#3508. Democracy Owner's Manual

History, level: Middle
Posted Fri Jul 1 10:54:05 PDT 2005 by Celeste McKenzie (perfectpitch@hotmail.com).
St. Margaret Middle School, Waterbury, CT
Materials Required: Pen, refernce to the Bill of Rights
Activity Time: 40 minute class period
Concepts Taught: Understanding the Bill of Rights as a living document

Democracy Owner's Manual

Name___________________________________ Date____________________________________

Have you ever wondered what Democracy means? What can you do as a citizen of the United States to insure that you remain free? What do we, as a free society take for granted that others may only dream of?

Make a list of five freedoms that are important to you.
1.______________________________________________________________________

2.______________________________________________________________________

3.______________________________________________________________________

4.______________________________________________________________________

5.______________________________________________________________________

Choose one item from your list and describe WHY you feel it is the most important freedom that you enjoy.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How much do you know about your right to vote?

1. What is the minimum voting age in the United States? ___________

2. How often do we elect a president and vice president? ___________

3. When is the next federal election? ___________________________________________

4. When is the next state election? _____________________________________________

5. The governor of Connecticut is ______________________________________________

6. The lieutenant governor of Connecticut is _____________________________________

Write a paragraph telling what you think the role of government is.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name a cause that you strongly believe in.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Write an argument in favor of this cause. Follow these steps for presenting an intelligent argument.
1. Name your topic. 2. Make your points clear. 3. Use factual information rather than you're your opinion.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________