Name: ___________________________________________________________
Block: _______
U.S. Government
Supreme Court WebQuest
Go to: www.supremecourt.gov and complete the following:
1.)
Click “About the Supreme Court” and then click on “A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court”. This Overview
will answer questions 3-8. List the 8 Associate Justices and the 1 Chief Justice below:
1. Chief Justice:
2. Associate Justice:
3. Associate Justice:
4. Associate Justice:
5. Associate Justice:
6. Associate Justice:
7. Associate Justice:
8. Associate Justice:
9. Associate Justice:
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Name: ___________________________________________________________
Block: _______
2.)
Who decides how many Justices will be on the Supreme Court? Who has the power to nominate Justices
and then confirm them?
3.)
List the duties of the “Court Officers”.
4.)
Which Article of the Constitution creates the Judicial Branch? What is the exact line in the Constitution
that creates The Supreme Court?
5.)
When does The Supreme Court have Original Jurisdiction? When does it have Appellate Jurisdiction?
6.)
What rulemaking power does The Supreme Court have over the lower courts?
7.)
When does a Supreme Court term begin and end?
8.)
Now click “About the Supreme Court” again on the left hand side of the page. Now, click “The Court and its
Traditions”. This will help answer questions 8-12. What determines the seating arrangement of the
Justices?
2
Name: ___________________________________________________________
Block: _______
9.)
Explain the history of the robes that Justices wear.
10.)
What is the “Conference Handshake”?
11.)
Why does the Court’s seal only have one star?
12.)
Now click “About the Supreme Court” again on the left hand side of the page. Now, click “The Court and it’s
Procedures. This will help answer questions 12-16. The text states that Sittings and Recesses alternate at 2week intervals. During the sittings, why are there no juries or witnesses heard?
13.)
What do the Justices do during a recess period?
14.)
When the Court is sitting, at what time do the public sessions begin and end?
15.)
What is the chant that is announced at 10:00 to mark the beginning of the session?
16.)
Now, click “Visiting the Court”. Can the public sit in during oral arguments? If so, what time should you
arrive for each line?
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Name: ___________________________________________________________
Block: _______
Go to: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/index.html
17.)
Click on “Timeline” near the top of the page. Choose the year “2005” and briefly explain the Court’s
decisions in Roper v. Simmons and in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
Roper v. Simmons:
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld:
18.)
Click on “Games” near the top of the page. Play the first game, titled “The Look of Authority” to learn about
how and why The Supreme Court building is so imposing and awesome. Write at least two new things
below that you learned from this “game”.
19.)
Choose the game “Just Change”. After reading through the cases of “Just Change”, explain what “precedent”
is how the Supreme Court can overturn their own rulings. Briefly explain two cases of your choice from
“Just Change” and why the Court rationalized overturning their previous decisions.
20.)
Go back to the main page of this PBS website on The Supreme Court and choose two videos to watch on the
front page (use headphones!). All are interesting. Identify which video you watched and explain at least two
new things that you learned from watching.
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Name: ___________________________________________________________
21.)
Block: _______
Lastly, choose 4 Justices from Question #2 and write a basic biography (Age, College, Personal Life,
Noteworthy Stories about them) about them. You may use the original supremecourt.gov website to do this
or a basic Internet search (as long as your information is from a trusted source and not a rogue website).
Justice:
Justice:
Justice:
Justice:
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