Students’ maps and responses to the questions on the worksheet will vary.

 

Activity 1.2:  Taking Good Notes

 

Use Supporting Material 1.2  and your own experience and expectations to determine whether students are taking good notes.

 

Activity 1.3:  Is Democracy Fair? -- A Class Debate

 

There are no right or wrong answers for this activity.  The instructor should only facilitate when necessary in order to keep the debate on track.  The content of the debate should clearly indicate whether students have read the background readings, have taken good notes, and have prepared for the debate.
 
 

Activity 1.4:  Masking Diversity -- Discovering the Power of Scale

 

Answers to this activity will depend on the geographic scale and the census variables chosen for analysis.  Use the criteria below to assess students’ reports and maps.  Student reports should:

• summarize the findings concisely;
• identify how the data at the local scale differs from the state-level analysis; and
• explain how the data is important to the candidate, his or her platform, and related election issues.

• be neat, clear, and contain a title, source, and legend;
• have appropriate data classes in order to display patterns and variations in the data; and
• have a color scheme within the same family or hue range.

This activity is mainly an in-class discussion.  Student input will vary based upon the election data the instructor chooses for consideration.  Students should be able to identify general patterns in the data and to make links between these patterns and the socio-economic characteristics of the study area.
 
 

Activity 1.6:   Role Playing on a Controversial Local Issue

 

The role-playing in this activity will vary depending on the local issue selected and the stakeholders identified.  Students testimony should be concise and well-supported with evidence.  Students should not be allowed to state simply their group’s opinions -- they must support that opinion.  A good testimony will require that students do additional research in order to formulate their stakeholder’s position.  They should make clear in their testimony how the stakeholder’s position and concerns are geographic (i.e., “I am a stakeholder because I live two streets away from the proposed landfill”).  The oral presentations should be professional and should clearly articulate the concerns of the group.  The instructor should structure the “hearing” such that students are able to “get into” the role-play and enjoy themselves.
 
 

Activity 1.7:  Does Democracy Mean Equity?

 

In assessing the student papers, you may want to consider the following:

• Did it synthesize concepts, ideas, etc.?
• Did it demonstrate that the student understood the concepts of democracy and equality and the tensions between the two?
• Did it contain good citations?
• Did it demonstrate a clear organization of thoughts?