Lesson on Friday, October 14, 2016

Aim: How is the Legislative Branch of the United States structured?

Bell Ringer: Think-Pair-Share
1. What does the term bicameral mean?
2. What are the prerequisites needed to become a member of Congress?

Objectives:
1. Students will analyze the structures, functions, and processes of the legislative branch as described in Article I of the Constitution.

Agenda:
1. Bell Ringer (10 min)
2. Legislative Branch Powerpoint, slides 8-25 (rest of class)
3. Students are to create a T-chart to annotate characteristics of both the House of Representatives and Senate

Home Learning: Journal 18 – What are the demographics of the 114th Congress?

Below are videos that we watched in class. Watch them to review information that we have covered.






 Information about the Wesburry Case:

 In reaching this landmark decision, the Supreme Court asserted that Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution requires that representatives shall be chosen "by the People of the several States" and shall be "apportioned among the several States...according to their respective Numbers...." These words, the Court held, mean that "as nearly as practicable one man's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's." Wesberry and the Court's later "one person, one vote" decisions had an extraordinary impact on the makeup of the House, on the content of public policy, and on electoral politics in general. However, these "one person, one vote" rules do not prevent and have not prevented gerrymandering. This decision requires each state to draw its U.S. Congressional districts so that they are approximately equal in population.