Constitutional Card Sort

Constitutional Card Sort Today you will work with a team to answer questions about how our government works Your resource for answering these questions will be your pocket copy of the U.S. Constitution

For today’s activity, you will want to pay special attention to Articles I, II, III and V The goal of the activity is for your group to answer as many questions as possible AND you are competing against other groups

In order to answer a question correctly, you must be able to identify the Article # and Section # of the Constitution where you found your answer Article #s must always be written in Roman Numerals (I, II, III, IV, etc.) Section #s must always be written in regular numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) Your group will NOT earn credit for an answer if you don’t have it numbered correctly

Questions must be answered in complete sentences Answers not provided in complete sentences will NOT earn credit Additionally, you should highlight or underline the information in your pocket copy of the Constitution

Your group may pull 3 questions at a time from the pink bowl to work on The work should be shared within the group– there should be evidence of ALL group members’ handwriting on the group’s paper When you answer your 3 questions, you need to get them checked by the teacher before you can pull 3 more

If you are having difficulty, your group can have 3 HINTS or 3 PUT-BACKS during the activity HINTS = clues about which Article or Section to look at PUT-BACKS = switching a difficult question for another one You must keep track of hints/put-backs used a the top of your group’s paper

1 Members of the House of Representatives serve for 2 year terms Article I, Section 2

2 One must be at least 25 years of age and a citizen for 7 years in order to be in the House of Representatives. Article I, Section 2

3 The House of Representatives may propose tax (revenue) bills. Article I, Section 7

4 The House of Representatives has the power of impeachment (to bring impeachment articles against a government official). Article I, Section 2

5 The term for Senators is 6 years. Article I, Section 3

6 One must be at least 30 years old and a citizen for 9 years in order to serve in the Senate. Article I, Section 3

7 The Senate must approve all presidential appointments– such as cabinet members, judges and ambassadors. Article II, Section 2

8 The Senate must approve all treaties. Article II, Section 2

9 The Senate conducts all impeachment trials. Article I, Section 3

10 Congress– the House and Senate– have legislative powers. Article I, Section 1 or Section 8

11 Congress has the power to declare war. Article I, Section 8

12 If the president vetoes a bill, Congress can override the veto if it gets a 2/3 majority vote in BOTH the House and Senate. Article I, Section 7

13 Congress has the power to propose an amendment– has to have a 2/3 majority vote in both House and Senate. (Then, ¾ of the states must approve it to become an official amendment.) Article V

14 The President serves a 4 year term. Article II, Section 1 (one may serve a total of 2 terms as president)

15 In order to be President, a person must be a natural born U.S. citizen, a 14 year resident of the U.S. and at least 35 years old. Article II, Section 1

16 The president has the power to approve and veto bills. Article I, Section 7

17 President has the power to make treaties Article II, Section 2

18 President nominates justices to the Supreme Court Article II, Section 2

19 The President nominates ambassadors, cabinet members, etc. Article II, Section 2

20 The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the military Article II, Section 2

21 Justices to the Supreme Court serve for life (so long as on “good behavior”) Article III, Section 1

22 The Supreme Court has the power to review all laws and treaties Article III, Section 2

23 The Supreme Court settles cases involving the USA Article III, Section 2

24 The Supreme Court has the power to settle cases between states Article III, Section 2

25 The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over all impeachment trials Article I, Section 3