from iCivics

Through an interactive PowerPoint presentation, students learn what factors members of Congress consider when deciding whether to vote for a bill. These include the powers given to Congress by the Constitution (“necessary and proper” clause highlighted), members’ personal opinions, political party support, and what voters think. During the first part of the lesson, students find out about each of these factors and participate in mini-quizzes to check for understanding. During the second part, students try their hand at weighing the factors by considering hypothetical bills. This lesson is part of the Legislative Branch curriculum. While the graphics and some of the examples in this lesson are appropriate for younger students, the content also works well for high school.

Objectives

Students will be able to:

* Identify the constitutional powers of Congress using a graphic organizer.
* Describe the factors members of Congress weigh when voting on bills.
* Recall information about the factors by participating in mini-quizzes.
* Demonstrate how members of Congress weigh factors by voting on hypothetical bills.
* Evaluate information in order to apply each factor to real-life issues in the hypothetical bills.
* Weigh the importance of the factors by deciding whether to vote “yea” or “nay” on each bill.

Voting In Congress ^[1]