Students who participate in this lesson will be applying the knowledge they have learned in the classroom to real-world situations. The students already understand the four basic functions of government, but now they will analyze newspaper articles to validate how these functions affect them as individuals and society as a whole.

Students should be able to explain the major arguments advanced for the necessity of politics and government. Students should be able to explain the meaning of the terms civic life, politics, and government.

Students must have extensive knowledge of the four functions of government in order to participate in this activity. They must also have the knowledge of how to utilize the Internet, navigate the Web and browse a specific Web site to locate specific information. If an online newspaper site is not available, the students must understand how to navigate through an actual newspaper.

Students will need a computer with access to the Internet or a classroom set of newspapers if online access is not possible. The teacher may want to review the functions of government prior to this exercise and perhaps provide several examples of the how these functions are performed by the government to guide students on their task.

The assessment for this activity will be the same for all students. The teacher will predetermine how many points each article is worth. For example: If the teacher requires the student to locate a total of four articles,(one for each function) with each article worth 25 points, then the entire activity could be worth 100 points. In addition, the teacher will want to assess whether the article located, summarized and applied accurately reflects the proper function. If any part of this article assessment is left out, the appropriate number of points will be deducted. The teacher will need to inform students in advance how many points each article is worth. It would be ideal for the teacher to present a rubric prior to assigning this activity.

Students will begin by reviewing the four functions of government: to provide social order, provide for the National Security, to promoting social standards and to allocating public services. The student will then log on to the Internet and enter in the web address for either a local newspaper or any national newspaper that provides an accessible URL. The student will browse the site, attempting to locate specific articles which appropriately identify the level of government, whether federal, state or local, which is performing one or more of the designated functions. (For example: any article which involves United States foreign policy or information on the Armed Forces would be considered "National Security"--performed by the federal government). Once the article has been identified, the student will read the article, provide a brief summary, and indicate which function of government is being performed and what level of government is involved. In addition, the student should identify which newspaper is being used, the date of publication and the title of the article. If no computer access is available for student use, a classroom set of newspapers will be sufficient for this activity.

Technology Requirements/Integration  (help)

Classroom set of computers Web Browser Software Internet access Printer

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