Introduction

The Task

The Process

Activities

Constitutional Requirements

Primaries & Caucuses

Candidates & Issues

General Election

Evaluation

Conclusion

Resources

Student Page

Teacher Page

Learners
 

Curriculum Standards
 

Teacher 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     

This WebQuest was designed as part of grants from Microsoft’s Innovative Teachers program and the Illinois Board of Higher Education Improving Teacher Quality State Grant program conjunction with a PT3 grant from the US Department of Education.

This unit is designed to teach middle school students the election process.  It is also designed to increase student awareness of national politics and the current issues and concerns of the American public.  Ultimately, the goal is to involve students in the election process in order to create an informed and involved future electorate.

The premise of this WebQuest is to increase the voter population and awareness in order to defeat an incumbent president. One of the main goals of this WebQuest is for students to determine how to create a change in the presidency. Given our current Republican presidency, this WebQuest appears to have a Democratic slant as the students would be trying to change from a Republican president to a Democratic president.  If the WebQuest is used in an election year that has a Democratic incumbent, all the projects should be changed to reflect a focus on the Republican party.

Learners   

This WebQuest is designed for middle school students but has been taught as low as fourth grade and can be adapted for High School.  The main focus is Social Studies with activities in mathematics.  For example, the Microsoft Excel activities are designed to be done in conjunction with large-group problem-solving math lessons where students work in groups to determine what calculations and need to be done to obtain the required data and/or estimations.

No prior knowledge is assumed.  Most of the technology activities are based on templates.  There are some PowerPoint, MapPoint, Publisher and Excel skills that can be introduced during the small group team work by knowledgeable students or the teacher.  In the case of the Platform Videos, if digital video equipment/skills are not available, unedited videos can be created with any video camera.  The evaluation rubric would have to be modified accordingly.

Curriculum Standards

ILLINOIS LEARNING STANDARDS:

Social Studies Standards Addressed

  • Understand election processes and responsibilities of citizens.

Math Standards Addressed

  • Organize, describe and make predictions from existing data.

  • Solve problems using systems of numbers and their properties.

  • Investigate, represent and solve problems using number facts, operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) and their properties, algorithms and relationships.

  • Estimate, make and use measurements of objects, quantities and relationships and determine acceptable levels of accuracy.

Language Arts Standards Addressed

  • Listen effectively in formal and informal situations.

  • Speak effectively using language appropriate to the situation and audience.

  • Comprehend a broad range of reading materials.

  • Locate, organize, and use information from various sources to answer questions, solve problems and communicate ideas.

  • Analyze and evaluate information acquired from various sources.

NETS Standards Addressed

  • Students are proficient in the use of technology.

  • Students develop positive attitudes toward technology uses that support lifelong learning, collaboration, personal pursuits, and productivity.

  • Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.

  • Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.

In addition to the traditional standards, this WebQuest requires critical thinking, making inferences, observation, comparison and teamwork.
 

Process              

The students 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.
 

In addition to completion of the multimedia presentations, there are activities that are to be worked on throughout the unit during any student “down-time”.   These are the activities that focus on election trends and voter participation.

  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 (To access the latimes article, copy and paste this URL into your browser.  You cannot access it by simply clicking on the link.)
     

  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://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting.html 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?

    **The spreadsheet ElectionResultsTeacher.xls has the data and calculations for the benefit of the teacher!

Resources Needed

  • Copies (at least one) of The 2002 World Almanac and Book of Facts (Park)-available at http://amazon.com or on-line at Barnes and Noble (http://bn.com)

  • Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Publisher, PowerPoint) Microsoft MapPoint (can be done without MapPoint)

  •  RealPlayer (to download/play digital video excerpts)

  • Computer access for at least one student in each group.  Ideally, a computer for each student.

