APGO Course Plan – Hippocampus
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ACTIVITIES
Course Intro – Introductions, Syllabus, Expectations
Course Intro – Pretest, Social Studies Fair Project assigned, Current Events
Unit 1 Intro; KWL; Performance Task
Majority/Minority Rights Simulation
American Democracy; Document/Data Analysis (“Inflation: Increases in the Cost of Living, 19602002”, “Trends in Military Spending”, “Federalist Paper #10”, “Federalist Paper #51”)
English and Enlightenment Traditions; Document/Data Analysis (“Magna Carta”, “Thomas
Hobbes”, “John Locke”)
Select Case Studies – “Citizenship: Making Government Work” (Democracy in America)
Constitutional Beginnings Assessment; Writing Assignment
Documents from the Revolution and Beyond; Document/Data Analysis (“The Crisis, No.1”,
“Thomas Jefferson”, “Thomas Paine”)
Constitution Building; Document/Data Analysis (“Benjamin Franklin”, “The Articles of
Confederation”, “Virginia Constitution”, “James Madison”, “Charles Beard”, “Congress Hall”)
The Constitution; Document/Data Analysis (“Checks and Balances”, “Habeas Corpus Act of
1679”, “Preamble of the U.S. Constitution”)
The Bill of Rights; Document/Data Analysis (“Barron v. Baltimore”, “Gitlow v. New York”,
“Discussion – James Madison”, “English Bill of Rights”, “Timeline – Constitutional Amendments
After the Bill of Rights”)
Select Case Studies – “The Constitution: Fixed or Flexible” (Democracy in America)
American Documents Assessment; Writing Assignment
Layer Cake Federalism; Document/Data Analysis (“Map – To Ratify or Not to Ratify”, “Layer Cake
Federalism”, “Comparing Governments”)
Evolution of Federalism; Document/Data Analysis (“Marble Cake Federalism”, “Discussion –
Examining Separation of Powers”, “Government Spending Patterns”, “Timeline – Major
Historical Events”, “Intergovernmental Lobbying Organizations”, “Major Federal Mandate
Enactments”)
Select Case Studies – “Federalism: U.S. v. The States” (Democracy in America)
American Federalism Assessment; Writing Assignment
Planning Board Simulation
UNIT 1 EXAM; Unit 1 Performance Task Presentations due
Unit 2 Intro; KWL; Performance Task
American Political Culture handout & article; Commonweal website
Political Parties; Document/Data Analysis (“Alexander Hamilton”, “Daniel Webster and Henry
Clay”, “Progressive Era”, “Third Party Influence – Election of 1992 and 2000”, “Discussion –
Examining Third Parties”)
Party Function and Structure; Document/Data Analysis (“Multiparty Systems”, “Party Platform
Comparisons, 2000”, “Political Machines”, “Tweed Political Cartoon”)
25. Party Identification; Document/Data Analysis (“Party Coalitions”, “Andrew Jackson”, “George
Wallace”, “New Deal Realignment”)
26. Voting Behavior and Intensity; Document/Data Analysis (“Demographic Voting in Presidential
Elections, 1968-1996”, “Voter Turnout, 1952-1998”, “Voter Turnout in Selected Democracies”)
27. Select Case Studies – “Political Parties: Mobilizing Agents” (Democracy in America)
28. Political Parties and Voting Behavior Assessment; Writing Assignment
29. Platform Committee Simulation
30. Financial Participation in Elections; Document/Data Analysis (“Presidential Primary Campaign
Spending”, “PAC Contributions”, “Finance Reform Poll”, “PAC Growth”, “John McCain”,
“Buckley v. Valeo”)
31. Congressional Elections; Document/Data Analysis (“Incumbency Factor in Congressional
Elections”, “PAC Contributions – Congress”, “Seventeenth Amendment”, “Apportionment,
2000”)
32. Presidential Elections; Document/Data Analysis (“Electoral College Map – 1800”, “Jefferson’s
Inaugural Address”, “Political Cartoon – Election of 1800”, “Iowa Caucus”, “Political Cartoon –
Election of 2000”, “Voter Turnout – Election of 2000”)
33. The Electoral College Debate
34. Select Case Studies – “Elections: The Maintenance of Democracy” (Democracy in America)
35. Elections Assessment; Writing Assignment
36. UNIT 2 EXAM; Unit 2 Performance Task Presentations due
37. Unit 3 Intro; KWL; Performance Task; SOCIAL STUDIES FAIR PROJECT DUE
38. Structure of the House of Representatives; Document/Data Analysis (“Baker v. Carr”, Hierarchy
of the House of Representatives”, “Joseph Cannon”, “The Iron Triangle”)
39. Structure of the Senate; Document/Data Analysis (“House and Senate Comparisons”, “Hierarchy
of the Senate”, “Discussion – Removal of the People from the Legislative Process”, “Civil Rights
and Filibustering”)
40. Passage of a Bill; Document/Data Analysis (“Historic Filibusters”, “How Bills Become Laws”,
“Veto Power – U.S. Constitution”)
41. Select Case Studies – “Legislatures: Laying Down the Law”
42. The Legislative Branch Assessment; Writing Assignment
43. Mock Senate Simulation
44. Review – Units 1 and 2
45. MIDTERM (Units 1 and 2 only)
46. Review from First Semester
47. The Nature of a President; Document/Data Analysis (“James MacGregor Burns”, “20th Century
Succession Timeline”, “Harry Truman’s Speech on Presidential Succession”)
48. Presidential Roles; Document/Data Analysis (“Truman and Reagan Comparison”, “1948
Election”, “Clinton v. City of New York”)
49. The White House; Document/Data Analysis (“Notable Chiefs of Staff”, “Sherman Adams”,
