Government | Create WebQuest

Introduction

4th Grade Social Studies
Government

This webquest is all about government.

You will read information, watch videos, and complete several tasks during this webquest that will help you learn more about our government.

This webquest will focus on these important essential questions:

Lesson 1:

What is the purpose of our government?

Why do we need laws?

How did our government become the way it is today? (What path did it take? Why did it become a democracy?)

Lesson 2:

How does our government contrast with a monarchy?

Why did our founding fathers believe democracy was important?

What does our type of government (democracy) and our government documents (Bill of Rights, Constitution, etc.) show us about the values of our founding fathers and government?

Task

During this webquest, you will learn all about government. You will read through some short lessons. You will follow links to website resources to watch videos and look at documents. You will also answer questions.

Throughout these assignments and activities, you should be thinking about the values of our founding fathers and our government. How did our founding fathers believe citizens should be treated? What was important to them?

Process

Lesson 1-Essential Questions:

What is the purpose of our government?
Why do we need laws?
How did our government become the way it is? (What path did it take? How did it begin?)

Essential Question: What is the purpose of our government?

The United States Government is considered a democracy (or a democratic republic). This means that the people (citizens) have the ability to vote for a leader and have a say in the laws.

Not all governments are the same. Some nations have a democracy. Some nations have a monarchy. This means a king or queen is in charge. Some nations have an aristocracy. This means that the rulers of the country are wealthy, educated individuals. There are many other forms of government, as well.

Because every nation has a different form of government, each nation may have a different idea of the purpose of government. For now, we will focus on the purpose of the United States government.

The basic purposes of government in the United States are to protect the rights of individuals and to promote the common good. This means that the government leaders in the United States should always be working to do what is best for American citizens. American citizens should be able to trust their government leaders.

Essential Question: Why do we need laws?

One of the jobs of the government is to make laws, but why do we need laws? What if every citizen could do whatever he/she wanted?

Activity:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/omv1k8pjizrr3fp/Worksheet.docx?dl=0

After completing this activity, maybe it is a little clearer to you now why we need laws. Our laws help to keep us safe, healthy, and happy.

Activity:
Take a look at this link. Read through the homepage (front page) and complete the "student challenge" at the bottom.

http://judiciallearningcenter.org/law-and-the-rule-of-law/

Essential Question: How did our government become the way it is today?

When colonists first came to North America, (before we were even considered the United States) they were still under British rule. This means that they had to follow laws and rules made by the King of England. England was a monarchy.

Because the colonists were not living in England and getting the same rights as people in England, they eventually became frustrated that they were still required to pay taxes to England. They had to follow laws from a king, even though they were miles and miles away.

Take a look at this video! It will help you uderstand some of the frustrations the colonists had about England.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQtzmbig5Vo

These frustrations eventually led to the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution, which you will learn more about at another time.

After the American Revolution, the 13 Colonies were no longer considered part of the Monarchy of England. They decided to create a democracy.

Lesson 2 Essential Questions:

How does our government contrast with a monarchy?
Why did our founding fathers believe democracy was important?
What does our type of government (democracy) and our government documents (Bill of Rights, Constitution, etc.) show us about the values of our founding fathers and government?

Essential Question: How does our government contrast with a monarchy?

Take a look at this link. It will give you some more information about types of governments:

http://depts.alverno.edu/dgp/GEC/Types%20of%20Government.html

Take a look at this video about monarchies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-gMdveXCt4

Take a look at this video about our government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuFR5XBYLfU

These videos should have given you some idea of how our government is different from a monarchy.

Think about the main differences between a monarchy in a democracy.

-In a democratic society, citizens have a voice. They are able to make decisions about how their country is run and what taxes and programs are appropriate.

-In a monarchy, the king or queen is in charge. The king or queen decides what is best for the country, and the citizens must follow, no matter what they believe is best.

Remember that the purposes of the United States Government are to protect the rights of individuals and to promote the common good. (Common good means the best interests of everybody.)

Activity:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/j83h0y8kwowuo97/Activity%202.docx?dl=0

Essential Question: Why did our founding fathers believe democracy was important?

As you learned earlier, the colonists no longer wanted to be a part of England. They no longer wanted to have to listen to the king. They no longer wanted to be part of a monarchy.

They decided to create a new form of government. In this government, the people would have a voice. Although this government took a long time and many, many changes to become what it is today, one thing was for sure: It would not be a monarchy.

The founding fathers did not want the citizens of the new nation to be ruled by a king. They did not want this country to become another England.

Essential Question: What does our type of government (democracy) and our government documents (Bill of Rights, Constitution, etc.) show us about the values of our founding fathers and government?

Take a look at this website. This explains the Bill of Rights in different words that make it easier to understand. While reading, think about how the writer(s) of the Bill of Rights must have felt about how the citizens should be treated.
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/northamerica/after1500/government/billofrights.htm#!

This is another look at the Bill of Rights. (It just uses fancier words!)

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/constitution_day/inside/index.asp?article=billofrights

After looking at all of these sources and reading through these lessons, what can you say about the values of our founding fathers and the values of our government? How did our founding fathers feel about the citizens?

Complete this activity:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/u79vx5oqbi2lrlq/Assignment.docx?dl=0

Evaluation

Your webquest responses will be scored based only on content. Spelling and grammar will not be considered or counted.

These questions will require you to think, infer, and evaluate. Although you will use resources, not all of the answers will be "right there" questions.

Do your best. Use the resources provided for you.

Conclusion

During this webquest, you learned about:

The purposes of the United States Government

Other types of government, especially monarchies

The values of our founding fathers and government

How our government came to be

Credits

Resources Included in this Webquest

http://judiciallearningcenter.org/law-and-the-rule-of-law/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQtzmbig5Vo

http://depts.alverno.edu/dgp/GEC/Types%20of%20Government.html