Idaho Social Studies 9-12.GOV.36
The Standard
Identify major departments of the executive branch, including cabinet and non-cabinet level departments and agencies, along with the development and growth of federal administrative state.
Idaho Content Standards: K-12 Social Studies · Function And Structure of the U.S. Political System
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students name major executive departments, such as State, Treasury, and Defense, and describe their jobs. They distinguish cabinet departments from independent agencies like NASA and the SEC. They explain how new problems led the federal government to add agencies over time.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a passport request or a stock fraud complaint, students choose the right office and explain its job. They can place the SEC’s creation in the 1930s and the EPA’s creation in 1970 on a timeline, then explain why each was added.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may call every federal agency a cabinet department. They may think all federal offices have existed since the founding, or that a cabinet secretary runs every agency.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Match a passport request to the State Department and a stock fraud complaint to the SEC. Label each office, then name one problem that led to a new federal agency.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs cards labeled State, Treasury, Defense, NASA, and SEC; have them sort cabinet departments from independent agencies and add one job to each.
Ask: Why was the SEC created after the 1929 crash, and what new work did that give the executive branch?
Play three rounds of agency match: passport application, stock fraud complaint, and tax return; students choose State, SEC, or IRS and explain why.
Pull up a local tap water report; students find an EPA drinking water limit and identify who tests the water.
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