Government – Pinnacle High School
Dr. Tomasino
Constitution Project
Mission: The Constitution of the United States was designed and implemented by our founding
fathers in 1789. It is a living document of government. Living document means that it is written
so that changes in society will allow changes in the document. The constitution is the basis of
how Americans live.
Project: Your project must be from one of the assignments as defined below. You will work in
groups in order to accomplish this project. Each member of the group will show proficiency of
his assignment by his presentation. Each presentation will include both oral and written
documentation.
Assignments: You will be assigned one of the following sections in order to present your
project.
Article I: Article one of the constitution sets us a bicameral legislature. This legislature is
divided up into the House of Representatives and the Senate. Sections 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
and 10 will be analyzed in their entireties.
Section 2: This section sets up the House of Representatives. What are the
qualifications to become a representative? How long is a term? How many
representatives are apportioned to each state? How often are the House members
replaced? What was taken out of paragraph #3 of this section and why was it
taken out? What happens if a mid-term vacancy occurs in the House? Who is the
leader of the House and what special powers does the House have? How much
money do the House members make? Who are the representatives from the State
of Colorado? What committees are contained in the House? How is committee
seats assigned? How much power does the Speaker of the House have and how is
he chosen?
Section 3: This section sets up the senate. What are the qualifications to become a
senator? How long is a term? How many senators are apportioned to each state?
What was taken out of paragraph #1 and why was it taken out? How often are
senators replaced? Is the entire senate replaced at once? Who is the president of
the senate? What are his functions? Who is the president pro tempore of the
senate and what are his functions? What special power does the senate have that
the House does not have? How much money do senators make? Who are the
senators from the State of Colorado? What committees are contained in the
senate? How are committee seats assigned? What special speaking rules does the
senate have contained in its bylaws?
Section 4: This section prescribes who is in charge of elections and how often
congress meets. Who is in charge of congressional elections? What are the
election parameters in the State of Colorado? How often does congress meet and
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Dr. Tomasino
when do they meet? Where do they meet? Have they always met there? What is
the history of the meeting place?
Section 5: This section sets up the rules and procedures of congress. Who
controls the elections and qualification of each member? What is a quorum? Who
determines the rules of each house? What do these rules contain? Provide
examples of punishments meted out by each house. How long may a house
adjourn? What is required for a longer adjournment or movement of meetings?
Why do you think that rule is necessary?
Section 6: This sections sets up privileges and restrictions. How much are
representatives and senators paid? Who pays them? Can members be arrested?
Provide examples. Can members say whatever they want on the floor of each
chamber? Can members of congress work in any other office while serving as a
member of congress? How do you think members of congress supplement their
incomes?
Section 7: This section sets up the lawmaking process. Who originates bills for
revenue raising? Why do you think this is so? What is the bill making process?
How does a bill become law? Please provide examples and a flow chart.
Section 8: This section sets up the powers granted to congress. Describe in detail
and provide examples of each power granted to congress in the constitution. Do
you think these powers are necessary and has congress used these powers
prudently? What is special about paragraph #18 and why is it important to
congress?
Section 9: This section creates powers that congress cannot have. Describe in
detail and provide examples of each power denied to congress in the constitution.
What was taken out of paragraph #1 and why was it deleted?
Section 10: This section sets up power denied to the states. Describe in detail and
provide examples of each power denied to states in the constitution. Why do you
think it is necessary to prevent the states from doing these things? Why would the
founding fathers add these items to the US Constitution?
Article II: Article II of the constitution sets up the executive branch of the government
including the offices of president and vice president. All four sections of this article will
be analyzed in their entirety.
Section 1: This section sets up the office of the president. How long is a
presidential term? How is the president elected? Provide a detailed analysis of this
process. What was deleted from paragraph 3 and why was it deleted? Who
determines the electors and how they will vote? What are the qualifications to
become president? What happens in the event of presidential disability or death?
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Dr. Tomasino
How much money do the president and vice president make? What is the
presidential oath of office and how was it changed in practice?
Section 2: This section prescribes the powers of the president. Describe in detail
and provide examples of each power the president has. Which of these powers are
most important to a president? Why?
Section 3: This section explains the duties of the president. Describe in detail and
provide examples of the duties of the president. Which of these duties are most
important to the president and why? What is the State of the Union Address?
