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Brief Description
Picture this! Students use art supplies or a free online tool to graph election results. (Note: The free online tool in this lesson is a great tool that can be applied to many classroom lesson activities.)
Objectives
Students will
- monitor the results of this year’s local, state, and/or national elections.
- create graphs (using art supplies, software, or a free and easy-to-use online graph-making tool) to show the results of this year’s local, state, and/or national elections.
Keywords
graph, election, governor, president, vote, technology, percent, percentage, Congress, campaign, Washington DC, government, civics
Materials Needed
- election results from a local newspaper or online news source
- computer access or art supplies
Lesson Plan
In this lesson, students create graphs to show the results of this year’s elections. The activity makes use of the classroom computer, but it can be adapted for use in the computer-less classroom.
Students can create their graphs using art materials, software available on school computers, or with Create a Graph, a simple, free online graphing tool available on the NCES Kids Web site. Create a Graph is a great tool -- one that will provide students with hours of free fun and learning. You will want to note, however, that this online tool has limitations; for example, it cannot graph numbers larger than 9,999 -- so, for many election races, students will need to graph percentages rather than final vote totals. See a sample graph (below) that was created using Create a Graph.
What information should students illustrate in their graphs? That depends on the grade level you teach. The day after the election, the newspaper and online news sources will include vote tallies and percentages for races of importance to people in your community. Following are some suggestions for graphs that students can create:
- Graph the vote result, by percentage, for each candidate in a community or statewide race; for example, students might graph the race for mayor in your community, the race for U.S. representative in your district, or the race for governor in your state. See a sample graph (above) of one such race.
- Study the results of the town council race in your community. Create a graph to show how many Republicans, Democrats, and "Others” make up the new council.
- Graph the voter turnout by percent compared to the turnout for previous elections. (For resources, see the lesson Did Voters Turn Out -- Or Are They Turned Off?)
- Before the election, create a graph that reflects the latest poll results in a variety of races; after the election results are in, graph the actual results. Compare the before and after graphs for each race.
- Create a graph to illustrate who won the governors races across the United States. Show how many Democrats, Republicans, and "Others” were victorious across the United States. (Note: The governorship was not up for grabs in all states.)
- Create a graph to show the results of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives races around the country. The graph will show how many Democrats, Republicans, and "Others” are members of each body. (Students might graph the makeup of each body before and after the election. How did the makeup of each body change as a result of the election?)
Assessment
- Students will share their graphs and explain in their own words what those graphs show.
- Alternate or additional assessment: Students will write a brief paragraph that explains what their graphs show. Those paragraphs will serve as captions to their graphs.
- Use the graphs and the paragraphs to transform a classroom bulletin board into an Election Results classroom display.
Lesson Plan Source
Education World
Submitted By Gary Hopkins
National Standards
FINE ARTS: Visual Arts
- GRADES K - 4
NA-VA.K-4.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
NA-VA.K-4.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.K-4.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
- GRADES 5 - 8
NA-VA.5-8.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
NA-VA.5-8.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.5-8.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
- GRADES 9 - 12
NA-VA.9-12.1 Understanding and Applying Media, Techniques, and Processes
NA-VA.9-12.3 Choosing and Evaluating A Range of Subject Matter, Symbols, and Ideas
NA-VA.9-12.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
LANGUAGE ARTS: English
MATHEMATICS: Number and Operations
- GRADES Pre-K - 2
NM-NUM.PK-2.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
- GRADES 3 - 5
NM-NUM.3-5.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
- GRADES 6 - 8
NM-NUM.6-8.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
- GRADES 9 - 12
NM-NUM.9-12.1 Understand Numbers, Ways of Representing Numbers, Relationships Among Numbers, and Number Systems
MATHEMATICS: Data Analysis and Probability
- GRADES 3 - 5
NM-DATA.3-5.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data
NM-DATA.3-5.3 Develop and Evaluate Inferences and Predictions That Are Based on Data
- GRADES 6 - 8
NM-DATA.6-8.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data
NM-DATA.6-8.3 Develop and Evaluate Inferences and Predictions That Are Based on Data
- GRADES 9 - 12
NM-DATA.9-12.2 Select and Use Appropriate Statistical Methods to Analyze Data
NM-DATA.9-12.3 Develop and Evaluate Inferences and Predictions That Are Based on Data
MATHEMATICS: Communications
- GRADES Pre-K - 12
NM-COMM.PK-12.2 Communicate Their Mathematical Thinking Coherently and Clearly to Peers, Teachers, and Others
NM-COMM.PK-12.4 Use the Language of Mathematics to Express Mathematical Ideas Precisely
MATHEMATICS: Connections
- GRADES Pre-K - 12
NM-CONN.PK-12.3 Recognize and Apply Mathematics in Contexts Outside of Mathematics
MATHEMATICS: Representation
- GRADES Pre-K - 12
NM-REP.PK-12.1 Create and Use Representations to Organize, Record, and Communicate Mathematical Ideas
SOCIAL SCIENCES: Civics
SOCIAL SCIENCES: U.S. History
- GRADES 5 - 12
NSS-USH.5-12.10 Era 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the Present)
TECHNOLOGY
See more election lesson plans from the Education World archive.
Click to return to this week’s Lesson Planning article, Classroom Lessons from Ed World’s Election Collection.
Originally published 10/18/2002
Links last updated 10/04/2006
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