WEBSITES:
Constitutional Requirements for Presidential Candidates and the Voters in a Presidential Election:

 http://www.netelection.org/asce4/Templates/Services/RegisterToVote/StateRequirements.htm
 http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/election/candid.html
 http://bensguide.gpo.gov/3-5/election/president.html
 http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/politics/reports/crspres.pdf
 http://www.fec.gov/votregis/where_can_i_register_to_vote02.htm
 http://www.elections.state.il.us/VoteInfo/pages/Register.htm
 http://library.thinkquest.org/11492/convention/requirements.html
 http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hc&id=1800022997&cf=biog&intl=us
 http://www.usconstitution.net/constfaq_a6.html
 http://www.co.tompkins.ny.us/boe/questions.html

Primaries, Caucuses, Delegates and the National Convention:

 http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/election1/trail/index.asp?article=primary_timeline
 http://www.fec.gov/pages/2004pdates.htm
 www.infoplease.com/spot/campaign2004primaries1.html
http://boston.about.com/cs/politicselections/a/DNC1.htm
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/vote2004/primaries/sr_primary_overview.html
http://www.vote-smart.org/election_president.php
http://www.drake.edu/journalism/CyberCaucus2000/defined.html
http://www.experiment34.com/president_files/past/election-process/Primary_Election.htm
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/politics/reports/crspres.pdf
http://www.thisnation.com/question/021.html
http://usliberals.about.com/cs/campaign2004/i/iowacaucuses.htm
http://usliberals.about.com/cs/campaign2004/a/delegates.htm
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/specials/articles/0,6709,592399,00.html
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/specials/articles/0,6709,592188,00.html
http://www3.niu.edu/newsplace/wh04.html#04a
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/primaries/pages/scorecard/
http://www.ask.co.uk/ix.asp?q=General+Election&ac=none&xx=0&qid=65C399420B3BE74BA79744242E7A02CC&p
=0&&sp=ix&fn=t&b=0&fo=2&r=10&io=6&fp=8&fr=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ethegreenpapers%2Ecom%2F&adurl
http://www.thegreenpapers.com
Democratic Convention video clips located at: http://www.c-span.org/VideoArchives.asp?CatCodePairs=Issue,PE;&ArchiveDays=100&Page=4*
Republican Convention video clips located at: http://c-span.org*

*permission to stream edited video clips of the convention proceedings pending with c-span.org

Candidates and the Issues:

 www.georgebush.com/agenda
www.johnkerry.com/plan
http://capwiz.com/c-span/e4/dnet/?gridid=57361
http://www.issues2000.org/Quiz.htm
http://www.issues2000.org/default.htm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/graphics/issues/bushkerry/issues_pop.html
http://www.issues2000.org/Dem_Platform_2004.htm
http://www3.niu.edu/newsplace/wh04.html#04a
 Democratic Convention video clips located at: http://www.c-span.org/VideoArchives.asp?CatCodePairs=Issue,PE;&ArchiveDays=100&Page=4*
Republican Convention video clips located at: http://c-span.org*

*permission to stream edited video clips of the convention proceedings pending with c-span.org



The General Election and the Electoral College:

 http://www3.niu.edu/newsplace/wh04.html#04a
http://ccollege.hccs.cc.tx.us/instru/govecon/ec/ec.htm
http://www.avagara.com/e_c/
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/politics/govworks/na9.htm
http://www.fec.gov/pages/elecvote.htm
http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/procedural_guide.html
http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/2004/dates.html
http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G04/
http://bensguide.gpo.gov/6-8/election/electoral.html
http://www.congressforkids.net/Elections_electoralcollege.htm
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/vote/presidential_elections.shtml
http://www.govspot.com/features/electionprocess.htm
http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml%3Fi=19990617&s=19990617hoffman
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/lesson-plans/lesson-3425.html
http://www.dailyaztec.com/Archive/Fall-2000/11-13-00/opinion/opinion01.html

Conclusion Activities:
 http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2004/Jul/12-250886.html
http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/calculator.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-polldatapage.htmlstory

Evaluation
Constitutional Requirements for Presidential Candidates and the Voters in a Presidential Election

EVALUATION: POWERPOINT QUIZ: COULD THIS PERSON BE PRESIDENT?

 

Beginning

1

Developing

2

Accomplished

3

 Exemplary

4

Score

Content

The PowerPoint presentation has fewer than four famous individuals represented.

There are fewer than 2 individuals who could be president and 2 who could not.

There are no famous individuals who hold (or have held) political office.

The “Correct!” slides do not have accurate information regarding eligibility for the presidency.

Links/biographies are incomplete so there is no way to check validity of the information.

The PowerPoint presentation has four famous individuals represented.

