LegiQuest - ed

LegiQuest

? 2004 Buck Institute for Education

LegiQuest

LegiQuest

The Buck Institute for Education

The Buck Institute for Education (BIE) is a not-for-profit (501c3) research and development organization

working to make schools and classrooms more effective through the use of problem and project based

instruction. Founded in 1987, BIE received permanent funding from the Leonard and Beryl Buck Trust, and

receives funding for specific projects from foundations, schools, school districts, state educational agencies,

and the federal government. BIE¡¯s current programs are organized around three objectives:

1. Engaging Learners: BIE offers problem based curriculum units for high school economics, government,

and world history. The BIE Project Based Learning Handbook is used by teachers throughout the United

States to plan, implement, and assess standards-focused projects that motivate students and enhance

their learning.

2. Supporting Teachers: Professional development workshops in Problem Based High School Social

Science and Project Based Learning (PBL) are given several times each year at the BIE offices in

Novato, California. BIE also provides customized workshops on-site at schools and districts by request.

3. Showing Results: BIE extensively evaluates its curricular materials and training strategies to assess their

impact on students and teachers, and to determine the conditions that facilitate and impede their

effectiveness.

For further information, visit .

John Mergendoller, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Copyright ? 2004 by the Buck Institute for Education, 18 Commercial Blvd., Novato, CA 94949

All rights reserved. For permission to reproduce any part of this publication, please contact BIE,

(415) 883-0122.

Graphic design: Pam Scrutton, San Francisco, CA

LegiQuest

LegiQuest

Table of Contents

PROBLEM STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

PLACEMENT IN CURRICULUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CONCEPTS TAUGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

OBJECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

CONTENT STANDARDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

TIME REQUIRED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

UNIT OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

RESOURCES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

LESSON MATERIALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

THE SEQUENCE OF THE UNIT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

PROCEDURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Entry point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Framing of the problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Knowledge inventory (know/need to know). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Teachable moments and dialogues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The problem log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Research and resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Exit from the problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Wrap-up and debriefing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

DO¡¯S AND DON¡¯TS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

APPENDIX I: STUDENT HANDOUTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

APPENDIX II: LESSON MATERIALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

APPENDIX III: TEACHER KEYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

APPENDIX IV: CSA BOARD QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

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? 2004 Buck Institute for Education

LegiQuest

LegiQuest

m

Problement

State

How can we, as lobbyists, help our interest group

understand the legislative process and get legislation

passed that promotes our goals?

? Introduction

Using the problem based learning approach, students will explore (a) how groups of citizens, using

organized interest groups, pursue their political goals, and (b) how this process leads to the formulation of

state and federal legislation designed to accommodate these groups. Central to the unit is the study of the

legislative process ¡ª how a bill becomes law.

? Purpose and Rationale

This unit is designed to teach students about the legislative process at the state and federal levels. In a

representative system of government, we expect Congress to create laws that serve the common good ¡ª

that is, laws which respond to public concerns and solve national problems. However, people have different

visions of the common good and conflicting solutions to national problems. As a result, part of the

legislative process includes active citizens who gather collectively around specific concerns and lobby

Congress for the passage of laws that implement their vision and favored solutions. Being a citizen in a

democracy means more than voting. It also means participating in this legislative process as a concerned

and active citizen. It is essential that interest groups advocate for what they envision as the common good.

Through this process Congress determines what will serve the public ¡ª and what public will be served. This

level of participation among various interest groups is essential to a healthy democracy. Without it,

decisions would lack public input. However, it often means that competing groups lobby for laws that set

one group of citizens against another. It is important for students to recognize that this tension over

competing solutions is resolved through research, debate, and compromise. Students may resist the

process because there are no easy compromises and the system is contentious and messy. Students may

also feel that some groups, especially the young, are naturally outside the process. In the pilot testing of

this unit, we found that many high school students thought it was unrealistic for students to form a lobbying

group and pursue legislative reform on issues that directly affected them. LegiQuest enables students to

learn that critical decisions directly affecting their lives are often made without their input. They also learn

that political tools are available to them, and that they have a legitimate right to use these tools to bring

about public policy changes. We expect students, once they have completed this unit, to be less intimidated

by the system and more willing to participate in it.

? Placement in Curriculum

This unit is designed to teach students about how a bill becomes law and how interest groups participate in

and impact this process. LegiQuest teaches students about the roles of Congress, the President, and the

courts in the legislative process. It can be used at the beginning of the course to introduce the functions

and branches of government. It is helpful to begin the unit with a basic review of the three branches of

? 2004 Buck Institute for Education

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