Summary:
In this activity students will get a broad sense of how government affects life in a given area (Home, Suburb, Urban, Rural) over a range of topics. They will select one topic they care about and write to a politician about it. This will work to provide them a better understanding of jurisdictions as well as give them hands-on experience in getting involved in the democratic process.
Expected Duration: 3x 1 hour sessions (1 in play, 1 in research/writing, 1 in reflection/conversations)
Learning Outcomes:
- Identify a range of government responsibilities assigned to them
- Learn how to identity which politicians are responsible for topics and research how to contact them
- Summarize their in-game findings about the government activity or influence
Materials:
- Envelopes and postage (no postage required for mail to a Member of Parliament).
Instructions:
Introduce students to the Explore mode of the Jurisdictions: Canada web game. Demonstrate how to change scenes, scroll around and click on objects to learn about them and page through the text information provided in game.
Students will now play a Find All mode game for one Area (Home, Suburb, Urban, Rural) of their choice. After their playthrough they must select one topic in the game that they care about. Students may write about something they already know about or research current policy and debate in that area.
The students must write to the appropriate politician about it – their local federal, provincial or municipal representative or appropriate cabinet minister. This can include researching department or ministry responsibilities, or electoral maps to determine the correct politician to contact.
They can write a request for action, clarity or information, support or oppose a proposed bill or party policy on the subject. Make a copy of the letters before mailing so you can compare them to any responses received. You can use your school address for a reply address to minimize personal information sharing.
Reflection:
The politicians should write back, though it may take a while. Students can share with the class what they wrote about and the response they received. Use this to foster conversations about the topics, and the process of democracy.
Downloads:
Download this Lesson Plan as a pdf