There are at least 2 individuals who could be president and 2 who could not.

Of the 2 who could not, at least 1 holds (or has held) political office.

Most of the “Correct!” slides have accurate information regarding eligibility for the presidency.

Most of the biographies and their links are complete to make it possible to obtain information about the famous individuals.
 

The PowerPoint presentation has at least 6 famous individuals represented.

There are at least 3 individuals who could be president and 3 who could not.

Of the 3 who could not, at least 1 holds (or has held) political office.

Most of the “Correct!” slides have accurate information regarding eligibility for the presidency.

Most of the biographies and their links are complete to make it possible to obtain information about the famous individuals.

 

The PowerPoint presentation has all ten famous individuals represented.

There are 5 individuals who could be president and five who could not.

Of the five who could not, 2 hold (or have held) political office.

All “Correct!” slides have accurate information regarding eligibility for the presidency.

The biographies and their links are complete to make it possible to obtain information about the famous individuals

 

Structure

Most slides do not have all the required elements (name of individual, questions, buttons, link to a biography)

Animations or a slide background has not been added.

Some of the slides have all the required elements (name of individual, questions, buttons, link to a biography)

Animations or a slide background has been added, but interferes with the content.
 

Most slides have all the required elements (name of individual, questions, buttons, link to a biography)

Animations or a slide background has been added and does not interfere with the content.

Each slide has all the required elements (name of individual, questions, buttons, link to a biography)

Animations and slide background have been added and do not interfere with the content.

 

Writing Mechanics

 Errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, usage and grammar repeatedly distract the reader and major editing and revision is required

Spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors distract or impair readability.

 

The text is clearly written with little editing required for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

 

The text is written with no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

 

 

Teamwork

The group required teacher assistance with dividing tasks and resolving differences.

Few people contributed their fair share of work.

 

The group occasionally helped one another but required teacher assistance to resolve differences.

One person did most of the work and/or problems were not managed in a way that advanced the group goal.

Members divided tasks, shared the workload and managed problems in a way that advanced the group goal.

 

Group members helped one another, shared ideas, and worked together to developed their finished product(s).

 

  

* Adapted and used with permission from Joan M. Vandervelde; original online at: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/pptrubric.html .

Primaries, Caucuses, Delegates and the National Convention:

 EVALUATION: CONVENTION BROCHURE
 

 

        Beginning

1

Developing

2

Accomplished

3

 Exemplary

4

Score

Content

The brochure does not follow the requirements for what should be included in the brochure at all.

Much of the content that is provided is not accurate.

The brochure contains only one of the required elements (primary results, convention line-up and the definitions of primaries and caucuses).

Less than 50% of the content provided is accurate and clearly stated.
 

The brochure contains two of the required elements (primary results, convention line-up and the definitions of primaries and caucuses).

Most of the content provided is accurate and clearly stated.

The brochure contains all the required elements (primary results, convention line-up and the definitions of primaries and caucuses).

All the content provided is accurate and clearly stated.

 

Structure

The brochure contains no graphics.

The data has no citations/URLs

The brochure is poorly organized and is confusing to the reader.

The brochure only contains one graphic.

Less than 50% of the data has accurate citations/URLs.

The brochure is fairly well organized and laid out.

The brochure contains at least two graphics.

Most of the data presented has accurate citations/URLs.

The brochure is organized but has some formatting errors.

The brochure contains at least three graphics.

All data presented has accurate citations/URLs.

The brochure is well organized and looks good to the reader.

 

Writing Mechanics

 Errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, usage and grammar repeatedly distract the reader and major editing and revision is required

Spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors distract or impair readability.

 

The text is clearly written with little editing required for grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

 

The text is written with no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.

 

 

Teamwork

The group required teacher assistance with dividing tasks and resolving differences.

Few people contributed their fair share of work.

 

The group occasionally helped one another but required teacher assistance to resolve differences.

One person did most of the work and/or problems were not managed in a way that advanced the group goal.

Members divided tasks, shared the workload and managed problems in a way that advanced the group goal.

 

Group members helped one another, shared ideas, and worked together to developed their finished product(s).