What is its purpose? Provide examples of how different presidents used this duty.
Section 4: This section provides the impeachment process of the president, vice
president, and other civil officers. Describe in detail and provide examples of the
impeachment process. Please include presidents Johnson, Nixon, and Clinton.
Article III: Article III of the Constitution sets up the judicial branch of the government.
All three sections will be presented.
Section 1: This section sets up the federal courts system. What court is the
highest court? Who sets this court up? Who creates the lesser federal courts? How
long can judges serve? What are the qualifications of a federal judge? What other
federal courts are there besides the Supreme Court?
Section 2: What is the jurisdiction of federal courts? What types of cases can they
hear? What was deleted from paragraph 1 and why was it deleted? Where are
trials heard? What is the exception to a trial by jury?
Section 3: What is treason? What is required to be convicted of treason? What is
the punishment for treason? What are the restrictions on the treason punishment?
Article IV: Article IV of the constitution describes the relationship between the federal
government and the states. All four sections will be presented.
Section 1: What are the things that states and the federal government have to
recognize? Why do you think this is important? Please provide examples.
Section 2: How can citizens of a state be treated in another state? Are there any
exceptions provided? What are they? What happens if someone commits a crime
in one state and flees to another state? What is this process called? What was
deleted from paragraph 3 and why was it deleted?
Section 3: Can new states be added to the union? How can this be achieved? Are
there restrictions on how this is achieved? What are the restrictions? Is there any
state that was formed despite the restrictions? Please provide details.
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Dr. Tomasino
Section 4: What are the guarantees that the federal government provides each
state?
Article V: Article V of the Constitution provides methods of amending the constitution.
What is the amendment process as prescribed in this article? Please provide details and a
flow chart to describe this process. How many times was the constitution amended?
Which process was used in these amendments? What was deleted from this article and
why was it deleted?
Article VI: Article VI of the constitution describes general conditions and provisions.
What happened to the debts previously borrowed under the Articles of Confederation?
What were the Articles of Confederation? How are they different from the constitution?
What were the weaknesses in the Articles? What does it mean when it says that the
constitution is the “supreme law of the land”? Why is this important? What is taken by all
government officials that protect the constitution? What are the religious requirements to
serve the government? Why is this phrase important and how has it been used?
Article VII: Article VII of the Constitution describes the ratification process necessary
for approval of the constitution. Why did the founding fathers want states to have
constitutional conventions to ratify rather than the state legislatures? Who were the
federalists and anti-federalists? Fully describe how and when each state ratified the
constitution. Who were the main proponents of ratification and what were their primary
arguments for ratification? Who was against ratification and why were they against it?
Amendments: There are twenty seven amendments to the constitution. Break down the
assignment into two parts: the first ten amendments (also known as the Bill of Rights)
should be fully analyzed and presented. Explain the importance of these amendments?
The next seventeen amendments should be briefly presented with the exception of
Amendments 13, 14 and 15 which should be presented in detail. These amendments are
also called the Civil War Amendments. Please describe why these amendments are
important today.
Due Date: two weeks
Oral Presentations: Oral presentations should be made to the class. All classmates are required
to take notes on your presentation, so be sure the presentations are given clearly and concisely.
Presentations should be based on your written materials but please do not stand up and read your
presentation. You may use PowerPoint, flow charts, posters, overheads, videos, or other
interesting presentation techniques to enhance your presentation. You may not write your
presentation on the board.
Written Presentations: All students will provide written presentations along with the oral
presentations. At a minimum, all questions in your section should be answered completely.
Additional information will receive extra credit, but the work you provide must be your own
work and not copied from the internet, books, or any other copyrighted publication.
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Dr. Tomasino
All projects will be submitted in writing to me after the oral presentation. Written projects should
demonstrate an adequate knowledge of the topic which means that thorough research must be
evidenced.
All written projects will be typed double spaced using 12 point Times New Roman or Ariel font
or another font that has been approved in advance.
MS WORD or WORKS: Margins for the body of written material will be:
Top: 1 – 1 ½ inches
Left: 1 ½ inches
Bottom: 1 inch
Right: 1 ½ inches
These are usually the defaults of MS WORD or WORKS
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