“Principal Offices in the White House”, “Discussion – Presidential Powers”)
50. Presidential Politics, Polls, and the Press; Document/Data Analysis (“Popularity of the
President”, “The Decline of Trust in the Government”, “Dick Morris”, Timeline – Milestones in
Polling”, “Corporations that Control U.S. Media”, “Political Interest by Age Group”)
51. The Budget; Document/Data Analysis (“Income of the Federal Government”, “Federal Spending
Graph”, “Federal Spending Chart”, “History of the National Debt”, “Federal Budget Trends”,
“Total National Debt”, “Projected Social Security and Medicare Spending”, “Boomer Wave
Graph”, “Financial Predictions”)
52. Select Case Studies – “The Modern Presidency: Tools of Power”
53. The Executive Branch Assessment; Writing Assignment
54. The War Powers Resolution Debate
55. The Nature of the Bureaucracy; Document/Data Analysis (“Profile of Civil Service Workers”,
“How Top Federal Workers Feel About their Work”, “Rise in Top Political Jobs”, “The
Government of the United States”, “The Independent Regulatory Commissions”, “Growth in
Civilian Government Employees”, “Regulations”)
56. The Cabinet; Document/Data Analysis (“The Cabinet of the President of the United States”,
“Colin Powell”, “Timeline – Evolution of the Cabinet”, “Structure of the U.S. Department of
Commerce”)
57. Other Bureaucratic Bodies; Document/Data Analysis (“Alan Greenspan”, “Telecommunications
Regulatory Agencies”, “Timeline – Growth of the U.S. Postal Service”, “Growth of the U.S. Postal
Service Chart”
58. Checks on the Bureaucracy; Document/Data Analysis (“Legislative Constraints Chart”, “Executive
Constraints Chart”, “Red Lion Broadcasting v. FCC”)
59. Select Case Studies – “The Bureaucracy: A Controversial Necessity”
60. The Bureaucracy Assessment; Writing Assignment
61. National Security Council Simulation
62. The Federal Court System; Document/Data Analysis (“The Federal Court System”, “U.S. Federal
Judicial Circuits”, “John Jay”, “The Supreme Court’s Decision-Making Process”)
63. Historical Supreme Courts; Document/Data Analysis (“John Marshall”, “Marbury v. Madison”,
“McCulloch v. Maryland”, “Gibbons v. Ogden”, “Roger Taney”, “Scott v. Sandford”, “Earl
Warren”, “Warren Burger”, “Roe v. Wade”)
64. The Nature of the Supreme Court; Document/Data Analysis (“Timeline – Nature of the Supreme
Court”, “Political Cartoon – The Bush Decision”, “Political Cartoon – The Switch in Time that
Saved Nine”, Discussion – Power of the Supreme Court”)
65. The Modern Supreme Court; Document/Data Analysis (“Timeline – Famous Firsts on the
Supreme Court”, “Chief Justice Comparison”, “Ginsberg Resume”, “Thomas Resume”)
66. Select Case Studies – “The Courts: Our Rule of Law”
67. The Judiciary Assessment; Writing Assignment
68. UNIT 3 EXAM; Unit 3 Performance Task due
69. Unit 4 Intro; KWL; Performance Task
70. Policymaking Building Blocks – The Preamble
71. Incorporation; Document/Data Analysis (“Virginia Declaration of Rights”, “Federal Bill of Rights”,
“Comparison of the Original 12 Amendments to the Bill of Rights”, “Timeline – First Amendment
Incorporation”
72. The Establishment Clause; Document/Data Analysis (“Chief Justice Earl Warren”, “Madalyn
Murray O’Hair”, “Abington Township v. Schempp”, “Wallace v. Jaffree”, “Lemon v. Kurtzman”,
“Westside Community Schools v. Mergens”)
73. The Free Exercise Clause; Document/Data Analysis (“Free Exercise Clause”, “Wisconsin v.
Yoder”, “Employment Division v. Smith”)
74. Freedom of Speech; Document/Data Analysis (“Oliver Wendell Holmes”, “Schenck v. United
States”, “Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire”, “Tinker v. Des Moines”)
75. Freedom of the Press; Document/Data Analysis (“John Peter Zenger”, “Near v. Minnesota”,
“New York Times v. Sullivan”, “New York Times v. United States”)
76. 1st Amendment Mock Supreme Court
77. 1st Amendment Mock Supreme Court
78. The Fourth Amendment; Document/Data Analysis (“Katz v. United States”, “Terry v. Ohio”,
“New Jersey v. T.L.O.”, “Weeks v. United States”, “Mapp v. Ohio”)
79. Drug Testing Debate
80. Due Process and Criminal Rights; Document/Data Analysis (“Fifth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution”, “Sheppard v. Maxwell”, “Powell v. Alabama”, “Gideon v. Wainwright”, “Escobedo
v. Illinois”, “Furman v. Georgia”, Gregg v. Georgia”)
81. Select Case Studies – “Civil Liberties: Safeguarding the Individual”
82. Civil Liberties Assessment; Writing Assignment
83. Civil War Amendments and the Civil Rights Movement; Document/Data Analysis (“Plessy v.
Ferguson”, “John Marshall Harlan”, “Civil Rights Leaders”, “A Phillip Randolph”)
84. Post WWII Civil Rights Legislation; Document/Data Analysis (“Sweatt v. Painter”, “Brown v.
Board of Education”, “Progression of School Desegregation”, “Thurgood Marshall”, “Felix
Frankfurter”, “The Voting Rights Act of 1965”, “Regents of University of California v. Bakke”)
85. Select Case Studies – “Civil Rights: Demanding Equality”
86. Civil Rights Assessment; Writing Assignment
87. UNIT 4 EXAM; Unit 4 Performance Task due
88. Review – Entire Course
89. AP EXAM
90. FINAL EXAM