Download Alisa Hart

Name: Alisa Hart & Rob Giles
Subject: Government
Grade: 12th
Topic: Electoral College
Essential Question:
How effective is the electoral college? How has it changed and will it ever
change?
General Objectives:
SOL: GOVT.4 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the Constitution of the
United States by
d) illustrating the structure of the national government outlined in Article I, II,
and III
GOVT.6 The student will demonstrate knowledge of local, state, and national
elections by
b) describing the nomination and election process
GOVT.7 The student will demonstrate knowledge of the organization and powers
of the national government by
a) examining the legislative, executive, and judicial branches
NCSS Standard:
V Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
b) analyze group and institutional influences on people, events, and elements of
culture in both historical and contemporary settings
c) describe the various forms institutions take, and explain how they develop and
change over time
d) identify and analyze examples of tensions between expressions of individuality
and efforts used to promote social conformity by groups and institutions
f) evaluate the role of institutions in furthering both continuity and change
Learning Outcomes:
The student will understand:
1) What the purpose of the electoral college is.
2) How the electoral college has changed over time to meet the needs
of citizens
3) How the popular vote translates into electoral votes.
4) Flaws and proposed reforms of the electoral college.
5) States have a number of electoral votes based on size and
population.
The student will know:
1) What the electoral college is.
2) A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win the election.
3) What happens when a candidate does not receive the majority of votes.
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District Plan
Proportional Plan
Direct Popular Election
National Bonus Plan
3 major flaws of the electoral college
“Faithless” voters
The student will be able to:
1) Describe the process of the electoral college
2) Analyze the amount of states electoral college votes
3) Campaign in states in order to receive votes and win the election
This lesson will focus on the value of tolerance as students work in groups.
Assessment:
1) Throughout the powerpoint presentation I will be checking and asking
students questions. This is to assure that students are paying attention
and understanding the information. I will stop and explain things further if
need be.
2) Exit Cards: At the end of class we will pass out index cards and ask
students to write down 3 things they learned, 2 things they found
interesting, and 1 question they still have.
3) Test: The information in this lesson will be on the chapter test.
Content Outline:
 Framers did not want the people to elect the pres. directly as it
could cause tumult. Didn’t want Congress to elect pres. because
that would give them too much power. Electoral college was
compromise; each state gets 2 votes.
 Originally candidate w/most votes won election; 2nd most votes
won vice pres. Worked well w/Washington and then broke down in
1800.
 1804 12th Amendment that sets up electoral college.
 Candidate needs 270 out of 538 votes to win presidency.
 Electors are supposed to vote the way their state does; doesn’t
always happen (Ohio in 2000).
 If no majority is won, election can go to House of Representatives.
 Electoral College vote doesn’t happen until Jan. 6th, but we usually
know by midnight on election night.
 3 major flaws: 1. winner of popular vote is not guaranteed the
presidency; 2. electors are not required to vote in accord with the
popular vote; and 3. any election might have to be decided in HOR
 “faithless” voters are those that do not vote according to their
state’s popular vote, but by what they, as an individual, want
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Reforms: district plan- proposal for choosing presidential electors
by which 2 electors would be selected in each state according to
statewide popular vote and the other electors would be selected
separately in each of the state’s congressional districts;
proportional plan- proposal by which each presidential candidate
would receive the same share of a state’s electoral vote as he or
she received in the state’s popular vote; direct popular voteproposal to do away with the electoral college and allow the people
to vote directly for pres. and vice; national bonus plan- proposal for
electing a pres. by which the winner of the popular vote would
receive a bonus of 102 electoral votes in addition to his or her
state-based electoral college votes. If no one received as least 321
electoral votes, a run-off election would be held.
Electoral college supporters: it is a known system; in most cases it
identifies the winner quickly and certainly
Chapter 13 Sec 3 and 5 in the book; Powerpoint
McClenaghan, W. (2003). Magruder’s American government. Prentice Hall:
Needham, Massachusetts.
Teacher and Student Activities (90 Minute Class):
1) Hook: The teacher will ask the students when they come into the
classroom if anyone knows how we elect the president. Many people
might say by voting, but it is actually through the electoral college. The
teacher will then ask if anyone knows anything about the electoral college.
