The Electoral College
Students learn how the Electoral College is used to elect a president.
Author
Grade Level
Duration
National Geography
Standards
ELEMENT ONE:
THE WORLD IN
SPATIAL TERMS
1. How to Use Maps
and Other
Geographic
Representations,
Tools, and
Technologies to
Acquire, Process,
and Report
Information From a
Spatial Perspective.
ESSENTIAL
ELEMENT SiX. THE
USES OF
GEOGRAPHY
17. How to apply
geography to
interpret the past.
18. How to apply
geography to
interpret the present
and plan for the
future.
Dennis Rees
8 and High School
2 class periods
Arizona Geography Strand
Other Arizona Standards
Concept 1: The World in Spatial
Terms
GRADE 8
PO 1 Construct maps, charts, and
graphs to display geographic
information.
HIGH SCHOOL
PO 2 Interpret maps and images.
Strand 3: Civics/Government
Grade 8
Concept 2: Structure of Government
PO 3 Explain the electoral process (e.g.
primary and general elections, electoral
college).
PO 4 Explain how a candidate can be
elected president (e.g. Adams-Jackson,
Hayes-Tilden, Bush-Gore) without a
majority of popular vote.
High School
Concept 2: Structure of Government
PO 6 Analyze the structure, powers, and
roles of the executive branch of the
United States government:
d. election of the president through the
nomination process, national conventions,
and electoral college.
Concept 6: Geographic
Applications
GRADE 8
PO 3 Use geographic knowledge
and skills (e.g. recognizing
patterns, mapping, graphing)
when discussing current events.
HIGH SCHOOL
PO 1 Analyze how geographic
knowledge, skills, and
perspectives (e.g. use of
Geographic Information Systems
in urban planning,
reapportionment of political units,
locating businesses) are used to
solve contemporary problems.
Strand 1 American History
Concept 4: Revolution and New Nation
Grade 8
PO 6 Describe how one nation evolved
from thirteen colonies:
a. Constitutional Convention
High School
PO 4 Analyze how the new national
government was created:
c. Constitutional Convention
ELA Common Core Standards
Reading Standards for 6-8 for Literacy
in History/Social Studies
Key Ideas and Details
6-8
6-8.RH.2 Determine the central ideas or
conclusions of a text; provide an accurate
summary of the text distinct from prior
knowledge or opinions.
6-8.RH.3 Identify key steps in a text’s
description of a process related to
history/social studies (e.g. how a bill
becomes law, how interest rates are
raised or lowered).
The Electoral College
11-12 Reading Standards for Literacy in
History/Social Studies
Key Ideas and Details
11-12.RH.2 Determine the central ideas or
information of a primary or secondary
source; provide an accurate summary that
makes clear the relationships among the
key details and ideas.
Overview
Procedures
The Constitution of the United States outlines the
process of how the president is elected. Students
need to be aware of this process because they
are the voters of the future.
SESSION ONE
1. Distribute The Electoral College handout.
Instruct students that while reading the
handout, they are to highlight or underline
important information on how the electoral
college is determined, its function in
presidential elections, and any effects the
Electoral College had on elections. Then,
as a class, read and discuss the handout.
2. After finishing the reading and discussion,
distribute the Electoral College Worksheet
and the United States (with state names)
map. Instruct students they are to do
Question 1 on the worksheet and
complete the coloring of the map; when
that is done, they are to come get the
United States (with state names and
electoral votes) map to complete Question
2 and the coloring of that map. When this
is completed, they are to continue working
on the worksheet using the Electoral
College Handout as a reference. This may
be done as homework.
3. Collect the maps if you wish to use them
as an assessment.
Purpose
In this lesson students will learn how the members
of the electoral college are determined, how the
electoral college operates, and its effect on
presidential elections.
Materials
•
The Electoral College handout
•
Electoral College Worksheet and Answer Key
•
The United States (with state names) map
•
The United States (with state names and
electoral votes) map
•
Electoral College Quiz and Answer Key
•
Teacher Key for Maps
Objectives
The student will be able to:
1. describe how the electoral college is organized.
SESSION TWO
1. Collect the Electoral College Worksheet if
you wish to use it as an assessment.
2. Review the material from The Electoral
College Handout.
