This mini-lesson looks at the variety of roles that George Washington played in America's early years. From commanding the Continental Army, to presiding over the Constitutional Convention, to setting the standard for the American presidency, Washington led the way.

Website description: What exactly is the ideal government? Let some of history's leading philosophers give you their take. In this government philosophy lesson, students explore how philosophers have explained the relationship between people and their governments and examine how those ideas influenced America's founding documents.

Website Description:
What's the relationship between government and power? And how do the concepts of authority, legitimacy, and sovereignty influence that relationship? In this lesson, students are introduced to these key characteristics of government, consider how governments establish and maintain them, and analyze government forms to determine if and how each characteristic exists.

Student Learning Objectives:
*Explain how governments get their power, authority, legitimacy, and sovereignty
* Analyze governments for key characteristics
* Describe the relationships power, authority, legitimacy, and sovereignty share
* Consider a government’s legitimacy

"In this lesson, students will learn the basic vocabulary of maps and the concepts of map projections and distortion. In exploring the Mercator and Peters' map projections, students will learn how looking at different projections can influence our thinking about the world."

This WebQuest has students explore immigration and why people "came to America". It also has students look at what it means to be a citizen, what the requirements are, and the process of naturalization that new citizens take part it.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

This webquest has students explore the process of a trial, explains the difference between civil and criminal and the differece between trial and appellate court. This webquest will pose questions, problems, or scenarios and then provide students with a web link or resource to explore to compose their response.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

Website Description:
Teach your students about democracy with examples from the very beginning! In this lesson, students learn about Athens’s direct democracy and Rome’s republic. Students explore how these governments took shape and key features of their structure, and then try their hands at comparing and contrasting each to U.S. government today.

Student Learning Objectives:
* Describe democracy in Athens and Rome
* Differentiate between democracy and other forms of government
* Identify characteristics of direct and representative democracy
* Compare and contrast democracy in Athens and Rome to the U.S. government today
* Analyze arguments against democracy

Website description: What keeps government from having too much power? Students learn about the limited power of government in this lesson, which outlines five basic limits on government. They analyze the true story of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, in which many of those limits disappeared, and they evaluate fictional cases of governments with limits missing. The concepts in this lesson prepare students to understand why the U.S. Constitution is structured the way it is.

When President Eisenhower authorized troops under federal authority to desegregate Little Rock Central High School in 1957, he became the first president since Reconstruction to use federal forces to help enforce equal rights for African Americans. Using the example of Executive Order 10730, students will explore how executive orders can be used to enforce the law and examine how Eisenhower justified his actions.

This DBQuest has students explore and analyze primary source documents about the Nashville Sit-Ins of 1960. These primary documents will give students basic understanding of segregation and some of the non-violent actions taken during the Civil Right Movement during the 1960s..

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

Website Description:
In the debate over the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was a deal breaker. In this lesson, students learn why the federalists thought the Constitution didn’t need a bill of rights and why the anti-federalists refused to accept the Constitution without one. Students will find out why individual rights was such a big issue, where the concept of a bill of rights came from, and how the Bill of Rights finally got added to the U.S. Constitution.

Student Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to:
*Identify arguments for and against the need for a bill of rights in the U.S. Constitution
*Explain why the Bill of Rights was added to the U.S. Constitution
*Describe how the Bill of Rights addresses limited government
*Relate the arguments over the need for a bill of rights to the wording of the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution
*Compare and contrast the fears on both sides of the argument over the need for a bill of rights

NewsFeed Defenders is a challenging online game that engages players with the standards of journalism, showing you how to spot a variety of methods behind the viral deception we all face today. Join a fictional social media site focused on news and information, and meet the challenge to level up from guest user to site admin. This can only be achieved by spotting dubious posts that try to sneak in through hidden ads, viral deception, and false reporting. In addition to maintaining a high-quality site, you are charged with growing traffic while keeping the posts on topic.

How did we go from thirteen British colonies to the United States of America? Explore the major hardships of life under British rule, why some colonists decided to break away, and how they set a path for a new and independent government.

Students define the rule of law and then role play to discover what life would be without it. Analysis between the rule of law and founding documents will illustrate the factors and how they affect daily life.

Website Description:
Students discover that states have their own governments and powers separate from the federal government. They learn what those powers are, how they’re different from the federal government’s powers, and that state governments also give power to smaller, local governments. Students critique a set of fictional state laws, create a story involving state powers, and look at some differences between state and local power.
We recommend teaching our lesson The "Federal" in Federalism right before this lesson.
(Please note: This lesson replaces our old "On the Level" lesson plan. The Venn diagram activity from On the Level can be found in The "Federal" in Federalism.)

Student Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to…
*Explain the source and nature of state and local governmental power.
*Distinguish reserved powers from federal powers.
*Identify types of powers that are held at the state or local level.
*Examine the differences between statewide laws and local ordinances/laws.
*Explain the duties of various local officials.

Overview: This simulation game has students follow a bill through the three branches of government. It begins with the Executive Branch creating an agenda and then proposing a bill based on that agenda. The bill then goes to the Legislative Branch where hearings are held, deliberation about the bill occurs, and then a vote occurs. If passed, the Bill goes back to the Executive Branch for review. Finally, the Judicial Branch will determine if the law is constitutional.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students through their iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

In this game, students will play a voting simulation where they learn the importance of getting to know the candidates, their qualifications, experience, and what they stand for. The students will also be able to identify the issues that are most important to them and then evaluate the candidates on their stance on these issues. Multiple information sources are used to inform students about elections and candidates to make this a realistic simulation.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses.

This simulation game also comes with teaching materials and an extension pack which allows additional teaching and learning opportunities beyond the game.

This simulation game has students determine if individuals are eligible for legal U.S residence. In the game, travelers will enter Immigration Bay in boats and the student will have to process them and determine if they meet eligibility requirements or not.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students in iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.

Website Description:
Are your students experts on U.S. citizenship? Put their knowledge to the test with Sortify: U.S. Citizenship, an original BrainPOP game made by BrainPOP with iCivics.
Share Sortify: U.S. Citizenship with your students using the “Share” button above. You must be logged in to access. This new feature allows teachers to assign Sortify outside of iCivics using learning management systems like Google Classroom, Edmodo, and more.

Student Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to...
*Recognize and recall rights and responsibilities of U.S. citizens
*Identify active ways in which citizens can participate in government and contribute to the common good
*Relate like terms and concepts by deducing shared relationships

This WebQuest has students explore the three branches of the United States government and how they provide a system of checks and balances in decision making. Students will learn about the state of the union address, how bills become law, the President's power to veto, and the Supreme Court's role in the law process.

Instructor Notes: Teachers can assign this content to their students through their iCivics account and then Clicking the Assign button on this activity. Teachers will then have the option to add a Class into iCivics OR Sync a roster from Google Classroom. This will allow teachers to see student's responses. There are also Downloadable Resources available to support this learning activity.