Trust for Representative Democracy

America's Legislators Back to School Program

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Middle School Lesson Plan II - Do You Trust Our Government?

Introduction:

After creating an illustration of all the individuals who represent students at various levels of government, students take a survey on their attitudes about representative democracy and the level of trust they place in government. Students then ask their parents to complete the survey. To close the lesson, students make inferences about the level of trust each group has in our system of representative government.

Objectives:

At the conclusion of this activity, students will be able to:

• determine own representatives at various levels of government;
• complete a survey to assess the levels of trust in government held by their class and their parents.

Materials:

• Handout #1: Who Represents Me?
• Handout #2: Student Survey: Do You Trust Our Government?
• Transparency #1: Do You Trust Our Government? Student Results
• Transparency #2: Do You Trust Our Government? Parent Results
• poster paper, markers

Teaching Time:

2 class periods with homework

Note: It is suggested that results from the class survey be sent to the legislator before his/her visit to class.

Procedure:

1. Allow time for students to find out who represents them in various levels of government. Students can access this information at : http://www.vote-smart.org or call their county clerk, the League of Women Voters, or political party headquarters. Distribute Handout #1, Who Represents Me? Tell students to use the correct names and titles and create an illustration which shows how they are represented at various levels of government.
2. Duplicate enough copies of the survey (Handout #2) for each student and his/her parents. Allow a few minutes for students to complete this survey by circling the number that most closely matches how they feel about each pair of statements.
3. Next, tally students' responses for each item on Transparency #1. When finished, divide class into groups of 4-5 students. Tell groups to develop three or four generalizations about their level of trust in our system of government. Can students identify any specific events, issues, recent laws, or news stories that might account for their survey results? Does the level of trust vary with different levels of government? Explain that in the next several days, the state legislator identified on Handout #1 will visit the class. Given our survey results, what advice might you have for our guest legislator? What questions would do you have for the guest legislator?
4. Encourage students to give the survey to their parents. Using Transparency # 2, tally parent responses in the same way students' responses were tallied. If parent responses show significant differences in attitudes toward our government, ask students to hypothesize reasons for the differences. Teachers might also ask if student responses are similar to those of their parents. What might account for such similarities?
5. Collect all student surveys. In Lesson 8, Debriefing the Legislator Visit, students will take the survey again and compare responses. Send copies of the surveys to Jan Goehring, National Conference of State Legislatures's Denver Office.

This project is supported by a Robert H. Michel Civic Education Grant sponsored by The Dirksen Congressional Center, Pekin, IL.

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