USE YOUR VOICE…VOTE

USE YOUR VOICE…VOTE

Introduction

“Bad officials are elected by good people who do not vote.”

What do Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Iraq have in common? Each of these countries recently had their first democratic elections, a tradition practiced in the United States since the late 1700’s. Voting is an essential feature of democracy. However, large numbers of people in the United States do not vote and citizens under the age of 25 are the least likely to vote. George Bush has created a Young Adult Voting Commission. The Young Adult Voting Commission has three goals:

-Identify reasons why citizens under the age of 25 do not vote

-Identify voting patterns to discover who is and is not voting and why

-Create solutions for increasing voter participation for citizens 25 and under

You have been selected to be a member of the Young Adult Voting Commission. Your findings will be used to create a Young Adult Voting Initiative that aims to increase voter participation for citizens under the age of 25.

TASK

As a member of the Young Adult Voting Commission, your task is to create an oral presentation and poster campaign that will address the three goals of the Young Adult Voting Commission. You will identify reasons why citizens under the age of 25 don’t vote, current voting patterns to discover who is and is not voting and create solutions to increase voter participation for citizens under the age of 25. You will follow the steps of the Public Policy Analyst to guide your research and oral presentation.

Your class will be divided into Young Adult Voting Commission groups consisting of five members. Each commission group will include two researchers, 1 statistic analyst, 1 organizer and 1 poster printer.

PROCESS

1. The class will be divided into groups of 5

2. Each group member will be assigned one of the following jobs:

-2 RESEARCHERS= research information using the internet and books about your topic

-STATISTICS ANALYST-research statistics and create graphs and charts that represent the statistics. Select a group of twenty students you will interview to discover whether they plan to vote and their reasons why or why not. Express your findings using tables and/or graphs

RECORDER/ORGANIZER-record group findings and work closely with the researchers and statistic analyst to organize the data

-POSTER PRINTER-work closely with the organizer to display your commission’s findings on a poster which includes important written information, illustrations, charts, graphs

3. All commission members will use the internet and books to complete the first 3 steps of the Public Policy Analyst:

-Define the problem

-Gather evidence

-Identify the causes

4. Commission members will meet to discuss their findings

5. The recorder/organizer will record and organize findings using the PPA worksheets #1-3

-Define the problem

- Gather evidence

- Identify the causes

6. The poster printer will create posters that display reasons why citizens under the age of 25 do not vote. The poster printer will also create posters that display voting patterns in order to demonstrate who is and is not voting and why

7. Commission members will complete steps 4-6 of the Public Policy Analyst:

-Evaluate current policy

-Develop a solution

-Select best solution

8. Commission members will meet to discuss their findings

9. The recorder/organizer will record and organize findings using PPA worksheets #4-6

-Evaluate current policy

-Develop a solution

-Select best solution

10. The poster printer will create posters that address recent initiatives for improving the problem. The poster printer will also create a poster that includes three action plans that the commission will implement to increase voter participation for citizens 25 and under and the commission’s best solution

11. You will present your findings to the class as a group using the PPA format. During your oral presentation, you will also present and explain your posters to the class.

RESOURCES

Use the following resources to assist you with your task:

Why don’t people vote?

