-Curricular WebQuest for Middle School Social Studies, Math and Language Arts

Designed by Lynn Burdick
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
lburdick@uiuc.edu
with assistance from Henry Snyder

INTRODUCTION

According to the US Census Bureau, only 60 percent of eligible Americans voted in the 2000 presidential election.  Voter registration rates dropped significantly among men, women, non-Hispanic Whites, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and all age groups from the 1996 election to the 2000 election.  The Census Bureau noted that 1 in 5 registered voters who did not vote in the 2000 election said they were simply, “too busy to vote.” (http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p20-542.pdf)

Studies have shown that increased voter awareness and knowledge increases voter participation.  If voters feel their vote will make a difference, they are more likely to find the time to vote.  Key members of the Democratic Party have stated that Americans need to be educated on how the election process works, the key issues in this campaign, and the candidates from both parties.  It is the Party’s opinion that voter awareness is the key to defeating an incumbent president.  In response to the statement made by Democratic Party officials, an awareness campaign will be conducted by members of the John Kerry campaign committee. The title of the awareness campaign is, “How do we elect the President of the United States?”

THE TASK

As interns for the Democratic National Committee, you will be involved in the research and development of the materials for the Voter Awareness Campaign.  You will work with experienced campaign workers to gain the necessary knowledge of the election process.  You will develop the materials for the Voter Awareness Campaign and determine which voter groups to target.  The materials will introduce the voters to the election process and the candidates from whom they will choose.   As your group finishes the Voter Awareness Campaign materials you are assigned to create, you will begin work on the identification of target voter groups.  You will investigate previous election results and voter registration information to determine where the campaign efforts should be concentrated (voter groups, states).

THE PROCESS

The interns will be divided into four groups.  Each group will be assigned one of the following categories to research:

  • Constitutional Requirements for Presidential Candidates and the Voters in a Presidential Election
  • Primaries, Caucuses, Delegates and the National Convention
  • Candidates and the Issues
  • The General Election and the Electoral College

Within each group, interns will have the following roles.  Roles may be added or eliminated for each specific activity.

Researchers All interns will participate in the research.  Each researcher will review the websites provided to answer the questions outlined in their assigned sections.
 
Head Researcher The Head Researcher is in charge of compiling the data obtained by the researchers and putting it in a format which can be used by the Publicity Interns.
 
Web Surfer The Web Surfer will be in charge of creating a list of the best websites for voters if they want to find more information about the topic to which the group is assigned.  A description of the contents and authors of each web site should be included.
 
Head of Publicity The Head of Publicity is in charge of compiling the information from your group into a multimedia format.  The Head of Publicity will assign other interns, as needed, to work on the preparation of the multimedia presentation.  Your presentation may be created using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher or MapPoint.
 
Spokesperson The Spokesperson from each group will present the information gathered and the materials developed by the group to the full group of interns for input prior to submission to the Kerry campaign.
 

ACTIVITIES

Click on the link for your group in the navigation bar to the left to access your group's activities.

EVALUATION

Click on the link for your group in the navigation bar to the left to access the grading rubric for your group's activity.

CONCLUSION

Through this project you have examined the election process in the United States as well as information relevant to the 2004 presidential issues and candidates.  You can apply your knowledge while you follow the 2004 presidential election with the following activities:

  1. In the months prior to the general election, use Microsoft MapPoint to trace the campaign trail of Bush and Kerry.  From their travels, make a hypothesis about what states are predicted to be contested in the November election.  Check your hypothesis against the articles at: http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2004/Jul/12-250886.html and with the state-by-state percentages of undecided voters linked to http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-polldatapage.htmlstory .
     
  2. Using the census report data (http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p20-542.pdf), identify the groups that the Kerry campaign should target in this awareness campaign.  Which demographic groups have the most unregistered voters or registered voters who did not actually vote in the 2000 election?  When you identify those groups, determine whether or not the Kerry campaign should target specific states based on your information about state demographics and the Democratic platform.  Use the demographic information at http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/ and http://censtats.census.gov/cgi-bin/pct/pctProfile.pl to locate your information.
     
  3. On the evening of the general election, have an election party and record the election results on a large map as the results come in.  Use the electoral counter at http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/calculator.html to tally electoral results.
     
  4. Finally, using the 2004 election results, complete the data on the spreadsheet called ElectionResultsStudent.xls that you have been working on during the WebQuest activities.  Compare your predictions with the outcome of the election.  How did you do?

Most importantly, when you are 18 years old, VOTE!

RESOURCES Click on the link on the navigation bar to the left to access the Resources Needed