Indiana Social Studies IS.5.2

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Individuals, Society, and Culture

The Standard

Examine the actions and policies of U.S. presidents, representatives, and senators from Indiana.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students find out what leaders from Indiana did as president or members of Congress. They use laws, votes, and speeches to explain what those leaders wanted to change and who was affected.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can describe a specific action, such as Benjamin Harrison signing the Sherman Antitrust Act. They can use a source to explain its goal and distinguish that goal from what happened afterward.
Common Misconceptions: Students may treat a vote for a bill as proof that a law passed. They may also assume a president wrote every law he signed or that all leaders from Indiana agreed on national issues.
How to Assess It: Give students these facts: Senator Richard Lugar voted yes on the 2002 Iraq authorization, and Representative Julia Carson voted no. Ask what each vote supported and what source could help explain each choice.

Lesson moves

Give pairs printed role, action, and date cards for Harrison, Lugar, and Carson to match and place on a timeline.
Ask students to write what Lugar's and Carson's opposing 2002 Iraq votes tell us, and what they do not tell us.
Play a claim-check game using short source excerpts about Harrison, Lugar, and Carson; teams sort claims into supported and unsupported piles.
Open a Senate roll-call vote page and have students find Indiana's senators' votes on one recent bill and name a group it could affect.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to IS.5.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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