3. Distribute Electoral College Quiz and have
students complete it. Collect the quiz as
they finish as it is used as an assessment.
2. describe how the electoral college is used to
elect the president.
Assessment
3. analyze how the electoral college affected the
results of presidential elections in 1824, 1876,
1888, and 2000.
The Electoral College Quiz is used to assess
American History and Civics. Eight out of ten
points or 80% is considered mastery.
The United States (with state names) map and
United States Map (with state names and electoral
votes) map may be assessed for a Geography
The Electoral College
grade. Sixteen out of twenty points or 80% is
considered mastery.
The Electoral College Worksheet may be
assessed for American History and Civics. Twentyfour out of twenty-nine points or 80% is
considered mastery.
Extensions
Students could create a power point which
explains the electoral college.
Students could create historical maps showing the
electoral college results for the election of 1824,
1876, 1888, or 2000.
Divide students into groups and give each group
either a regional map or list of states with each
state’s electoral votes. Then have each group
create a cartogram of their region and report their
results to the rest of the class. The class could
then discuss if there is a region or regions that
carry more weight due to their electoral votes.
Students could research to find out if there were
ever any elections where an elector did not vote
as pledged and if it affected the outcome of the
election.
Using Glogster (http://www.glogster.org) students
could create a poster describing the electoral
college.
Before beginning the procedures for SESSION
ONE, use the scenario: “You are running for
President of the US. Which 10 states would give
you enough votes to win?” Then give them a list
of state populations with a list of corresponding
number of congressmen. Have them order them
from largest to smallest. After students have
determined the states with the most electoral
votes, ask, “How did this system come about?
Let the students debate the fairness of states with
large populations controlling the presidential
elections. Then read the handout.
To build in a writing activity into this lesson, select
three areas of the classroom and label them with
signs:
1. The Electoral College works very well.
2. The Electoral College needs to be revised.
3. The Electoral College should be replaced with
a new system.
Explain to the students that they will be writing an
essay taking a position on the Electoral College.
They have three choices. Then read off the
posted signs to them. Give them a moment to
understand what the criteria are for the essay.
The essay must have a topic sentence, supporting
details, and a conclusion. Now have the students
move to the area of the room representing their
position on the Electoral College. Allow students
in the group to brainstorm ideas on what would be
a good topic sentence, supporting details, and
conclusion. Then students can work
independently or in partners to write the essay.
The class might discuss the idea of pledging to
vote for a candidate. Opponents of the Electoral
College system also point to the risk of so-called
"faithless Electors.” A "faithless Elector" is one
who is pledged to vote for his party's candidate for
president but nevertheless votes for another
candidate. There have been 7 such Electors in
this century and as recently as 1988 when a
Democrat Elector in the State of West Virginia cast
his votes for Lloyd Bensen for president and
Michael Dukakis for vice president instead of the
other way around. Faithless Electors have never
changed the outcome of an election, though,
simply because most often their purpose is to
make a statement rather than make a difference.
www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf
Writing (Alernate Assessment)
Text Types and Purposes
6-8.WHST.1 Write arguments focused on
discipline-specific content.
a. Introduce claim(s) about a topic or issue,
acknowledge and distinguish the claim(s) from
alternate or opposing claims, and organize the
reasons and evidence logically.
b. Support claim(s) with logical reasoning and
relevant, accurate data and evidence that
demonstrate an understanding of the topic or text,
using credible sources.
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses to create
cohesion and clarify the relationships among
claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that
follows from and supports the argument
presented.
11-12.WHST.1 Write arguments focused on
discipline-specific content.
a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s),
establish the significance of the claim(s),
distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing
claims, and create an organization that logically
sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons,
and evidence.
b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and
thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and
evidence for each while pointing out the strengths
and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims
in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the
audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values,
and possible biases.
The Electoral College
c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as
varied syntax to link the major sections of the text,
create cohesion, and clarify the relationships
between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons
and evidence, and between claim(s) and
counterclaims.
d. Establish and maintain a formal style and
objective tone while attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are
writing.
e. Provide a concluding statement or section that
follows from or supports the argument presented
Sources
www.house,gov/house/Constitution
www.usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepolitcal