The Constitution Project
Students with Mrs. O’Connor
January 2016
Goals & Objectives:
Students will understand how and why the Framers built
the government with three branches: Executive, Legislative,
and Judicial.
Students will know and understand the seven principals of
the U.S. Constitution:
Popular Sovereignty
Republicanism
Federalism
Separation of Powers
Checks and Balances
Limited Government
Individual Rights
Students will know that the Constitution of the United
States was meant to be a “living document,” which
means it must change with the times.
Students will know the seven Articles of the Constitution,
which were the framework, or the organization of our
government.
Students will know the Bill of Rights. These were the first ten
amendments, or rules to live by, which protect individual
rights.
Students will know the 17 additional amendments made to
the Constitution added over time to make the Constitution
work for “Liberty and Justice for All.” It was and
continues to be a work in progress.
Student Project:
We will have students work individually, or with one or two
partners to develop an amazing Google Docs slides project
that demonstrates knowledge of all the objectives listed
above.
Students will logon to Google Classroom using the letter s
and then their id #. Their password is their birthdate
xx/xx/xx. Day, month, year. They will join the individual
classroom code based upon their period with Mrs.
O’Connor.
Period One:
edzb6c
Period Two:
svb673
Period Three: koazvo8
Period Four:
il30bv2
Period Five:
c5q0qt
Google Slides
Slide One: name the project and identify who is working
on it.
Students must name their project to be easily identified.
Student projects go into a file by period, but the name of
the project should be as follows:
Per. #, Last name, Last name, Last name (dependent upon
how many students are working together. 1-3)
Slide Two:
Preamble: the Purpose of the Constitution
Students include the entire Preamble as written.
Include an image of the Preamble.
Slide Three through Eight
Goals of the Preamble:
Quote
Explanation
Example
Use page 248 of the textbook Creating America
There are six quotes, explanations and examples.
Make a slide for each quote, explanation, & example.
Include an image appropriate for each example.
Slide Three: “Form a more perfect union”
Slide Four: “Establish Justice”
Slide Five: “Insure domestic tranquility”
Slide Six: “Provide for the common defense”
Slide Seven: “Promote the general welfare”
Slide Eight: “Secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity. “
Slide Nine:
Article One: The Legislative Branch
Define CongressSenate:
Define Equal Representation:
How many people are in the US Senate?
House of Representatives:
Define Proportional Representation:
How many people are in the House?
Include an image of the Senate and the House of
Representatives
Slide Ten:
Section Two - The House of Representatives
How often are the elections?
What are the qualifications for a Representative?
How many Representatives are there in the House-?
(again….you stated that on slide nine.)
Slide Eleven:
Section Three - The Senate
How often are the elections?
What are the qualifications for a Senator?
How many Senators are there in the Senate?
(again…you
stated that on slide nine.)
Slide Twelve: How a Bill Becomes a Law (Article I Section 7)
You may use an image from Google or expand to multiple
slides….please include the following:
Introduction of a Bill
Committee Action
Floor Action
Final Approval
Enactment
President Signs Bill or
President Vetoes the Bill and it goes back to the
Congress
for 2/3rds vote override to become law or
does not achieve the override.
Slide Thirteen: The Executive Branch
The President:
How often are elections?
What are the qualifications to be President?
How many Presidents have we had in the US?
What are the Roles of the President? (see page 258 of
textbook)
Who takes over if the President cannot serve?
Slide Fourteen: The Executive Branch Cabinet to the
President
List all the Departments and their current Secretaries (which
means the person appointed to head this department.)
Slides Fifteen through Thirty Five
Make a slide for each department.
Detail what each Department does.
Resource:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/cabinet
Students should create a slide that lists all the departments
and then make one slide for every department:
List the head of the department (Secretary) and detail the
duties of the department.
Slide
15.
Vice President
16.
State
17.
Treasury
18.
Defense
19.
Justice
20. Homeland Security
21.
Energy
22. Education
23. Health and Human Services
24. Housing and Urban Development
25.
Interior
26. Transportation
27. Agriculture
28. Commerce
29. Labor
30. Veterans Affairs
31.
Environmental Protection Agency
32. Trade Representative
33. US Ambassador to the United Nations
34. Council of Economic Advisors
35. Small Business Administration
Slide Thirty Six
Article Three: The Judiciary
What is the job of the Supreme Court?
See page 261 of the Creating America textbook.
What is the Supreme Court?
How many Justices are there?
How do they become Justices?
How long do they serve?
Who are the members of the current Supreme Court?
Slide Thirty Seven
Article Four: Pretty much summarizes Federalism
See page 262 and create a chart or find an image that
details National powers, State powers, and Shared powers.
Slide Thirty Eight
Article Five: Amending the Constitution
Include the image just like the chart on page 263 of the
textbook
Slide Thirty Nine
Article Six Supremacy of the National Government
Just state what this means.
Slide Forty
Article Seven:
Ratification: How many states did it take to approve the
Constitution?
Slide Forty One
What is the significance of the Bill of Rights?
Why was it needed to achieve ratification of the
Constitution?
List the Top Ten! What are the first ten amendments?
For the fast & furious student: Make a slide for each of the
ten amendments.
Then…TOTALLY OPTIONAL…..
You may make slides for amendments 11 through 27 .