5.1 – Warmup and Introduction

Aydin Durgunoglu; Erin Cary; John Trerotola

5.1 – Warmup and Introduction

What do you already know about the branches and powers of the U.S. government?

Thinking Ahead:

The pictures below show each part of the U.S. government. Which picture shows the president, the Congress, and the Supreme Court? Discuss with your classmates.

[Credit 1 / Credit 2 / Credit 3]

What do you see in these pictures? What do you feel about them?

Big Questions

In this chapter, we explore the powers of different parts of the U.S. government and how these parts support and limit each other. Be ready to review vocabulary words that are related to this topic, and discuss your experiences and what you learned about powers and limits of the U.S. government.

After completing Module 5, you will be able to answer the following questions:

Questions #1-2: What are the branches (or parts) of the U.S. government? What are their powers?

Question #3: Why was the U.S. government designed to share power using checks and balances?

Before we begin, let’s look at our Historical Timeline:

Historical timeline of the Americas. Yellow arrow reads "Important dates in this module", arrow is pointed at the 1700s. This block includes The Declaration of Independence (1776), The American Revolution (1775-1783), and The U.S. Constitution approved (1789).