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Election results map

Brief description
Students create maps with a color key showing election night returns.

Objectives

Students analyze vote counts from each state to determine which candidate got the most popular votes in each state. They create maps with a color key to show the popular vote results. Older students use the maps and a chart to determine how many electoral votes each candidate received.

Keywords

vote, election, map, Electoral College, color key, citizenship

Materials needed

• computers with Internet access or printouts of chart listing electoral votes per state (optional)
• U.S. outline map

Possible outline map sources:

• USA outline maps (Houghton Mifflin)
• Outline Maps of the United States (About.com)

Lesson plan

After election votes have been tallied, students can create their own color-keyed maps that show which candidate won each state. Have students color red all states that Kerry won, color blue the states Bush won, and leave states won by an independent candidate white. Ask older students to determine the electoral vote results using their maps and the chart at The Electoral College.

Assessment

Students accurately depict the election results on their color-keyed maps.

Lesson plan source

Education World

Submitted by

Gary Hopkins