What is Government?

At the start of any introductory unit, students should first understand the different forms of government that exist. It's helpful for them to have an easy reference that they can look back on later on, during both this unit and other history units. For this activity, students will create a spider map that defines and represents each type of government. Students should represent how power is distributed either symbolically or through the representation of governmental figures.

Example Forms of Government

• Direct Democracy
• Representative Democracy
• Monarchy
• Dictatorship
• Anarchy
• Oligarchy
• Theocracy
• Republic
• Bureaucracy
• Totalitarian

Extended Activity

Students should present their spider map to their peers, with the goal of ranking each government from most favorable to least favorable, in terms of which ones they would want to be a part of. Students can number each government representation storyboard to guide them in their presentation.

Student Instructions

Create a spider map that defines the different forms of government.

1. Click "Start Assignment".
2. In the title boxes, identify each type of government.
3. In the description boxes, provide a summary of the government.
4. Create an illustration to represent each type of government using appropriate scenes, characters, and items.