Government

Teacher: Carsten Wills

Subject Area: Social Studies / Government
Grade Level: Secondary / High School

Common Core Standard​:

SS12.1.6 ​Compare and contrast various world political systems with that of the United States

SS12.5.3 ​Analyze, interpret, and evaluate how conflict, demographics, movement, trade,
transportation, communication, and technology affect humans’ sense of place.

Anticipatory Set​: Imagine dividing your city or town into five areas with a roughly equal
number of people in each area. What would be the best way to do it? For example, would
you use larger streets as borders or rely on areas that already exist, like school enrollment
areas or different neighborhoods?

Objective/Purpose​ Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of what

gerrymandering is and how it affects political outcomes of voting.

Input​ : Students will need an understanding of voting, representatives, voting districts, and
comprehension of physical borders.

Model​: Watch the “What is Gerrymandering?” short from the Washington post. Show the
“mock layout” of the classroom for voting.

Guided Practice​ : Ask students to vote on a favorite style of pizza. Divide the class into
“districts” that each get one complete vote, but have it skewed to select the least popular
option. Ask students why the result is unfair.

Check for Understanding​ :

Students will be given a “mock” layout of the classroom and will be asked to show at least
two different ways “districts” can be drawn from the classroom to show how different
parties can wrestle control from the other.

Closure ​(What method of review and evaluation will be used to complete the lesson?):
“Gerrymandering isn’t something that was a problem years ago, or even just a few elections
ago, but rather an issue that is relevant to today. Just these last few weeks specifically, the
supreme court in PA are reviewing whether or not their 7th district is guilty of
gerrymandering. What do you think?”

Independent Practice​: Find several instances where gerrymandering occurs throughout the
country even to this day. Do these shapes make sense? How can you tell these are instances
of gerrymandering?