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Chapter Planner and Suggested Pacing Guide

UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN®

Enduring Understanding

  • The executive branch is responsible for executing and enforcing laws, making policy, making rules, and regulating various aspects of the economy.

Essential Questions

  • What are the structure and functions of the executive branch?
  • How does the federal bureaucracy regulate individuals, communities, and businesses?

Students will know:

  • the process of selecting and confirming cabinet officials.
  • the functions and roles of the cabinet.
  • the roles and responsibilities of the agencies in the Executive Office of the President (EOP), including the Office of Management and Budget, the National Security Council, and the White House Office.
  • the roles and responsibilities of key presidential advisers, including the White House chief of staff, the press secretary, and the National Security Advisor.
  • that presidents use executive privilege to keep information confidential from other branches.
  • the functions of the 15 cabinet departments in the executive branch.
  • the purpose of the independent agencies, government corporations, and regulatory commissions that make up the federal bureaucracy.
  • the origins of the spoils system and how it was reformed into the existing civil service system.
  • the role of the civil service.
  • the role of political appointees in the executive branch.
  • the role of the bureaucracy in making, administering, and implementing public policy.
  • the role of public input and interest groups in the making of public policy.
  • checks on the power of the bureaucracy.
  • the causes of the growth of the federal bureaucracy and efforts to reduce the size of the bureaucracy.
  • how iron triangles operate in many policy areas.
  • the costs and benefits of federal government regulation.

Students will be able to:

  • identify the role of the president’s cabinet.
  • analyze how the role of the cabinet has changed over time.
  • describe the role of the Executive Office of the President.
  • draw conclusions about the importance of executive departments.
  • classify the roles of different executive departments.
  • differentiate regulatory commissions and independent agencies.
  • identify the origins of the civil service system.
  • compare and contrast the spoils system and the civil service system.
  • explain the role of the civil service today.
  • describe the advantages and disadvantages of presidential appointees serving in the government.
  • analyze the advantages and disadvantages of government regulation.
  • explain how bureaucrats use rules and regulations to shape public policy.
  • summarize reasons behind the growth of the federal bureaucracy.
  • describe iron triangles.

Predictable Misunderstandings

Students may think:

  • the cabinet is appointed after the president is elected. In reality, the presidential candidate will begin consulting his campaign advisers to discuss potential cabinet nominees months before the inauguration. Sometimes, hints, or “leaks”, are given as a way to judge public acceptance of the potential cabinet members.
  • that everyone offered a position on the cabinet would accept the job. For many cabinet nominees, especially those with greater qualifications, the pay is nearly half of what they could make if they remain privately employed and the stress of media coverage and public scrutiny is scarcely worth the prestige of the position.

Assessment Evidence

Performance Tasks:

  • Hands-On Chapter Project

Other Evidence:

  • Guided Reading Activities
  • Vocabulary Activity
  • Lesson Quizzes
  • Chapter Tests, Forms A and B

SUGGESTED PACING

½ day — Introducing the Chapter
 1 day — Lesson 1
½ day — Lesson 2
½ day — Lesson 3
 1 day — Lesson 4
½ day — Chapter Wrap-Up and Assessment

4 Days — Total

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION

The activities presented are suitable for all levels. Modifications for student ability levels are available for many of the activities. The types of modifications available are indicated by the icons below.

DI for AL Approaching Level

DI for BL Beyond Level

DI for ELL English Language Learner

All students benefit from activities that utilize different learning styles. Activities are designated with the labels below to help you differentiate teaching by the types of learners.

Intrapersonal
Logical/Mathematical
Visual/Spatial
Verbal/Linguistic
Interpersonal
Auditory/Musical
Kinesthetic
Naturalist

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

Expand All

  • Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

    Below are the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills covered in this chapter.

    (1) History. The student understands how constitutional government, as developed in America and expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the U.S. Constitution, has been influenced by ideas, people, and historical documents. The student is expected to:

    (F) identify significant individuals in the field of government and politics, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan

     

    (2) History. The student understands the roles played by individuals, political parties, interest groups, and the media in the U.S. political system, past and present. The student is expected to:

    (A) give examples of the processes used by individuals, political parties, interest groups, or the media to affect public policy

     

    (5) Economics. The student understands the roles played by local, state, and national governments in both the public and private sectors of the U.S. free enterprise system. The student is expected to:

    (D) understand how government taxation and regulation can serve as restrictions to private enterprise

     

    (7) Government. The student understands the American beliefs and principles reflected in the U.S. Constitution and why these are significant. The student is expected to:

    (D) evaluate constitutional provisions for limiting the role of government, including republicanism, checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers, popular sovereignty, and individual rights

    (F) identify how the American beliefs and principles reflected in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution contribute to both a national identity and federal identity and are embodied in the United States today

     

    (8) Government. The student understands the structure and functions of the government created by the U.S. Constitution. The student is expected to:

    (B) analyze the structure and functions of the executive branch of government, including the constitutional powers of the president, the growth of presidential power, and the role of the Cabinet and executive departments

    (C) analyze the structure and functions of the judicial branch of government, including the federal court system, types of jurisdiction, and judicial review

    (D) identify the purpose of selected independent executive agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and regulatory commissions, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

    (E) explain how certain provisions of the U.S. Constitution provide for checks and balances among the three branches of government

    (G) explain the major responsibilities of the federal government for domestic and foreign policy such as national defense

     

    (9) Government. The student understands the concept of federalism. The student is expected to:

    (D) understand the limits on the national and state governments in the U.S. federal system of government

     

    (10) Government. The student understands the processes for filling public offices in the U.S. system of government. The student is expected to:

    (A) compare different methods of filling public offices, including elected and appointed offices at the local, state, and national levels

     

    (15) Citizenship. The student understands the importance of voluntary individual participation in the U.S. constitutional republic. The student is expected to:

    (A) analyze the effectiveness of various methods of participation in the political process at local, state, and national levels

    (B) analyze historical and contemporary examples of citizen movements to bring about political change or to maintain continuity

    (C) understand the factors that influence an individual's political attitudes and actions

     

    (16) Citizenship. The student understands the importance of the expression of different points of view in a constitutional republic. The student is expected to:

    (B) analyze the importance of the First Amendment rights of petition, assembly, speech, and press and the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms

     

    (18) Science, technology, and society. The student understands the role the government plays in developing policies and establishing conditions that influence scientific discoveries and technological innovations. The student is expected to:

    (A) understand how U.S. constitutional protections such as patents have fostered competition and entrepreneurship

    (B) identify examples of government-assisted research that, when shared with the private sector, have resulted in improved consumer products such as computer and communication technologies

     

    (19) Science, technology, and society. The student understands the impact of advances in science and technology on government and society. The student is expected to:

    (A) understand the potential impact on society of recent scientific discoveries and technological innovations

    (B) evaluate the impact of the Internet and other electronic information on the political process

     

    (20) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use information acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:

    (A) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions, and drawing inferences and conclusions

    (C) analyze and defend a point of view on a current political issue

    (D) analyze and evaluate the validity of information, arguments, and counterarguments from primary and secondary sources for bias, propaganda, point of view, and frame of reference

    (E) evaluate government data using charts, tables, graphs, and maps

     

    (21) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student is expected to:

    (A) use social studies terminology correctly

    (B) use standard grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation

    (C) transfer information from one medium to another, including written to visual and statistical to written or visual, using computer software as appropriate

    (D) create written, oral, and visual presentations of social studies information

     

    (22) Social studies skills. The student uses problem-solving and decision-making skills, working independently and with others, in a variety of settings. The student is expected to:

    (A) use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution