Executive Order 11873 was introduced in June 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson in a speech at Howard University. This order began the first of the federal government's affirmative action programs. Since that time, these programs have become a major topic among not only government officials at all levels of government but the general population…

In the past 50 years many political organizations have attempted to seek redress from repressive governments. Many have used methods considered to be terrorism. The United Nations (UN) is interested in establishing a set of guidelines dealing with the prevention of terrorism. This unit focuses on several questions that attempt to define terrorism.…

On February 19, 1942, at the height of U.S. involvement in World War II, President Roosevelt authorized military leaders within the War Department to place all Japanese Americans residing on the West Coast in detention camps. The following months saw the relocation of some 120,000 Japanese Americans, of whom 77,000 were U.S. citizens. The decision…

Asserts that sexual harassment is a major problem in schools. Presents a secondary-level lesson designed to help teachers and students examine this issue and identify harassing behaviors. Includes six student handouts, instructional procedures, and suggested follow-up activities. (CFR)

The "philosophes" of the Enlightenment Period were a group of free (different) thinkers who offered commentary on societal issues. Often, they were like one of today's social commentators suggesting reforms for the political system. Since the United States during the era of the Revolutionary War was seeking reform of what they considered…

Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes encountered the Aztecs in 1519 and conquered them in 1521, claiming their empire for Spain. He then destroyed the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan and rebuilt a Spanish city in its ruins. In this lesson plan, it is the year 1527 and an Independent Counsel has been chosen by the College of Cardinals of the Catholic…

In this lesson, student teams research one of the species of early humans. Teams will create presentations that include information on physical traits, habitat, era, means of survival, culture, and relationship to modern humans. Students are provided with background information, detailed instructions, on-line resources, and reflection questions.…

Provides an interdisciplinary unit of study based on Hila Colman's 1978 novel, RACHEL'S LEGACY, a story about the economic and social trials of a Jewish immigrant mother and her three daughters. The unit helps junior high school students examine how traditional roles of men and women impose economic, social, and emotional limits on peoples' lives.…

In this lesson plan, students are assigned a member of the California Assembly to research and a political faction to represent. Students examine representative bills voted on by the California Assembly to determine if their member's voting record coincides with the views of their political faction. Ultimately, students must decide whether, and…

This book for third-to-eighth graders explains why government is needed, what it does, and how it works, by providing a grand tour of Washington, DC. The guided reading level is Q-R and the Fry level is 3.8. The suggested grade range is 3-8.

In this lesson plan, each student must decide which political party he/she will join or whether to register as an independent. Each student will be part of a group analyzing one current political party and presenting to the class this party's solutions for the problems confronting the United States today. The political parties for analysis are:…

This collection of lessons and class activities covers two major concepts: (1) population growth and (2) genetic engineering. Lessons consist of readings, questions and answers, and problems of projects where appropriate. Issues are posed in as much as possible in a manner intended to cause the student to reach conclusions and values without being…

The key way for government to legislate the scientific revolution is to know when science threatens to ethically destroy the fabric of society. The U.S. President has asked you (the student), his senior advisor, to test the waters of this new science and evaluate what stance he needs to take regarding issues like cloning, cryogenics, assisted…

This lesson plan imagines the student as part of a delegation to a special meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-sponsored Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council being held in Brussels, Belgium, where the topic of discussion is a proposal by several NATO members to invite independent republics of the former Soviet Union to become…

In this lesson plan, students role play members of the Cabinet of the President of the United States. Cabinet members must define and defend their highest priority programs for the coming fiscal year. Students must identify a pressing current issue before their particular Cabinet department and prepare an action plan, with possible alternative…