Lesson Ideas

Inquiry Tasks

• Reinforce prior student understandings of the foundations of the world's governments based on the principle of popular sovereignty and source of power, using the presentation, Power Power-Who's Got the Power, provided by O.C.S.S. Ask student groups to develop an illustrated graphic organizer, noting the types of representative versus authoritarian governments, including contemporary examples of each. 

• Assist students in reviewing prior understandings of the goals, structure, and workings of the American system of government in order to effectively compare other forms of government in the Western Hemisphere. Use the presentation, Separation of Powers, and the Division of Powers chart, provided by O.C.S.S. to conduct a class discussion, answering the question, "How does our Constitution provide for a limited government?" Ask students if they know of another feature of our system that assure no one person or group of people become abusive of power. Use the Checks and Balances chart to support and clarify their ideas. Why was it important to our Framers to establish such a system? Do Americans still need these protections? Why or why not?

• The lesson, Government of Canada, provided by Student Vote Ontario, asks students to compare the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government, including leadership roles, elected officials and division of responsibilities. Encourage students to compare the Canadian system of government to the United States, using the Division of Powers chart for reference. What can students conclude about freedoms and liberties in Canada, based on their structure of government? Extend student learning by encouraging partners to compare the United States Bill of Rights and the Canada Bill of Rights. Ask partners to create a Venn diagram noting similarities and differences. 

• Ask students to consider the principle of popular sovereignty. What does it mean in a democracies like the United States and Canada? Encourage students to examine a case study related to popular sovereignty and citizen power, using the lesson, Quebec, Question of Sovereignty, from Geography in the News. Ask students to note the details of the issue on the episodic organizer provided, prior to developing a written response to the question of separation by Quebec. How was this issue ever resolved? Invite students to research the Quebec Referendum and explain how the democratic principle of popular sovereignty settled the matter. Ask students to compare Quebec to the American territory of Puerto Rico, using the narrative, Statehood for Puerto Rico, from Geography in the News. What influence does popular sovereignty play in Puerto Rico? 

Primary and Secondary Sources

•  Constitution of the United States, provided online by the Bill of Rights Institute with annotations for student reference.

•   Constitute Project, online comparisons of the world's constitutions, for teacher reference. 

•  Free versus Not Free, map of the world's nations, from Freedom House, for student reference. 

Lesson Ideas

Inquiry Tasks

• Ask students to consider the affects of political and economic changes on Cuba's society following its Communist Revolution of the 20th century. Use the presentation, Castro's Cuba, provided by O.C.S.S., asking students to create a three-column foldable for noting political, economic, and cultural/social conditions in Communist Cuba. How do they compare with freedoms and opportunities in democratic republics? Encourage students to conduct independent research to explore recent reforms and political changes in Cuba. 

• Encourage students to examine the turmoil and recurrent rise of socialist leaders and movements in Central and South America, using the lesson Latin America's Leftist Leaders, from Geography in the News. Ask students to identify the reasons why such political changes are frequent in Latin America, noting their observations on the cause-effect graphic organizer. What contributes to unrest in Latin American society? 

• Ask students to become more aware of the types and structures of government in Central America through a comparison of selected nations. Encourage students to use the CIA Factbook for information necessary to classify the types of government of Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, and Nicaragua. How does student research support recent events of political upheaval in the region? 

• Ask students to explain why nations adopt Constitutions. What are similar purposes and features of the world's Constitutions? Ask students to compare the American perspective toward the purpose of government, as stated in the Preamble, to the preambles of four Central American nations. Develop a class list of common purposes for government and shared ideals for each republic. Using the lesson from Constitute.org, We the People-Crafting a Preamble, invite student groups to develop a Preamble for an ideal nation.  

Primary and Secondary Sources 

• CIA World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency; entries for student research.

• Cuba Moves Away from its Communist Past, Time Magazine, 2018; for teacher and student reference. 

Lesson Ideas

Inquiry Tasks

• Ask students to consider reasons behind South America's history of political and social revolutions by examining the life of Simon Bolivar, the "George Washington of South America." What social and economic conditions made revolution a necessity? What similarities existed in the American colonies? Invite students to investigate recent examples of revolutionary movements in South America. How do such movements become part of a people's culture? Ask students to examine a popular music form, known as the Chilean New Song,by listening to and reading the lyrics to the song, Simon Bolivar. Why is music such a powerful tool for motivating people? 

• Encourage students to investigate the degree of freedoms protected by government systems and leadership using an introductory narrative, Comparing Governments and Freedoms, provided by USHistory.org. Ask student groups to list the characteristics of a free society to serve as a reminder during the course of their investigations. Introduce and assist students with using the Freedom House, interactive chart, which ranks the world’s nations by the degree of freedom guaranteed to their citizens in the categories of political rights and civil liberties. Ask students to select one or two South American nations. How do freedoms compare to the United States? Ask students to explore the World Freedom Map by selecting any country and viewing its freedom ranking, including a report of recent activities related to government and individual liberties. Ask the class to identify the "top three most free" and "bottom three least free" nations in South America. Divide the class into six groups, each assigned to research evidence which supports the rankings, using resources from the World Freedom Map. Ask groups to create a print or digital infographic of their findings. Encourage groups to display infographics on a "Wall of Fame" and a "Wall of Shame." 

• The Venezuela humanitarian crisis is projected to become the largest refugee crisis in the history of the Western Hemisphere. Ask students to examine the background of the crisis, using the narrative, Venezuela's Socialist Revolution, from BBC News. Ask partners to develop a graphic organizer and respond to a short essay evaluating the promises and criticisms of the socialist regime. Ask students to investigate the contemporary crisis by viewing What's Happening in Venezuela, a 10-minute documentary by PBS NewsHour. What has been the impact of political upheaval on personal freedoms and waves of emigration? Ask students to evaluate the potential of Venezuela in light of the current crisis by viewing Once an Oil Rich Nation, an 11-minute documentary from the Pulitzer Center. Invite student groups to assume the role of delegates to the United Nations from neighboring South American nations, develop a resolution to alleviate human suffering, and deliberate on the most practical solutions.

Primary and Secondary Sources 

• Crisis in Venezuela, Classroom Law Project, selected articles and updated news for teacher reference. 

• Venezuela, Pulitzer Center, updated videoclips documenting the political and economic crisis in Venezuela; for teacher reference.