Elections Unit

This unit was on Elections. We did a government unit earlier and learned about different political systems, but this was focused on mostly just our American election process, including the electoral college etc. 

As you can see, we had a lovely time experimenting with "hanging chads," "dimpled chads" and so forth :)  [A few weeks later, Malachi came running in excitedly after he'd been trying to use the three-hole punch to put a piece of paper in his binder. "Mommy! Look! I got three hanging chads!" So cute.]

We went on a field trip to a campaign office and learned what goes on there (quite interesting---but would have been more interesting in another state, perhaps) :)

One of the best parts of the unit was when my cousin Heidi came to speak to us. She's a city council member in American Fork, so she told us about running for office, what her duties include, her favorite parts of the job, and so forth. It was fascinating. She's our favorite politician!

More resources:

http://pbskids.org/democracy/be-president/ My kids liked this "President for a Day" game

http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/Special-Offers.aspx Electoral map, with historical electoral totals included

http://magazines.scholastic.com/election-2012 Another fun game (you \have to click on "electoral challenge game" on the right)

http://bensguide.gpo.gov/files/Ben_Activity_webversion.pdf A coloring book of American symbols

There's also an interactive White House tour at the White House website. My kids thought it was pretty cool.