captour.gif (20100 bytes)The Constitution...
What Do You Know?

The following activities are related to Chapter 6 in your Social Studies textbook.  Use that and the following resources to complete these activities and gather a better understanding of our government.
Our Constitution was created by colonists who were willing to test laws. In order to challenge laws you need to understand the process in which they are created. In this lesson you will learn about the three branches of government, their functions and their relationship to lawmaking. In the Constitution our forefathers sought to include how rules could be broken, changed, or added. The procedures which the framers outlined in Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution, stills stands today.
Activity 1:  

Complete the following flow chart for the branches of the government.  Use the links below to fill in all of the information.

Inspiration Flow Chart  This document requires the program Inspiration®  to open.

(cartoon drawing of the U.S. Capitol)

 Activity 2:  

You will examine Article 1, Section 7 to determine the following:

  1. Identify which branch of our government breaks laws, changes laws, or adds laws.
  2. Describe the seven steps of how a bill becomes a law.
  3. Determine which part of Congress can enact a money bill. 

You will write a complete paragraph that identifies the 3 areas mentioned above.

Links

 Links

Ben's Guide to the U.S. Government

Yahooligan's Search Results:

U.S. Government > Executive Branch

U.S. Government > Judicial Branch

U.S. Government > Legislative Branch

The online Constitution of America  Explore all the areas of this document.

 How a Bill becomes a Law
A very basic outline of the process.

How a Bill becomes a Law...More details
A more detailed look at how the bill becomes a law.

A detailed description of how a Bill becomes a Law
From the capitol.net web site Training and Information for Government and Business Leaders
 
Activity 3:

Below you will find a link to the official congressional web site.  Use this site to complete the questions on the right hand column of this table.  When completed, you will choose a bill that is currently in Congress and write a brief description of the bill.  
THOMAS: Legislative Information on the Internet: "Thomas" is the name of the official Congressional website. It is an incredibly rich source for information about legislation from the current and recent Congresses. It has the text of all bills and amendments, and summaries of current and planned legislative action on the bill--an indispensable source for following a bill's progress. It also provides ways to e-mail members of Congress and has detailed descriptions of the legislative process.
  1. Where could you find the names and e-mail addresses of our Senators and our district's Representative to the House?
  2. Where could you find summaries of the bills currently before Congress?
  3. Where could I find summaries of bills concerning Civil Rights?
  4. What other kinds of information can you find at the site?
***Choose a bill, and then present to the class a short description of what the bill is proposing. Be sure to include the name, number, sponsors and committees.

 List of Senate Bills