Constitutional Card Sort

Constitutional Card Sort

• Today you will work with a team to answer questions about how our government works

• Your resource for answering these questions will be your pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution

• For today’s activity, you will want to pay special attention to Articles I, II, III and V

• The goal of the activity is for your group to answer as many questions as possible AND you are competing against other groups

• In order to answer a question correctly, you must be able to identify the Article # and Section # of the Constitution where you found your answer

• Article #s must always be written in Roman Numerals (I, II, III, IV, etc.)

• Section #s must always be written in regular numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.)

• Your group will NOT earn credit for an answer if you don’t have it numbered correctly

• Questions must be answered in complete sentences

• Answers not provided in complete sentences will NOT earn credit

• Additionally, you should highlight or underline the information in your pocket copy of the Constitution

• Your group may pull 3 questions at a time from the pink bowl to work on

• The work should be shared within the group– there should be evidence of ALL group members’ handwriting on the group’s paper

• When you answer your 3 questions, you need to get them checked by the teacher before you can pull 3 more

• If you are having difficulty, your group can have 3 HINTS or 3 PUT-BACKS during the activity

• HINTS = clues about which Article or Section to look at

• PUT-BACKS = switching a difficult question for another one

• You must keep track of hints/put-backs used a the top of your group’s paper

1

• Members of the House of Representatives serve for 2 year terms

• Article I, Section 2

2

• One must be at least 25 years of age and a citizen for 7 years in order to be in the House of Representatives.

• Article I, Section 2

3

• The House of Representatives may propose tax (revenue) bills.

• Article I, Section 7

4

• The House of Representatives has the power of impeachment (to bring impeachment articles against a government official).

• Article I, Section 2

5

• The term for Senators is 6 years.• Article I, Section 3

6

• One must be at least 30 years old and a citizen for 9 years in order to serve in the Senate.

• Article I, Section 3

7

• The Senate must approve all presidential appointments– such as cabinet members, judges and ambassadors.

• Article II, Section 2

8

• The Senate must approve all treaties.• Article II, Section 2

9

• The Senate conducts all impeachment trials.

• Article I, Section 3

10

• Congress– the House and Senate– have legislative powers.

• Article I, Section 1 or Section 8

11

• Congress has the power to declare war.• Article I, Section 8

12

• If the president vetoes a bill, Congress can override the veto if it gets a 2/3 majority vote in BOTH the House and Senate.

• Article I, Section 7

13

• Congress has the power to propose an amendment– has to have a 2/3 majority vote in both House and Senate.

• (Then, ¾ of the states must approve it to become an official amendment.)

• Article V

14

• The President serves a 4 year term.• Article II, Section 1• (one may serve a total of 2 terms as

president)

15

• In order to be President, a person must be a natural born U.S. citizen, a 14 year resident of the U.S. and at least 35 years old.

• Article II, Section 1

16

• The president has the power to approve and veto bills.

• Article I, Section 7

17

• President has the power to make treaties

• Article II, Section 2

18

• President nominates justices to the Supreme Court

• Article II, Section 2

19

• The President nominates ambassadors, cabinet members, etc.

• Article II, Section 2

20

• The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the military

• Article II, Section 2

21

• Justices to the Supreme Court serve for life (so long as on “good behavior”)

• Article III, Section 1

22

• The Supreme Court has the power to review all laws and treaties

• Article III, Section 2

23

• The Supreme Court settles cases involving the USA

• Article III, Section 2

24

• The Supreme Court has the power to settle cases between states

• Article III, Section 2

25

• The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over all impeachment trials

• Article I, Section 3