Unit 5: Our Federal Government

In this unit students learn how the United States government works. It begins with a review of questions political scientists seek to answer. Building on these questions, students explore the need for government and examine the probable consequences of not having government, rules, or laws. After exploring the purposes of government as set forth in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, students learn how our current form of government functions to serve those purposes. Next, students investigate how the powers of the federal government are limited through the systems of separation of powers and checks and balances, and compare those to state government. They also begin to understand that the federal and state governments have different powers as a foundation for learning about federalism in fifth grade. Students extend their understanding of limited government by exploring key concepts such as popular sovereignty, rule of law, and the Bill of Rights. A wide variety of instructional strategies are used throughout the unit including small group work, large group substantive discussion, nonlinguistic representations, and web-based activities. In addition, graphic organizers, reading comprehension strategies, and literature connections are integrated throughout the unit.

How is the federal government structured to fulfill the purposes for which it was created?