(10 mins)
2) Powerpoint: After the hook the teacher will begin the powerpoint
presentation on the electoral college. Students will have handouts of the
slides, but will be encouraged to take additional notes as the slides do not
contain all of the information. (20 mins)
3) Fewest States to Win (25 Minutes)
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Students will look at a map of the United States with the number of
Electoral Votes numbered in each state. The goal of this exercise is to
show students that a candidate does not need to win the majority of the
popular vote or even the majority of the states to carry the election. The
students will work individually to figure out which states a candidate
needed to carry to win the election in as few states as possible. The
students will find the correct answer is 11 with the states being:
California 55
Texas 34
Georgia 15
Florida 27
Illinois 21
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Ohio 20
Michigan 17
Pennsylvania 20
New York 31
New Jersey 15
North Carolina 15
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Next the students will take Texas, and Georgia out of the equation and
find out the lowest number of states a candidate needed to take to still
get to 270 total votes. 14 Total
Washington 11
Indiana 11
Massachusetts 12
Wisconsin 10
Minnesota 10
California 55
Florida 27
Illinois 21
Ohio 20
Michigan 17
Pennsylvania 20
New York 31
New Jersey 15
North Carolina 15
4) Campaigning (30 Minutes)
The students in the class will be divided into two even number teams. The
students are giving blank maps of the United States with the number of
electoral votes in each state clearly labeled. The students are going to
campaign in an attempt to get the 270 votes needed to win the
presidential election. Each team will pick a state to start campaigning in,
and then can move to another state to collect those electoral votes. When
a team moves to a state it will collect that states entire electoral vote
total, so the key is to see how students divide up their campaigning to
receive the highest total of electoral votes. The rules are simple the teams
can only move to the next state if it is touching a state that they have
already campaigned in and won. For example, if team A starts in California
it gets those votes but then can only move to Oregon, Nevada, or Arizona
because those states border California. Then for example if the team
chose Arizona it could then only move to Nevada, Utah, Colorado, or New
Mexico. When the activity nears the end there will be some states that
have not been selected, and whichever team has the most states
surrounding that particular state will get that state. The two noncontinental states Alaska and Hawaii can only be campaigned in if a team
is on a coastal state like Washington or Florida. Once a team goes to
either of those two states (Alaska or Hawaii) they can then travel back to
the continental U.S. into any non campaigned coastal state. The team that
gets to 270 votes wins the contest.
5) Exit Pass: After the group work the students will receive an index card
and will be asked to write down three things they learned, two things they
found interesting, and one question they still have. (5 minutes)
Materials:
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Projector and laptop
Powerpoint handouts
Map for group work
Index cards
Differentiation:
This lesson will honor the attention span of students by stopping at
regular intervals and provided students with a variety of group and independent
work. The students will work in groups to find the best strategy on how to
campaign to win a presidency, and will also see how the Electoral College works
and how only a select number of states need to be won in order to win the
Presidency. The students will move from whole group instruction, to individual
work, to group work, and will then end with some more individual work. The
students learn the material in a variety of ways, and it is not simply auditory
learners that will benefit but visual learners as well.
Extension:
This lesson serves as introduction into the Electoral College and shows
students how it operates in today’s society. It allows students to see how
Presidents are elected, but also allows them to make their own judgments on
whether or not this is the best system in which to elect a President. It provides
students with an opportunity to understand how the leader of this country is
elected, and allows them to understand how a candidate can lose the popular
vote but still be elected President. It will provide students with the background
knowledge needed to understand the electoral system, and allows them to dig
deeper into the subject because it provides such a solid base for understanding
how the Electoral College operates.
Rationale/Reflection:
Rob and I wrote this lesson together for our 12th grade practicum class. I
was in charge of the powerpoint and Rob was in charge of the group work.
When we began the lesson the students were quiet and as the powerpoint
presentation went on I tried to engage the students more by asking questions.
They slowly warmed up and by the end of the presentation they were much
easier to get to answer questions. One student even got the question “What can
the district plan lead to and why?” correct (gerrymandering because votes are
based on districts). We were very proud of this student because he is one that
often does not answer questions. The group activities went over very well as
students began to get more involved (some even made it a competition to see
who could find the states the fastest). The last group activity we mixed boys and
girls into two groups (we only had eight students total). Normally this is a pain
for the students because they never do group work, if they do it is boys v. girls,
and not mixed. However, they really got into the campaigning and wanted to
play again once one group got to 270 votes. We had just enough time left for
the exit pass and the students wrote what they learned, such as 270 votes, the
electoral college votes are counted until Jan. 6th, and some of the reforms.
Overall the lesson was very interactive for students and the highlight was one
student, who usually sleeps and does not participate, who yelled “I feel smart!”
after completing the first activity.