Guiding Thought Question: Select one of the situations below and write a letter based on the scenario.

Situation 1 - The National government is planning on moving nuclear waste through your city to transport it to an area where is can be disposed of. Write a letter to your national representative, or one of your state senators (include their name and e-mail address somewhere in the response) talking about your thoughts on the plan and why you support or are against the idea.   

Situation 2 - Your state government is planning on placing a restriction on vehicle emissions that would mean you could not drive as much. Write a letter to your state representative, or your state's governor (include their name and e-mail address somewhere in the response) talking about your thoughts on the plan and why you support or are against the idea.  

Today's Learning Objective: Students will learn the principles of republicanism and how they can be politically active by voting and other methods. Students will learn about the different philosophies of representation by reading and discussing about the ideas of representation.

Guiding Thought Question: What is the main benefit of having smaller, local, branches of government, as opposed to have government power centralized in one main branch of government?

Today's Learning Objective: Students will learn the principles of federalism and the reasoning behind the formation of the constitution instead of the articles of confederation. Students will examine arguments for and against the constitution and make arguments based on guiding questions.

Guiding Thought Question: Come up with a list of 7 values that you think American hold as important. For one of them explain in one to two sentences as to why you believe it is an important value.

Today's Learning Objective: Students will argue what core values are important to Americans, and engage in a class discussion. Students will read about the values from the perspective of a sociologists and evaluate their validity. 

Guiding Thought Question: For the first day's forum write your general feelings about government. Explain your feelings and what types of things have influenced your perceptions. 
     NOTE: This is not a time to bash the current, or a former,                  administration or particular government officials. 

Today's Learning Objective: Students will gain an understanding of the procedures and expectations of the course, and be able to interact with the course materials that they will be using throughout the course of the semester. Students will go on a walking tour to explore the concepts of the course and how they are visible in their everyday surroundings.  

Central Question: What is conservation and how do different forms of government get involved?