John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
Redistricting & Reapportionment
1. Identify Desired Results
What should students know and/or be able to do as a result of this lesson?
Big Ideas:
1.
Unit Essential Questions
Population and political trends impact representative
1. How would you describe the roles of the Census, state
democracy, but redistricting must be constitutional and
legislatures, and the federal judiciary in reapportionment
follow judicially interpreted guidelines.
and redistricting?
2. How does reapportionment, redistricting, and
gerrymandering impact individuals, groups, communities, and
regions?
Learning Objective As a result of this lesson, students will know and be able to . . .
1.
Evaluate the impact of changing population size on representation in legislative bodies as reflected in the United States
Census.
2.
Explain the reasons for reapportionment and its impact on fiscal decisions and representation.
3.
Determine the impact of reapportionment and redistricting on individuals, groups, local communities, and regions.
2. Assessing Student Learning
Summative:
1. BCR:
- Explain the reapportionment process.
- Why is redrawing Congressional districts after reapportionment such a controversial task for state legislatures?
- Include examples and details to support your answer.
2. LETTER: Students write a letter addressed to their State Delegate or Senator with suggestions on how to get the state of
Maryland more in line with Supreme Court rulings on gerrymandered districts in time for the next legislative redistricting.
Formative:
3. WEB SITE, “The ReDistricting Game” (www.redistrictinggame.org) – students play the game, first on the easy option, and
then write a quick reflection on 1) what was the easiest part of drawing the districts and 2) what was most difficult; if time
permits, students can try the more difficult options and write about their reasons for success/failure in meeting the
additional criteria to create new districts.
3. Lesson Elements
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
Process:
1.
Warm-up: “What does the census have to do with Congress and state legislatures? Why is it so important to be the
political party in power immediately following the Census?” – Leads to a brief review of the Census and why
government cares so much about it, and therefore, why citizens should care.
2.
Modeling/Direct Instruction (I do): Introduce the new content by using the Visuwords Online Graphical Dictionary
(http://www.visuwords.com/) to define terms such as “apportion” and “district.” Students will be directed to their
Government Vocabulary Terms worksheet in preparation for adding newly assigned words to their vocabulary
notebook. Words included in this section would be words such as: reapportionment, gerrymandering, and census.
3.
Guided Practice (We do):
4. Redistricting Simulation Options:
- Use a 25-35 foot length of Rope/String to simulate the districting process, giving different scenarios for how to
draw a district with the Rope/String as borders and students representing a certain amount of people to be included
in the district.
- Use a 67’’ X 55’’ twister mat to simulate the gerrymandering process. Divide students up into small groups and allow
them to place red, blue and green circles on the mat. Allow students to district and redistrict specific areas in order
to represent congressional gerrymandering in favor of one party or another.
1. Discuss the impact of the census, and how it leads to “reapportionment” and “redistricting.” Use the “Reapportionment
and Redistricting Mini-Lesson” video from the MSDE Online Government Course (http://msde.mdk12online.org/ generic username: government, password: student), located in Unit 3: Legislative Branches > A. Structure and
Organization of Congress. Students complete WORKSHEET, “Unit 3 Student Resource Sheet, Reapportionment and
Redistricting,” as they watch the video.
2. Project the “Apportionment – Map Interpretation” image and have students answer the questions through class
discussion to see the impact of apportionment & reapportionment. Ask students what changes they believe will happen
for 2012.
3. Project the Gerrymandering Cartoon, and give the historical background behind this example of redistricting gone
amok. Play the “Gerrymandering Mini-Lesson” video from the MSDE Online Government Course, located in Unit 7:
Participation in Government > F. Demographics and Reapportionment. (Can also simulate this with Rope/String)
4. Review the Supreme Court requirements for districting with students (compactness, made up of adjoining areas, equal
population, can’t be drawn along racial lines, “one man, one vote”). Discuss how state legislatures try the method of
“cracking and packing” to neutralize the opposing political party. Can use Holt or Remy textbooks, or simply discuss
with students.
