Lesson: Today the students did an activity about the Senate and House of Representatives. In pairs, the students studied the bar graph on page 74 of their textbooks. This bar graph showed the estimated population of the thirteen original states in 1787. They were given a chart where they recorded some data. Here are the steps:
- There are seven small states and seven large states. Write their names in the first column on your charts. Write all the small states in the small state chart and all the large states in the large state column.
- Look at the graph and figure out the population of each state. Record these numbers in column two on your chart.
- Suppose each state sends only one representative to Congress, write the number one in column three on your chart.
- Now suppose that it is decided taht each state would have only one representative for every 50,000 people in that state. How many representatives would each state have? (Divide the total population by 50,000) Write these numbers in your chart.
- Add the numbers in each column. Put your answers in the total boxes.
After they recorded their data, we discussed the following questions:
- If it were decided that there should be one representative for each state, how many representatives would all the small states have together? How many would the large states have? Is this fair?
- If it were decided that representation should be based on the population of each state, how many representatives would the small states have together? How many would the large states have? Is this fair?
- In each state, how many people would each representative represent?
- Why would the small states favor the idea of having one representative per state?
- Why would the large states favor the idea of having one representative for every 50,000 people in the state?
Homework: None