WEBQUEST

Should a person not born in America be allowed to run for President?

Program: TIPS, Con Law

Instructor: Donald T. Byrd

C.I.S. 22

270 East 167^th Street.

Bronx, New York 10056

Subject: Social Studies

Grade: 7th.

I. Introduction: Should a person who is not legally born in this country be allowed to run for the President of the United States? As informed and responsible citizens of the United States each of you will take part in the Democratic Process of electing representatives to government on local and national level and voting for amending or changing laws. After answering The Aim you are going to take part in nominating the next presidential candidate for the year 2010. Below are two familiar candidates.

Cast your vote for the following candidates:

Peace Party:

Mr. Polanco (math)

Born: Dominican Republic

Education: P.S. 166, Taft H.S., N.Y.City College B.A. Political Science and Masters in Math.

Age: 34

Platform: Educational Reform

Green Party:

Mr. Elhathat (English)

Born: Casablanca, West Africa

Education: Elementary and High Schooling in West Africa, N.Y.U. B.A. in Economics and Masters in Political Science.

Age: 36

Platform: Community Development

II. Task:

Students will be grouped in 6 and assigned the following tasks to present and defend their position.

A. Presenter; Present the consensus of the group and their findings

B. Recorder; Record information and responses.

C. Illustrator; Design a poster or banner representive of the group.

D. Researcher 1; Research printed material.

E. Researcher 2; Research on the internet.

F. Timekeeper; Keep time and assist Illustrator.

III. Process: Students will 1) discuss the Aim amongst the group and present their opinion to the class citing resources and giving examples. 2) Cast your vote. 3) Research the Constitution a. It’s origin, b. Locate and discuss the requirements and responsibilities of the President of the United States, c. Describe the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship. 4) Discuss the steps in changing or amending a law. 5) Participate in a group presentation citing information used from resources. 6) Write a letter (e-mail) a public official in support or change of the requirements.

IV. Resources:

http://gov.findlaw.com/law/elecmail.html http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/scales/instruct1.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/Constitution/Constitution.html

The American Journey, published by Glencoe, McGraw-Hill

Exploring American History, published by Globe Book Company

Encarta Encyclopedia

V. Evaluation:

Students grade will be based on their presentation utilizing the following skills; Critical Thinking (20%), Problem Solving (20%), Speaking and Writing (20%), Task assignment (15%), and Analyzation of information using a variety of source materials (25%).

VI. Conclusion: The students will be able to 1) Identify the requirements and the responsibilities of the President of the United States. 2) Explain what is the Constitution, It’s origin, and why it’s relevant today. 3) Describe how laws are made and changed. 4) Demonstrate their ability in using the Internet to research and analyze information to give a presentation. 5) Demonstrate their ability in working cooperatively in a heterogeneous group.

New York State Standard:

Social Studies – Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the U.S. and other nations; the U.S. Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.