Introduction

The dictator of an African country died, and the citizens of the country want to form a democratic government. They want to learn about the Federal Government of the United States because they have heard many wonderful things about it. They have asked your teacher to have her students work in teams of three to prepare a presentation. The team with the best presentation will have the opportunity to fly to Africa, and present to the panel responsible for developing the new government.

You will work in teams of three, and will have two weeks to create a PowerPoint presentation on the United States' three branches of federal government: executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch. The presentation will also include the checks and balances between the branches of the federal government.

One member on the team will gather information about the executive branch (the president). Another member will gather information about the legislative branch (congress), and the last member of the team will gather information about the judicial branch. The team members that gather information for the executive and judicial branches will work together gathering information about the checks and balances. All three team members will work together to create the PowerPoint presentation.

Step 1: You will choose a team of three members.

Step 2: Decide which member of the team will gather information on the executive branch, the legislative branch and the judicial branch.

Step 3: Use the following websites to help you gather information:

http://www.constitutioncenter.org/explore/BasicGoverningPrinciples/index.shtml

http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0774837.html

http://www.congressforkids.net/Legislativebranch_senate.htm

http://www.congressforkids.net/Legislativebranch_house.htm

http://www.house.gov

Step 4: Your PowerPoint presentation needs to answer all of the following questions.
-What are the three branches of United States federal government?
-Which articles of the Constitution make up the three branches of the United States' federal government?

-Legislative Branch
* What is the primary function of the legislative branch?
* How is the legislative branch divided?
* What are the Constitutional qualifications for an United States Senator?
* Who is the head of the United States Senate?
* How many members are in the Senate?
* How were the number of members in the United States Senate decided?
* How long is the term for an United States Senator?
* Who are your United States senators?
* How many members are in the House of Representatives?
* What are the Constitutional qualifications for an United States Representative?
* How are the number of members in the House of Representatives decided?
* How long is the term for a United States Representative?
* Who is your United States Representative?

Executive Branch
* What is the primary function of the executive branch?
* What are the Constitutional qualifications for an United States Representative?
* How long is the term for the United States President?
* Who is the Commander-in-Chief during war?
* Who makes up the executive branch?
* Who is the current United States President?
* Who is the current Vice President of the United States?

Judicial Branch
* What is the primary function of the judicial branch?
* Who is the head of the judicial branch or the highest court in the land?
* How many judges are on the Supreme Court?
* How long is the term for judges?
* Who nominates judges?
* Who approves judges?

Checks and Balances
* Which branch of the United States government has to introduce and votes a bill, and which branch has to sign the bill for it to become law?
* Which branch of the United States government nominates judges, and which branch of the United States government approves the judges?
* Which branch of the United States government makes treaties, and which branch of the United States government approves the treaties?

Step 5: Create your PowerPoint presentation explaining the three different branches of the federal government and how its checks and balances work.

Step 6: Present PowerPoint presentation in front of the class.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Amount of Information	PowerPoint presentation attempted to answer 19 or less questions.	PowerPoint presentation attempted to answer between 20-24 questions.	PowerPoint presentation attempted to answer between 25-30 questions.	PowerPoint presentation answers all of the questions.
Quality of Information	PowerPoint presentation answered 19 or less questions correctly.	PowerPoint presentation answered between 20-24 questions correctly.	PowerPoint presentation answered between 25-30 questions correctly.	PowerPoint presentation answers all of the questions accurately.
Mechanics	PowerPoint presentations contains 9 or more errors in grammar, punctuation , capitalization and spelling.	PowerPoint presentations contains between 7-9 errors in grammar, punctuation , capitalization and spelling.	PowerPoint presentations contains between 4-6 errors in grammar, punctuation, capitalization and spelling.	PowerPoint presentations contains no spelling errors and 3 or less errors in grammar, punctuation and capitalization.
Graphics	PowerPoint presentations contains 0-2 graphics.	PowerPoint presentations contains 3 graphics.	PowerPoint presentations contains 4-5 graphics.	PowerPoint presentations contains 6 graphics.
Presentation	PowerPoint presentation is completed with minimal effort.	PowerPoint presentation is completed with effort.	PowerPoint presentation is organized and structured with title, text and graphics.	PowerPoint presentation is well organized and structured with title, text and graphics.