Return to Make Classroom Connections to This Year’s Elections

Subjects Educational Technology Mathematics Applied Math Arithmetic Statistics Social Studies Civics Current Events Geography

Grades 3-5 6-8 9-12 Advanced

Brief Description Students examine voter turnout statistics from the most recent election to learn which ten states have the best turnout record. How did your state do? Objectives Students will examine voter turnout statistics. use the turnout statistics (by percent of the voting-age population) to determine which ten states had the highest voter turnout. complete a chart that shows the ten states with the highest turnout. compare their state’s voter turnout record to other states in the region or country. Keywords vote, voter, election, percent, percentage, chart, statistics, data, campaign, Washington DC, government, civics, citizenship Materials Needed Internet access, or a printed page of voter turnout statistics from the last election (provided) In Which States Did Voters Turn Out? work sheet Lesson Plan In this lesson, students use voter turnout data to discover patterns and draw conclusions. At the start of the lesson, share the Web pages at which students can find voter turnout statistics for recent elections. If you do not have computer access in the classroom, this activity might be done in the computer lab or you could print out the voter-turnout statistics for 1998 and 2000 for students to use as they complete the activity. The Federal Election Commission Web site is the best source of voter-turnout data. See the following pages for voter turnout statistics: Voter Turnout 2000 Voter Turnout 1998 Voter Turnout 1996 More Voter Turnout Stats (Scroll down the page to Voter Registration and Turnout Statistics) Additional Resources United States Elections Project: Voter Turnout United States Elections Project: Voter Turnout 2002 Note: The charts above show % TO of REG (percentage turn out of registered voters) and % TO of VAP (the percentage turn out of the voting-age population). This activity will examine the percentage of the voting-age population (VAP) who turned out (TO) to vote. Distribute to each student the In Which States Did Voters Turn Out? worksheet. Have students analyze the data on the Voter Turnout 2000 page to determine which ten states had the largest turnout that year. Then ask them to fill in the chart on the work sheet showing the ten states that had the highest turnout (as a percent of the voting age population). The chart also has a place where students can record information about "My State” if it is not on the top-ten list. You might ask older students to add a column in which they record the percentage of voters who turned out to vote in those ten states in each of the four years prior to the most recent election. That will enable students to see the growth or decline in voter turnout in comparable election years. Extension Activities Have students graph voter turnout statistics over a period of years. Students can analyze statistics for presidential-year and off-year elections separately; or they can graph the two together and look for trends. Has it always been true that more people vote in presidential-election years than in off-year elections? Students can look at and graph results in their regions. What similarities or differences in statistics do you see among neighboring states? What might account for those differences? Examine data about the percentage of the voting-age population (%REG of VAP). Which states might need to focus some attention on getting eligible voters to register? In other words, which states have the highest percentages of the voting-age population that is not even registered to vote? Create a chart to show the percentage of eligible voters who voted in each state in 1998 and 2000. Which states show the largest increases in voter turnout? In addition to the fact that 2000 was a presidential-election year, what might be some other reasons for that increase? Watch the Federal Election Commission site or other sources for voter turnout statistics for this year’s election. Compare that data to data from two years and from four years ago. On a U.S. outline map (use Outline Map 1 or Outline Map 2), color the ten states with the best voter turnout record in the last election. Can you draw any conclusions from the colored map about how geography might relate to voter turnout? To further emphasize the importance of voting, share What a Difference One Vote Makes. This PBS resource documents nine times in history when one vote made a real difference! Additional resource: Does One Vote Really Matter? Assessment Check student work sheets for the correct answers. ANSWER KEY: 1. Minnesota (68.8%); 2. Maine (67.3%); 3. Alaska (66.4%); 4. Wisconsin (66.1%); 5. Vermont (64%); 6. New Hampshire (62.1%); 7. Montana (61.5%); 8. Iowa (60.7%); 9. Oregon (60.6%); 10. North Dakota (60.4%). Your State: Answers will vary. Alternate Assessment: Have students examine the same voter turnout statistics used to create the chart above. Instead of identifying the ten states with the best turnout in the last election, have them identify the five states with the worst voter turnout records. Lesson Plan Source Education World Submitted By Gary Hopkins National Standards MATHEMATICS: Number and Operations 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.3-5.3 Develop and Evaluate Inferences and Predictions That Are Based on Data GRADES 6 - 8 NM-DATA.6-8.3 Develop and Evaluate Inferences and Predictions That Are Based on Data GRADES 9 - 12 NM-DATA.9-12.3 Develop and Evaluate Inferences and Predictions That Are Based on Data 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 NM-REP.PK-12.3 Use Representations to Model and Interpret Physical, Social, and Mathematical Phenomena SOCIAL SCIENCES: Civics GRADES K - 4 NSS-C.K-4.2 Values and Principles of Democracy NSS-C.K-4.5 Roles of the Citizen GRADES 5 - 8 NSS-C.5-8.2 Foundations of the American Political System NSS-C.5-8.5 Roles of the Citizen GRADES 9 - 12 NSS-C.9-12.2 Foundations of the Political System NSS-C.9-12.5 Roles of the Citizen SOCIAL SCIENCES: Geography GRADES K - 12 NSS-G.K-12.2 Places and Regions NSS-G.K-12.6 Uses of Geography SOCIAL SCIENCES: U.S. History GRADES 5 - 12 NSS-USH.5-12.10 Era 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the Present) SOCIAL SCIENCES: World History GRADES 5 - 12 NSS-WH.5-12.8 The 20th Century TECHNOLOGY GRADES K - 12 NT.K-12.1 Basic Operations and Concepts NT.K-12.5 Technology Research tools 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 08/16/2004