Created by Mary E. H. Mingle - Mingles@sunlink.net
Exploring the Federal Government System on the Internet
Investigating Cause and Effect Relationships in Reading Passages
- A Unit Plan -
Learning Level: GED Preparation
Pre-Instruction: An Introduction to the Social Studies Component of GED preparation
An Introduction to Basic Computer Use, the Internet and Search Engines
Unit Duration: Five one and one-half hour lessons
Materials Needed:
and an overhead projection system and screen
(New Revised Cambridge GED Proram: Social Studies and Exercise Book for Social Studies
by Karen Wunderman, M.A., M.Ed., 1992, Prentice Hall, Inc. was used as a reference.
Refer to "Lesson 4 – The Federal System: National, State and Local Government")
Optional: Handout listing federal powers of government and a checklist of federal services and agencies by name (students could create their own list of federal agencies and responsibilities from information obtained from the Internet.)
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the unit, the students will be able to:
Lesson Outlines
Lesson 1: Students will read about the Federal System of Government and discuss national, state and local government.
Using an Internet search engine, locate the local, state and federal home pages available (see Appendix A).
On paper or a prepared worksheet, list six departments, agencies or information resources that can be accessed from each site. Choose one of these and describe the services or information discovered at these links.
Lesson 2: Students will read about and review the differences between the federal, residual and concurrent powers using a list provided in a textbook or by the instructor; students will reinforce their learning by completing the following Internet activity
Using the Internet, students will locate the Web sites of five federal and five state departments and agencies that regulate these powers; they will identify the powers regulated by the agencies and write three sentences describing three facts the students discovered from these sites.
Lesson 3: Students will complete the Internet activities described above and review the information with the instructor; in a class situation, students can present their information to the class or compare information with a partner before turning in their work (cooperative learning).
Lesson 4: Students will read about and discuss cause and effect relationships in the real world and how to identify these relationships in a sample writing passage (from the text or provided by the instructor).
Using the Internet and Web site search engines, students will locate a newspaper, newswire or television news Web site (see Appendix B). The students will identify a news story that shows cause and effect (for example, heavy rains cause massive flooding and destruction of homes). Students will list the Web site accessed; the name of the news article; and describe the events and the cause and effect relationship in a two paragraph essay.
Lesson 5: Students will review cause and effect relationships in writing passages.
The students will choose one of three Web sites that provide information on a historical event (see Appendix C – suggested topics include: the Women’s Right to Vote Movement; The Great Irish Potato Famine; and Watergate. The instructor may opt to provide another topic and have students search for a Web site that provides the appropriate information, but must allow more time). After reviewing the information provided at the site, the students will write a three paragraph summary of the historical events and identify the cause and effect relationship involved (i.e., President Nixon’s resignation was the effect; what was the cause?).
Evaluation:
The evaluation is based upon a review of the worksheets, checklists and essays completed by the students. The instructor will also use observation of the students’ Internet skills and the ease with which they use the Search engines and navigate the Web sites to determine if further practice with the Intent is needed.
Appendix A: State and Federal Government Web sites
Pennsylvania home page http://www.state.pa.us/
Includes links to local government Web sites, state agencies and the federal government, as well as
travel and tourism information, driver and vehicle services and technology initiatives in the state
United States Federal Government home pages
Services and agencies can be accessed through the PA home page or at http://www.state.pa.us/govfederal.html
or through the White House at http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/Welcome.html
with links to federal agencies and an "Interactive Citizens’ Handbook."
GOVBOT: A Database of Government Web sites gives you access to 535,391 Web pages from United States
government and military sites around the country. Find this site at http://ciir.cs.umass.edu/ciirdemo/Govbot/
Appendix B – Newspaper, Newswire, Television and Internet News Web sites
USA Today http://www.usatoday.com
The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com
The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com
The Associated Press http://wire.ap.org
Newswire Service
CNN Interactive http://www.cnn.com
Yahoo News http://www.yahoo.com/headlines/
News Resource http://newo.com/news/
(links with news resources world-wide)
Appendix C- Historical Web sites
Suffrage and the Women’s Right to Vote Movement
The American Experience with David McCullough
One Woman, One Vote: A Short History and Guide (PBS)
Access "The History of the Suffrage Movement" by Marjorie Spruill Wheeler
"A Brief Timeline of the Woman Suffrage Movement"
The Great Irish Potato Famine
The Potato Famine in History by Conrad Jay Bladey
Interpreting the Irish Famine, 1846-1850 (with photographs and illustrations)
Watergate
Watergate (with copies of Nixon’s speeches and a timeline of events)