 

  

 * Adapted and used with permission from Joan M. Vandervelde; original online at: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/pptrubric.html

Candidates and the Issues:
 
EVALUATION: PLATFORM VIDEOS

 

Beginning

1

Developing

2

Accomplished

3

 Exemplary

4

Score

Content

Both the Democratic and the Republican platform videos convey the position of the candidates on fewer than five of the issues identified as important to the people of the United States.
 

Both the Democratic and Republican platform videos convey the position of the candidates on at least five of the seven issues identified as important to the people of the United States.

Either the Democratic or the Republican platform videos convey the position of the candidates on all seven issues identified as important to the people of the United States; the other conveys fewer than seven issues.

Both the Democratic and Republican platform videos convey the position of the candidates on all seven issues identified as important to the people of the United States.

 

Structure

Both videos are missing two or more of the required elements.

One video is missing two or more required elements.

One video has all the required elements; the second video is missing one of the required elements.

Both videos have all the required structural elements (title and credits pages, at least three transitions, two still images and at least one graphic.
 

 

PrePlanning

 There is no storyboard or script.

The storyboard is missing some of the shots in the videos.

The script/outline is incomplete.

The storyboard describes every shot, but does not include transitions, titles, stills, graphics, etc.

The script for the video is outlined.
 

The storyboard clearly describes every shot including transitions, titles, stills, graphics, etc.

There is a complete script for each video.

 

Video/Audio

Most of the video shots are not in focus and are unsteady.

Problems with the audio are sufficient to interfere with the audio.

Background noise/poor audio makes the audio track impossible to understand.
 

Most of the video shots are either in focus, or steady.

There are some problems with the audio due to transitions.

Background noise or poor audio quality interferes with most of the shots.

Most of the video shots are in focus and steady. 

Most of the transitions are smooth and logical and preserve the audio quality.

Minor background noise interferes with part of the audio track.

All video shots are in focus and steady.

All transitions are smooth and logical and preserve the audio quality.

Audio quality is very clear and uncluttered.

  

Teamwork

The group required teacher assistance with dividing tasks and resolving differences.

Few people contributed their fair share of work.

 

The group occasionally helped one another but required teacher assistance to resolve differences.

One person did most of the work and/or problems were not managed in a way that advanced the group goal.
 

Members divided tasks, shared the workload and managed problems in a way that advanced the group goal.

 

Group members helped one another, shared ideas, and worked together to developed their finished product(s).

 

  

* Adapted and used with permission from Joan M. Vandervelde; original online at: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/pptrubric.html

The General Election and the Electoral College
 
THE MOCK ELECTION
 

Point

Value

Task

Finished?

10

A formula is created for assigning electoral votes.

 

 

10

Electoral Votes are accurately assigned to each class according to the formula.

 

 

2

Class lists are obtained for each participating classroom.

 

 

5

A voter registration form is developed.

 

 

5

Students are given the opportunity to “register to vote.”

 

 

5

A ballot is created.

 

 

5

A “polling place” is created which will allow each voter to cast their ballot without interference or influence.

 

 

3

Names of voters are checked off as each voter takes his/her ballot.

 

 

5

“Popular vote” is tallied for each classroom on election day.

 

 

10

Electoral votes are awarded consistent with the popular vote in each state.

 

 

5

Electoral votes are tallied and the winner determined

 

 

10

A Newsletter/flyer/poster created in Publisher is distributed to announce results.

 

 

TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE = 75                                                                                                                                      TOTAL POINTS ACHIEVED

 

Conclusion
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.”  

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.  (http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p20-542.pdf)  This WebQuest is designed to get the students interested in the election process and the current issues facing our country at an early age with the hope that they will choose to become knowledgeable and involved citizens when they reach voting age.

Student Page  Click on the link on the navigation bar to the left to access the STUDENT PAGE

Credits & References

  • The WebQuest Page:  http://webquest.sdsu.edu/index.html
  • Rubrics adapted with permission from Joan M. Vandervelde: http://www.uwstout.edu/soe/profdev/pptrubric.html  
  • Excel worksheets created with assistance from Henry Snyder and Jay Hooper
  • Some activities and websites suggested by students in Cohort 2 of C&I 307 (Spring 2004) at the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign
  • Piloted in Thomasboro, Illinois by Lynn Burdick and Jamie Head