Name _________________________Date ___________

Electoral Process/U.S. Government Project

Many Americans are active in politics and often debate political views. That is very apparent in our current election year. However, not all Americans know about our political process and how the U.S. Government works. Your task will be to design a solution to this problem.

You will be working with a small group of peers to help educate the American people, or those right around you. It

is not possible to address all problems of misconception or ignorance about our government, but you will select one to address. You will employ the design model discussed in class to realize and solve/educate people on one of these issues.

Design Model

1. Empathize – Who are the people that do not know as much about the American Political Process? How must that feel when it comes to things like voting and discussing politics? What are some things you would like to know/think are important about how we structure/run our government in America?

2. Define – What is the area of politics you would like to focus on? What is the problem with this ignorance and how does it affect people that live in our country? How does it affect our country as a whole? What is the root of the problem? Be specific.

3. Brainstorm – Now it is time to come up with some ideas, how could we solve this problem? What are things people need to know? What is the best way to get the word out there for the most people to hear/see it? Who do you want to educate? (Older Adults/ New Voters/ Middle Schoolers/ Elementary Age children, etc.)

4. Create – This will be your finished product. You will choose the best ideas from your brainstorming step and make them come to life in the form of a visual presentation (this could be a video, PowerPoint, Prezi, Poster, Series of Images/posts for social media, etc.)

5. Test – You will display your Creation before the election and reflect on whether or not you believe it worked. What reactions did you get? Were people talking about it? What could you do better next time.

Each member of your group must submit the following:

Topic – What will you be focused on solving? (Done after/during the Define Step) - (10/19)

Evidence of Design Model – Detail is important, be specific (All Five Steps) - (11/2)

Final Visual Product – This will be a representation of your ideas (Create Step) - (11/2)

Final Reflection – This will be a reflection of your work (Test Step) – (11/9)

Rubric

Title and Point Value DescriptionTopic Selection (10/19)

___________/5 points

You must identify a topic of interest/study. This should be based on an area of need among the

American People/ your audience

Evidence of the Design Model

(11/2)

___________/20 points

The first three steps of the design model are detailed. Empathize – clear evidence that you identified with your

audience and this empathy is clearly displayed in future steps of the design model.

Define – your topic/definition is clear and is clearly reflected in previous and future steps of the design model.

Brainstorm – evidence of various ideas with details (brainstorm how to make them work) Your creation should be one of the many ideas brainstormed

Final Visual Project (11/2)

___________/20 points

Your Final Visual Project clearly conveys your idea and topic with detail.

A visual image/piece to capture and grab your audience’s attention

Your final creation informs the audience of the problem/misunderstanding and corrects that lack of knowledge with detail.

Reflection on Creation(11/9)

___________/15 points

One paragraph written response on your creation that answers the following with detail:

What role did you play in the process? How did people react to your project? How many people

(estimated) viewed this? Why did you choose this product and what are its strengths? What is something you could improve next time? -or-

what makes this product the best choice?

Final Grade

___________/60 points

Teacher Comments: