PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, PART 2 (1.1.2.n)Objective:

SWBAT explain how presidents are elected in the United States via the Electoral College.

Materials:

Opening worksheet, teacher and student copy of graphic organizer, markers or colored pencils (2 per student), Electoral College map and data, data analysis worksheet, article with questions

Opening:

Have students complete the activity involving a meeting at Dr. Alonso’s office. Emphasize that the total number of students at the meeting must add up to 20. This process is similar to the Electoral College. Instead of people voting on the president directly, citizens vote to send persons to a meeting where the official decision is made. The number of representatives that each state sends to the meeting is based on population.

INM:

Lecture while students take notes using the graphic organizer. Try to emphasize the point that voters are not truly voting for the presidential candidates themselves, but rather for which group of electors will be allowed to represent the state in the Electoral College. The assessment questions on this subject focus on the timeline of events in the presidential election cycle, so it is important that students know the term “general election” and when it occurs in relation to the meeting of the Electoral College.

GP:

Distribute two colored pencils or markers to each student and an Electoral College map. Have a brief discussion as a class to reinforce certain concepts: What states have the most Electoral College votes? How many states only have three Electoral College votes? Then, provide students with a list of all states and how they tend to vote in presidential elections. Instruct students to draw a large dot in one color for all Republican states and another color for Democratic states. Be sure to tell students not to color the entire state as this will take too long. Then, as a class, flip a coin to determine the vote in the swing states and fill out the corresponding worksheet. After this is complete, instruct students to answer the questions at the bottom of the page.

IP:

Instruct students to complete the reading regarding the last meeting of the Electoral College. This reinforces several of the major concepts and provides fodder for a discussion that can last the duration of the class period.

Closing:

Ask students for any final questions and instruct them to turn in their work from the day. Praise them for their hard work and remind them to clean up their workstation before dismissal.

Baltimore City Public Schools – American Government (Unit 1) 1

Dr. Alonso’s Big Meeting

Directions: Dr. Alonso would like representatives from 6 different schools to give him advice on a few things. He only has room for 20 people in his office (plus himself), how many representatives from each school should be allowed to go?

School Student Population Representatives

Frederick Douglass 1,136City College 1,353Talent Development 373Baltimore Freedom Academy 268Reginald F. Lewis 642YOUR SCHOOL NAME HERE POPULATIONHow did you assign the representatives? Why did you assign them this way?

Baltimore City Public Schools – American Government (Unit 1) 2

Electoral College Notes

What is the Electoral College? The Electoral College is a group of people who

elect the President Created because the writers of the Constitution

did not trust the American people to choose the President directly

How does the Electoral College Work? Each state votes on the first Tuesday in November

to determine which set of “electors” will go to the Electoral College. This day is called the “general election.”

The number of electors each state sends to the Electoral College is based on population

The Electoral College meets in January to officially choose the president

Winner-take-all: The candidate who receives the majority of the votes in each state wins all of that state’s Electoral College votes.

Presidential candidates need at least 270 Electoral College votes to win the election

What are “swing states”? States that do not consistently support one particular political party

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Electoral College Notes

What is the Electoral College?

How does the Electoral College Work?

What are “swing states”?

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U.S. ELECTORAL MAP DATA

Directions: Use your two colors to put a dot on each state according to which political party the state traditionally votes for. DO NOT color the entire state and leave all swing states blank. each state according to what political party the state traditionally votes for.

State Name Number of Electoral Votes Political Party Alabama 9 RepublicanAlaska 3 Republican Arizona 10 Republican Arkansas 6 RepublicanCalifornia 55 DemocratColorado 9 SWINGConnecticut 7 DemocratDelaware 3 DemocratD.C. 3 DemocratFlorida 27 SWINGGeorgia 15 RepublicanHawaii 4 Democrat Idaho 4 Republican Illinois 21 DemocratIndiana 11 DemocratIowa 7 SWINGKansas 6 RepublicanKentucky 8 Republican Louisiana 9 RepublicanMaine 4 DemocratMaryland 10 DemocratMassachusetts 12 DemocratMichigan 17 SWINGMinnesota 10 SWINGMississippi 6 RepublicanMissouri 11 SWINGMontana 3 Republican Nebraska 5 RepublicanNevada 5 DemocratNew Hampshire 4 SWINGNew Jersey 15 DemocratNew Mexico 5 SWINGNew York 31 DemocratNorth Carolina 15 Republican North Dakota 3 RepublicanOhio 20 SWINGOklahoma 7 RepublicanOregon 7 DemocratPennsylvania 21 SWINGRhode Island 4 DemocratSouth Carolina 8 RepublicanSouth Dakota 3 RepublicanTennessee 11 Republican Texas 34 RepublicanUtah 5 Republican Vermont 3 DemocratVirginia 13 SWINGWashington 11 DemocratWest Virginia 5 RepublicanWisconsin 10 Democrat

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Wyoming 3 Republican

Data Analysis Questions

Fill in the following chart as we flip the coin as a class. Remember…

Heads = Republicans Tails = Democrats

State Name Number of Electoral Votes Political Party

Virginia 13Florida 27Iowa 7Michigan 17Minnesota 10Missouri 11New Hampshire 4New Mexico 5Ohio 20Pennsylvania 21Colorado 9

Who Won the Election?Political

PartyNumber of Electoral Votes

Won in Swing States Number of Electoral Votes

Republicans 178 + _______ =

Democrats 216 + _______ =

Which political party won our Presidential election?

How did swing states influence the election results?

Baltimore City Public Schools – American Government (Unit 1) 8

Obama beats McCain (officially) Electoral College votes, clearing the way for Barack Obama to take the oath of office on Jan. 20 By Mike MaddenSalon.com

As far as drama went, Thursday's counting of the Electoral College votes didn't deliver much. A handful of lawmakers took turns reading out states in alphabetical order, and listing who won how many votes in each -- Barack Obama or John McCain for president, and Joe Biden and Sarah Palin for vice president. (In case you hadn't heard the news, Obama won.)

And even though there wasn’t must excitement, the vote counting was extremely important: the certification by the Congress is the last step before Obama can take the oath of office in 12 days and become the 44th president. The House of Representatives chamber was packed, though there were some notable absences (like McCain, and Obama's former rival, Hillary Clinton). Lawmakers cheered loudly for nearly every state that Obama won, with some half-hearted attempts to start applause for McCain states, too; Democrats have a pretty wide majority in the new Congress, and many more of their members showed up for the event than Republicans did.

And, of course, there was that familiar-looking guy in charge of the whole thing.

“Barack Obama of the state of Illinois has received, for president of the United States, 365 votes,” said Dick Cheney, in one of his last official acts as vice president. Cheney stuck to the script, closing the session down as soon as Obama was declared the winner, and he appeared to sneak out of the room using the back entrance without greeting any lawmakers.

What is going on in this article? Explain in at least three sentences.

Why does the article say that this event was not surprising?

Why do you think Dick Cheney slipped out the back door after the votes were counted?

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