When studying U.S. History particularly, it's helpful for students to understand the differences between the powers of the governments that exist within a country. In this activity, students will create a T-Chart that compares and contrasts the powers of federal and state governments. While both governments are a part of the same country, it's very clear that not all of the states are governed the same from the state level. This power difference can be interesting for students to investigate.
Students should either choose or be assigned one of the fifty U.S states and compare the powers delegated to that state with those of the federal government. Students should represent three powers reserved to each of the respective governments. Listed below is a helpful reference to differentiate between some of the powers reserved to states and the federal government.
Teachers may wish for students to work together on this lesson which is possible with Storyboard That's Real Time Collaboration feature! With Real Time Collaboration, students can work on the same storyboard at the same time which is perfect for this lesson! As teachers know, collaborating on assignments allows students to think on a deeper level while increasing their communication and problem-solving skills. Collaboration can also help cut down on the time it takes to complete a storyboard. While there is no set limit to the number of users who can work on a storyboard at once, we recommend five users or fewer for optimal performance. All of our assignments default to individual. To make this lesson collaborative, teachers must enable collaboration for the assignment within the "Edit Assignment" tab.
Students should either create an additional T-Chart, or add to the one from the activity that represents the differing laws between two states. Some of the potential topics for these laws:
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a T Chart that compares and contrasts the powers of federal and state governments.