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Chapter Planner and Suggested Pacing Guide

UNDERSTANDING BY DESIGN®

Enduring Understanding

  • In the U.S. federal system, power is shared between the national government and the state governments, which limit the power of government and helps protect individual rights.
  • Federalism increases peoples’ opportunities for political participation because people may participate or seek to influence government policy at the national, state, or local levels.

Essential Questions

  • Why and how is power divided and shared among national, state, and local governments?
  • How does federalism promote democracy and civic participation?

Students will know:

  • that federalism means that two or more governments exercise power over the same people and the same territory.
  • that the supremacy clause ensures that no state law or state constitution may conflict with any form of national law.
  • that the national government guarantees to the states that they will have a republican form of government, be protected against invasion, and protected against domestic violence.
  • that the main way the federal government provides assistance to the states is through federal grants.
  • that McCulloch v. Maryland said that when the national government and a state government come into conflict, the national government is supreme.
  • that states can make laws about anything that is not prohibited by the Constitution or national law.
  • that state powers include regulating and promoting business, preserving natural resources, making and enforcing criminal laws, protecting individual rights, and providing for public health, education, and welfare.
  • that one way of settling disagreements between states is for states to enter into an interstate compact.
  • what public policy is and how it is created at different levels of government.
  • the difference between a states’ rights position and a nationalist position and how each relate to the two major political parties.
  • why federalism increases opportunities for political participation.

Students will be able to:

  • explain how delegated, expressed, and implied powers differ.
  • define concurrent powers.
  • outline the division of federal and state powers in the United States.
  • define enabling act.
  • describe the obligations of the states.
  • identify the role of the Supreme Court in settling disputes between the federal government and the states.
  • explain what powers are held by state governments.
  • identify the ways that states cooperate with each other.
  • describe how states resolved conflicts with each other.
  • identify how public policy is created at different levels of government.
  • explain the different political parties’ views on the balance of power between state and local governments.
  • describe how federalism increases the opportunities for political participation.

Predictable Misunderstandings

Students may think:

  • that all powers given to the federal government are spelled out in the Constitution. Many of the powers given to the federal government are written in the first three articles of the Constitution, but that does not mean that the government may not exercise powers beyond those directly stated. Students may find it difficult to understand the difference between expressed powers and implied powers.
  • that the Constitution lists all of the powers given to the states. In fact, the Constitution says that the states have any powers not given to federal government, as long as they are not specifically prohibited to the states. Encourage students to learn about reserved powers and what types of powers states have that the federal government does not.

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
½ Day — Lesson 1
 1 Day — Lesson 2
½ Day — Lesson 3
½ 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 type 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

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  • Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

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

    (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

     

    (3) Geography. The student understands how geography can influence U.S. political divisions and policies. The student is expected to:

    (B) examine political boundaries to make inferences regarding the distribution of political power

     

    (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:

    (A) explain how government fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policies influence the economy at the local, state, and national levels

     

    (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

     

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

    (F) analyze selected issues raised by judicial activism and judicial restraint

    (H) compare the structures, functions, and processes of national, state, and local governments in the U.S. federal system

     

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

    (A) explain why the Founding Fathers created a distinctly new form of federalism and adopted a federal system of government instead of a unitary system

    (B) categorize government powers as national, state, or shared

    (C) analyze historical and contemporary conflicts over the respective roles of national and state governments

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

     

    (11) Government. The student understands the role of political parties in the U.S. system of government. The student is expected to:

    (A) analyze the functions of political parties and their role in the electoral process at local, state, and national levels

    (B) explain the two-party system and evaluate the role of third parties in the United States

     

    (12) Government. The student understands the similarities and differences that exist among the U.S. system of government and other political systems. The student is expected to:

    (A) compare the U.S. constitutional republic to historical and contemporary forms of government such as monarchy, a classical republic, authoritarian, socialist, direct democracy, theocracy, tribal, and other republics

     

    (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

     

    (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

    (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

    (F) use appropriate mathematical skills to interpret social studies information such as maps and graphs