Brenda Santos Bronx Leadership Academy High School
A Web Quest for Participation in Government Students
(Grade 12)
Rock
the Vote
How do we convince young Americans to vote?
Introduction:
Congratulations! You have
just been hired by the U.S. Board of Elections to work on a very important
project. Recent studies show that young
people—between the ages of 18-24—are the least likely to vote out of all
eligible age groups. Your expertise
(and insider knowledge into the minds of the young politically deprived) makes
you perfect for the job of examining this problem and developing new effective
policy to encourage young people to get out and vote. The future of our democracy depends upon it!
Task:
As a group, create a Power Point
presentation that addresses the problem of low voter
participation among citizens aged 18-24. Using the Public Policy Analyst
approach, create a slide show of 7 slides, one for each of the 6 steps
of the PPA process
and one for credits (where you cite your sources and acknowledge participants
in your project). This type of analysis
includes the following steps, which will guide your work and your Power Point
presentation:
1.
Define and describe the
problem of low voter turnout among young voters (social conditions, players,
and public policies).
2.
Gather evidence to
prove that the low voter turnout of young people is a problem.
3.
Identity the causes for
this problem.
4.
Describe and evaluate
the current public policies in place regarding this problem.
5.
Develop alternative
policies that would address this problem.
6.
Select the best
policy/solution for this problem.
Process:
Your group will work together
to complete the following steps. Each
group is responsible for handing in a disk containing your Power Point
presentation and a hard copy of the following:
·
Responses to research
questions
·
Public Policy Analysis
worksheets 1-9
·
“Rough draft” of your 7
Power Point slides (on paper)
In addition, your group will
share the Power Point presentation with the class and provide oral explanation
to accompany the slide show.
The Steps
1. Research the sources listed below in order to respond
to all of the following questions. You
may also refer to your textbook and other sources.
2. Complete worksheets 1-9 on the TIPS PPA website.
3. Plan the text and graphics of your 7 slides, and
create a first draft of each on paper.
4. Create a 7 slide Power Point presentation that focuses
on your findings after using the six step Public Policy Analyst approach.
5. Plan the oral component of your presentation and be
ready to present on the scheduled day.
Research
Questions
1. How does voting allow citizens to participate
in government?
2. What age group votes in the highest percentage?
3.
What racial group?
4.
What gender?
5.
What are the reasons
citizens vote?
To answer this question, pole at least 10 people who
vote, and record the three most popular answers.
6. What reasons might eligible voters have for not
voting?
7. What public agencies and non-profit organizations deal
with voter participation?
8. What methods do they use to encourage voter
participation?
Resources:
In addition to your text and
other books, the following websites will be useful in completing your task.
U.S. Census
Bureau Voting and Registration Data
New York City Campaign Finance Board
Center for Voting and Democracy
National
Voting Rights Institute
League of Women Voters of the City of New York
TIPS Student
Information Resources
Evaluation with
Rubric:
Your group will be graded
based upon the following rubric.
|
|
Needs Improvement Excellent |
|
Research Do your responses to
the research questions reflect thorough, careful research? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
|
Analysis Process Do your PPA worksheets reflect a well-thought-out analysis of the problem and development of policy? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
|
Power Point Presentation Does your Power Point presentation creatively present the required information, follow the appropriate procedure, and compel the audience? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
|
Public Policy Have you formulated effective, feasible public policy in response to the problem? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
|
Group Work and Class Presentation Have you conducted yourselves professionally during class time while doing your research and while presenting your findings to the class? |
1 2 3 4 5 |
23-25 points A
20-22 points A-
17-20 points B
14-16 points B-
10-13 points C
5-10 points D
0-5 points F
Standards:
New York State 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 United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.
New York City English
Language Arts Standards
E1c Reads and comprehends information materials.
E2a Produce a report of information.
E3b Participate in group meetings.
E6a Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.
E6b Produce public documents.
E7a Critique functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional
documents.
E7b Produce functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose.
Acknowledgements:
This Web Quest was produced
thanks to the TIPS Program (Teaching Interdisciplinary Problem Solving through
Educational Technology) of Syracuse University in collaboration with the Bronx
Superintendency. A special thanks goes
out to Howard Krieger for his time and advice.