Political Science April 30 Executive Command

Your job today is to be a software evaluator.  Take 45 minutes to play Executive Command on the iCivics webpage.  For the last 10 minutes of class, you should record your ideas on a half sheet of paper and tell me the following:
1. What did you think of the game overall?
2. What did you like about it?
3. What parts of the game could stand to be improved?
4. Would you be willing to try to evaluate more software from this website in the future?

Click to get to the website http://www.icivics.org/games/executive-command

Economics April 29 2013 Design a Business

Today we are going to start looking at the steps you might take if you were to start your own business.  Keep in mind, this will be a cursory look at some of the factors involved in running your own business.  The objective for this class period is to establish two things:
1) What would you like to produce?
2) Where will you produce it?

To answer number one, you need only use your imagination as a resource.  You have an unlimited budget to get your store started.  Just remember that any cost you decide to take on will need to be covered by your revenue and that will affect how you set your prices in a competitive market.

Answering number two will require some research.  We will use an online real estate resource to help you locate and price out locations in the Twin Cities for your business.

When you are ready, click on the following link
http://www.mncar.org

The following video demonstrates how you can use the website...

Political Science April 24 ReDistricting Game

Yesterday you took a look at redistricting on paper with the example of the city of Athena.  Today, you will participate in a simulation on the desktops that will challenge you to create new voting district boundaries based on equal population distribution, ethnic representation in accordance with the Voting Rights Act, and bipartisan fairness.  After completing as many missions as possible, record on the sheet what you map looked like for each mission before continuing on to the next.

Here is the link to get you to the ReDistricting Game.

http://www.redistrictinggame.org/index.php?pg=game

Political Science April 16 Mn Election Results 2012

Use the information from the 2012 election maps provided by the Mn Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie, to help you identify the dominant political parties in the 8 congressional districts in Minnesota as well as how each county in MN voted for the Governor's office in 2010.  The purpose of the activity is to allow you to see where the Democrat and Republican voting bases are located in our state.  Fill out your blank maps with the appropriate color for the political party candidate that won the district (in the case of the 2012 US Rep elections) or the county (in the case of the 2010 Governor election)

Here are the links to get to the proper maps for the activity:

2012 US Congressional Map
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=1734
Select US Representative, margin by district

2010 MN Governor Map
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=1634
Select Governor, margin by county

 

Geography April 15 SW Asia Travel Review

SW Asia Travel Review                      
You have been hired to produce a travel review for a country in SW Asia.  The report can be in following forms of media: handwritten (poster or brochure), digital (Word, Power Point, Publisher), or video (you will need to provide your written script and information-should you choose to go this route)

The review must contain the following sections:
    History: ex. Who were the original inhabitants?  How has it changed over time?
    Economy: What are the main industries and resources? What is their currency called?
    Culture: What are the main languages, religions and traditions of the nation?
    Government: What form of government do they have?  Who is their leader?
    Attractions: What are some cool/fun things to do and see in your country?

All forms of presentation must include visual aids for each section

A couple of sites to help you get your search started:
http://www.nationmaster.com/index.php
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/globaltrek/ (if you have Turkey, Iraq, Israel or Afghanistan)

Sample Brochure/Review

Inside

Cover

Iron Jawed Angels Article

After watching the film.  You are being asked to pretend you are an on-the-scene reporter and write a half to one page newspaper article, recounting a memorable event from the film.  Your job as a reporter is to only give the facts.  You must refrain from letting your personal bias interfere with story you relay to the readers.

Use Microsoft Publisher to create an authentic -looking document that must contain the following components:
-Newspaper Title (ie. Washington Post)
-Headline (ie. Big Trouble at Occoquan)
-Location of the story (ie. Washington DC)
-Author (ie. your name)
-Date of Publication (somewhere between 1917-1920)

Feel free to do some investigative reporting and research your event to help give you more details to include in your story.

Political Compass Test January 3, 2014

Your job is to take the political compass test to see where you rank on a two-dimensional political spectrum.  Click on the following link to answer the questions
http://www.politicalcompass.org
Once you have completed the test scroll down to see the analysis of where you are placed on the spectrum.  Record the graph and your results on the sheet of graph paper supplied in class.
Also write the name of the historical figure you most closely match on the test (scroll back up and examine some of the previous graphs and explanations)