January 31, 2013

TOC:98. Senate v House Chart99. Basic Facts100. Leg Branch Review101. Is Congress Representative?

Agenda:1. Review the Bicameral

Legislature2. Basic Facts and Leg

Branch Review3. Clicker Quiz4. How Representative is

Congress?

Legislative Branch NotesBicameral- a legislative made up of two parts: Senate, and House of Representatives

House of Reps- • lower house• more representative of the people• 435 members• Each state has a number based on their population• One representative per district represent their district• 25 years old• 2 year term• Leader is Speaker of the House

Senate-• Upper house• Originally chosen by State, after 17th Amendment- chosen by voters• 100 members- 2 per state• Represent the whole state• 30 years old• 6 year term• Leader is the President of the Senate (VP of the country) and President Pro

Tempore

Basic Facts!Name

Total ## equal or based

on population

Term length

Impeachment power

requirements

Legislative Branch Review   1.      Which part of the Constitution sets up the Legislative Branch? ___________________________________________________________2.      What is another name for the Legislative Branch? ___________________________________________________________3.      What are the two parts of Congress? _______________________ and __________________________ 4.      What is the main job of Congress? ________________________________________________________ 5.      Which branch of the government did the founding fathers think would be the biggest and most powerful? __________________________________________________________6.      What do we call a legislature made up of two parts? __________________________________________________________

Take the Clicker Quiz!!

The People’s Branch

Founding Fathers wanted this branch, especially the House of Reps to be the most representative of the American people. It was supposed to think like, look like, vote like and make laws for (like?) the American people.

Imagine!!!

Picture a member of Congress in your head. On your notecard,

write down five adjectives to describe this person OR do a quick sketch of the person.

Did he look like this???

Partner Think:

What percentage of the US population is:1. Male?2. Female3. White?4. African American?5. Hispanic?6. Asian?

Must add to 100%

Must add to 100%

IS Congress Representative?Category Population House of

Reps% of

HouseSenate % of

Senate

Male 49.2% 363 83

Female 50.8% 72 17

White 64% 367 94

African American

13% 40 1

Hispanic 16% 24 3

Asian 5% 4 2

On the back of your notecard, answer this question in a complete paragraph:

IS Congress representative of the gender and ethnic diversity in the United States? Does it

need to be?

IS Congress Representative?

Wednesday, February 6• EQ- What is the function of committees

in Congress?• Table of Contents:

–105. Committees Flipchart–106. Legally Blonde Notes

• Agenda:1. Review2. Committees3. Legally Blonde

Review Questions1. What does bicameral mean?2. What are the two parts of Congress?3. How old do you have to be to be in the

House? Senate?4. How long is a term in the House?

Senate?5. Who is the leader of the House? Senate?6. What is the main job of Congress?7. What is another job of Congress?

Committees ChartCommittees in Congress

Standing Committees and Subcommittees

Select Committees

Joint Committees

Conference Committees

Assignment to Committees and Role of Committee Chair

Standing Committees and Subcommittees: pg. 142-143

1. Define Standing Committees

2. What is the role of the majority party in standing committees?

3. What are three examples of standing committees in the House and three in the Senate? (use chart on page 143)

4. Define subcommittees.

Select Committees: pg 143

1. What are select committees?

2. What do they study?3. What are two examples of

select committee topics?

Joint Committees: pg. 143-144

1. Who are the members of joint committees?

2. What do joint committees do?

3. What do they NOT have the power to do?

4. What is an example of a joint committee?

Conference Committees:pg. 1441. What are

conference committees?

2. Why do we need them?

3. What are the members called and where do they come from?

4. What is the job of a conference committee?

5. What happens once a conference report reaches the floor?

Assignment to Committee and Role of Committee Chair: pg 144-1451. What can assignment on

the right committee do for a member of Congress?

2. What are the best committees in the House

and the Senate?3. How are members assigned?4. What are six things Committee Chairs do?

Legally Blonde 2

• Today, as you watch the movie answer the following questions:– 1. What is the purpose of the bill she is trying

to write?– 2. Is this the House or Senate?– 3. Which committee is handling her bill?– 4. What is the role of the committee chair?

Friday, February 8EQ- How does a bill become a law?

Table of Contents:107. Committee Review108. Bill to a Law Chart109. Bill Examples

Agenda:1.Review Congress

and Committees2.Discuss the Bill to a

Law Process3.Legally Blonde 2

Homework: Work on your children’s book!

Congress and Committee Review1. What does bicameral mean?2. What are the two parts of Congress?3. How old do you have to be to be in the

House? Senate?4. How long is the term for House? Senate?5. What is the number for the House based on?6. How many members of the House? Senate?7. Who starts the impeachment process?8. Who is the leader of the House? Senate?

Which Standing Committee?1. A bill to limit the type of pesticides used on crops.

(HR)2. A bill to restrict the troops sent abroad. (HR)3. A bill to support wind energy research. (S)4. A bill to enforce equal rights in the workforce. (S)5. A bill to send a new type of satellite to space. (HR)6. A bill to change the meeting times for the House of

Representatives. (HR)7. A bill to enforce the 2009 federal budget. (HR)

Bill Poster- Read your assigned bill then create a poster that

contains:• Bill Name• Bill Number• Senate or House?• Who? Which State?• Summary of the Bill• Committee Assigned to• Where is it now?????• Picture

Tuesday, February 12• EQ- How does a bill become a law?• Agenda:

1. Copy notes! You will need these, so don’t lose them!

2. Bill to a Law Process (use the chart on page 185) 3. Review Legislative Branch (clicker review & crossword) 4. Work on the Project- Due Friday!!! (you will not have a page 8,18-19)

Copy these notes on a piece of paper. You will need these for your book and your work this period.

1. The legislative branch makes laws and is called Congress.

2. It was set up by Article 1 of the Constitution.

3. It is bicameral- has two parts called the Senate and the House of Reps.

4. House of Reps: 25 years old, 2 year term, 7 years citizen, lower house, led by the speaker, starts impeachment, in charge of money bills, represent districts

5. Senate: 30 years old, six year term, 9 year citizen, upper house, led by the VP, finishes impeachment, approves treaties, represent the whole state, can filibuster6. Committees: groups in Congress that divide the workload. There are 4 types:

– Standing- permanent, topic based, decide bills

– Joint- has members of Senate and House

– Conference- comes up with Compromise bills

– Select- deals with a special issue

Bill to a Law Process• Fill in your graphic organizer, using page

185 on the text. – The “committee action” box in the middle is

not on your chart. That’s ok!• Once you finish, write a paragraph on the

back of your graphic organizer that explains how a bill becomes a law.

• Turn this in!

Bill Introduced, Read out loud,

given # and Committee

Bill Introduced, Read out loud,

given # and Committee

Committee Action(kill it?

Subcommittee assignment,

hearings, vote)

Committee Action(kill it?

Subcommittee assignment,

hearings, vote)

Whole Floor Debate and Vote

Whole Floor Debate and Vote

Conference Committee

(compromise bill)

Both houses vote again

President1- sign it = LAW!2- veto it (can override with 2/3 vote- very rare!)3- do nothing for 10 days and it becomes a law anyway!

Review• Use your notebook to complete the

Legislative Branch crossword.• Turn this in!

Book Project• Project is due Thursday!• Remember it must be bound in some

format, be in color and have a complete sentence or two on each page!!!!

• Each page must have a picture.• You DO NOT have to do pages 18 &19!• This counts as a major grade!