Voting data

Voting patterns

Rock the Vote

Initiatives to Increase Voting

EVALUATION

I. ORAL PRESENTATION EVALUATION

Oral Presentation Rubric : VOTING

Teacher Name: Ms. ARCHER

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4 EXCELLENT	3 VERY GOOD	2 SATISFACTORY	1 UNSATISFACTORY
CONTENT	Shows a full understanding of the topic.	Shows a good understanding of the topic.	Shows a good understanding of parts of the topic.	Does not seem to understand the topic very well.
GROUP PARTICIPATION	Almost always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group. Tries to keep people working well together.	Usually listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group. Does not cause "waves" in the group.	Often listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group but sometimes is not a good team member.	Rarely listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others in the group. Often is not a good team member.
PREPAREDNESS	Student is completely prepared and has obviously rehearsed.	Student seems pretty prepared but might have needed a couple more rehearsals.	The student is somewhat prepared, but it is clear that rehearsal was lacking.	Student does not seem at all prepared to present.
COMPLETE SENTENCES	Always (99-100% of time) speaks in complete sentences.	Mostly (80-98%) speaks in complete sentences.	Sometimes (70-80%) speaks in complete sentences.	Rarely speaks in complete sentences.
Vocabulary	Uses vocabulary appropriate for the audience. Extends audience vocabulary by defining words that might be new to most of the audience.	Uses vocabulary appropriate for the audience. Includes 1-2 words that might be new to most of the audience, but does not define them.	Uses vocabulary appropriate for the audience. Does not include any vocabulary that might be new to the audience.	Uses several (5 or more) words or phrases that are not understood by the audience.

A=18-20 pts.

B=15-17 pts.

C=12-14 pts.

D=11 pts.

F=below 10 pts.

II. Poster Evaluation

Making A Poster : VOTE

Teacher Name: Ms. Archer

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY	4 EXCELLENT	3 VERY GOOD	2 SATISFACTORY	1 UNSATISFACTORY
Content - Accuracy	At least 7 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.	5-6 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.	3-4 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.	Less than 3 accurate facts are displayed on the poster.
Graphics - Relevance	All graphics are related to the topic and make it easier to understand. All borrowed graphics have a source citation.	All graphics are related to the topic and most make it easier to understand. All borrowed graphics have a source citation.	All graphics relate to the topic. Most borrowed graphics have a source citation.	Graphics do not relate to the topic OR several borrowed graphics do not have a source citation.
Graphics -Clarity	Graphics are all in focus and the content easily viewed and identified from 6 ft. away.	Most graphics are in focus and the content easily viewed and identified from 6 ft. away.	Most graphics are in focus and the content is easily viewed and identified from 4 ft. away.	Many graphics are not clear or are too small.
Labels	All items of importance on the poster are clearly labeled with labels that can be read from at least 3 ft. away.	Almost all items of importance on the poster are clearly labeled with labels that can be read from at least 3 ft. away.	Several items of importance on the poster are clearly labeled with labels that can be read from at least 3 ft. away.	Labels are too small to view OR no important items were labeled.
Knowledge Gained	Student can accurately answer all questions related to facts in the poster and processes used to create the poster.	Student can accurately answer most questions related to facts in the poster and processes used to create the poster.	Student can accurately answer about 75% of questions related to facts in the poster and processes used to create the poster.	Student appears to have insufficient knowledge about the facts or processes used in the poster.

A=18-20 pts.

B= 15-17 pts.

C=12-14 pts.

D=11 pts.

F=below 10 pts.

STANDARDS

Students would have performed the following standards:

Civics, Citizenship and Government Standard 5:2

• analyze the disparities between civic values expressed in the United States Constitution and the United Nation Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the realities as evidenced in the political, social, and economic life in the United States and throughout the world

Civics, Citizenship and Government Standard 5:3

• understand how citizenship includes the exercise of certain personal responsibilities, including voting, considering the rights and interests of others, behaving in a civil manner, and accepting responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions (Adapted from The National Standards for Civics and Government, 1994)

• analyze issues at the local, state, and national levels and prescribe responses that promote the public interest or general welfare, such as planning and carrying out a voter registration campaign

Civics, Citizenship and Government Standard 5:4

participate in school/classroom/ community activities that focus on an issue or problem

• prepare a plan of action that defines an issue or problem, suggests alternative solutions or courses of action, evaluates the consequences for each alternative solution or course of action, prioritizes the solutions based on established criteria, and proposes an action plan to address the issue or to resolve the problem

ConCLUSION

After completing this project, you and your classmates would have studied a current social problem in the United States and created a solution to address this problem. Through this project you were able to exercise your critical thinking and analytical skills, by exploring the problem, the causes of the problem and creating solutions to address the problem. This project also allowed you to enhance your ability to cooperatively work in groups and present information both orally and through a poster. The information you gathered and presented can be used to impact current policies that would increase voter turn out for citizens under the age of 25.