5. Project the Map of Maryland Congressional Districts, and hold a class discussion on whether the MD districts meet
these requirements (focus on District 1, and discuss the Democratic dominance of the State House & Governorship in
2002, when the districts were last drawn, and what that did to Republican representation)
6.
Independent Practice (You do): Culminating activity options:
1. WORKSHEET, “Interpreting A Political Map” (more for lower level students, it gives 3 districting plans followed by a
series of questions that show how the districts were gerrymandered; after they finish the questions, have students
recreate the district and try to re-draw the district lines to make it as fair as possible and then discuss their
definitions of “fair”)
2. PACKET, “Drawing Districts” (described as “Districting Sudoku,” students are given a block diagram of a geographic
area for which they have to shade in six different districts that meet certain criteria and must have as close to
600,000 people as possible; if time permits, students can do the second map for minority representation; and then, if
you really want to challenge, have them try to combine the first two maps to create a third map that meets the criteria
for the general districts AND minority population)
3. WEB SITE, “The ReDistricting Game” (www.redistrictinggame.org) (students play the game, first on the easy option,
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
1.
Reflections
Student Learning Expectations:
Did students achieve the stated objective? How do you know? If not, why not?
Implementation:
How effective was the lesson? What went really well? What would you differently?
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
Apportionment, Redistricting and Gerrymandering
The Role of State Legislatures: Laws, Budgets, and Redistricting
Like the U.S. Congress, state legislatures are responsible for enacting laws, levying taxes and creating budgets. In all states,
lawmakers are elected by popular vote. Some states elect citizen legislatures, whose members meet only a few weeks per year.
Other states elect professional legislatures, whose members meet almost year round.
State lawmakers act on a wide range of issues. For example, they enact laws that create state parks. State lawmakers are also
responsible for apportionment, or distribution of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives to the states based on population.
Apportionment: Achieving Equal Protection
The U.S. Senate has a total of 100 seats, two for each state. The House of Representatives has 435 seats, which each seat
representing one Congressional district. The number of seats in the House was fixed by law in 1911 and can be changed by Congress
at any time. House seats are apportioned, or divided, among the states according to each state’s population. Here is how
apportionment works. Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau conducts a census to count the nation’s population The results are
used to calculate how House seats should be distributed among the states. If a state’s population has boomed, it may gain one or
more additional seats. If its population has dropped or stayed the same, it may lose one or more seats. Each state, however, is
guaranteed at least one seat in the House.
The constitutional principle behind apportionment is equal representation, also referred to as “one person, one vote.” In practice this
means that each congressional district should have about the same number of people. The principle of apportionment does not apply
to the U.S. Senate, however, where each state has an equal voice, regardless of its population. As a result, the nation’s least populous
state, Wyoming, has as much say in the Senate as does the most populous state, California. However, the two senators from
Wyoming represent just over a half a million people, while the two from California represent more than 36 million people.
Gerrymandering and Redistricting:
For much of our history, state legislatures varied in how they approached apportionment. Often, lawmakers tried to draw district
boundaries in a manner that benefited themselves or other members of their party, a practice known as gerrymandering. The term
gerrymander was coined in 1811 to describe a salamander-shaped legislative district in Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry, the governor of
Massachusetts, had created the oddly shaped district to help members of his party.
In addition to gerrymandering, some state legislatures favored voters in small towns and rural areas by basing legislative districts on
factors other than population. People in cities complained that legislatures dominated by rural law makers failed to deal with urban
problems. But there was little they could do to force state legislations to apportion seats differently.
Frustration with this situation prompted a group for citizens led by Charles Baker to sue Tennessee’s secretary of state, Joe Carr, in
1959. At issue was the failure of the Tennessee legislature to adjust the state’s legislative districts since 1901. During that time many
rural families had migrated to cities. Baker v. Carr reached the Supreme Court in 1961. In the past, the Court had treated redistricting,
or the redrawing of voting districts to reflect population changes, as a political question. As such, it was up to state legislatures, not
federal courts to decide when and how redistricting should take place. In 1962, it decided that legislative apportionment was a question
for state and federal courts to consider.
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies
John Giese & Evan Rosenthal, CCPS Social Studies