Alabama Social Studies SS24.USG.11a
The Standard
- SS24.USG.11
- Analyze the electoral process, focusing on election laws and systems at the national, state, and local levels, and explain their constitutional underpinnings, practical implementation, and effects on voter participation and representation in democratic governance.
Outline how the Electoral College functions and explain how candidates must appeal to a wide variety of states and develop coalitions in order to secure the electoral votes required to win the presidency.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students find each state’s electoral vote total using its House seats and two Senate seats. They show how most states award all their votes to the statewide winner, then add state totals to reach 270. They explain why candidates seek support in several states and among different groups of voters.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given an electoral vote map, a student can build a winning set of states and check the total. They can explain why a candidate might campaign in two close states and reach out to different voters in each. They know Maine and Nebraska can split their votes.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the national popular vote directly decides the winner or that every state has the same number of votes. They may also think a candidate must win the most states, or that every state awards its votes the same way.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: A candidate has 245 electoral votes. Georgia has 16 and Arizona has 11. Would winning both secure the presidency? Explain why the candidate would campaign in both states.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs an electoral vote map and colored pencils; have them shade a set of states that reaches 270 and check their sum.
Ask pairs to write why a candidate might seek suburban voters in Georgia and independent voters in Arizona.
Give teams state cards with electoral vote counts and three minutes to assemble two different sets totaling 270 to 280.
Show 2024 rally headlines from Pennsylvania and Georgia; students locate both states on a vote map and explain why candidates campaigned there.
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