Student Activities

Key to Illinois

Student Activities

Overview

1. Trace the land form map of Illinois. Color each area a different color. State one unique characteristic about each area. In which area do you live?

2. Make a chart that shows the three branches of government in Illinois. List the components of each branch and their responsibilities. Draw lines between responsibilities which show how the branches implement checks and balances over each other.

3. Compare the Illinois Constitution with the United States Constitution in the following ways:
        A. How are responsibilities shared and limited by the two constitutions?
        B. How are the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government defined by the two constitutions?
        C. What are the similarities and differences in the Bill of Rights of the two constitutions?

4. Using U.S. Census Bureau information, create a chart that compares the population statistics for Illinois for 1995 with projected estimates in 2025. Use absolute numbers as well as percentages to compare ethnic and age distribution categories.

Prehistory - 1672

1. Make a scale model of TIME! Using one wall of the classroom arrange different lengths of various colored yarn to represent the Precambrian Era to the present. Label each era, period, and epoch.

2. See if you can find a fossil in your yard or in a nearby streambed. Bring it to class to make a display with your classmates.

The French Frontier: 1673 - 1799

1. Make a map which shows the routes of early French explorers and their contacts with the Indians living in Illinois at the time.

2. Compare the type of relationships the French, British, and Americans had with the Indians living in Illinois.

American Expansion: 1800 - 1855

1. Make a chart and compare the first Illinois constitution with the United States Constitution. How are the main sections similar or different?

2. List the changes to the current Illinois Constitution since the first Illinois constitution. Have the class vote on the most important changes and explain why they are the most significant.

3. Complete the activity Growth of Cities along the Illinois-Michigan Canal.

The Civil War and After: 1856-1889

1. Complete the activity about Causes of the Civil War from EdSITEment. In this activity, students will list differences and similarities between life in the North and the South in the years before the Civil War and discuss how these differences contributed to serious disagreements between the North and South.

2. Diagram the major points of key speeches by Abraham Lincoln throughout his political career. Compare his views on slavery, the Confederacy, and the necessity for war at the beginning of his first presidency and at the time of his second inauguration.

3. Compare the struggles of the women's suffrage movement with the labor problems which occurred during this time. Are there any similarities in their goals and methods used to achieve them?

Early 20th Century: 1890-1939

1. Complete the Activity: Voices for Votes, Suffrage Strategies from the Library of Congress web site. In this activity, students examine a variety of primary source documents related to the women's suffrage movement. They identify different methods people used to influence and change attitudes and beliefs about suffrage for women.

2. Make an economic family tree of your ancestors. Identify what jobs your ancestors held. Does your family's employment reflect economic changes in the history of Illinois?

3. Complete the activity United We Stand from the Library of Congress web site. In this activity, students will describe the working conditions in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century that gave rise to the labor union movement and use primary documents to understand and justify the rise of organized labor unions.

4. Complete the lesson 3, The Great Depression and the 1990s from the Library of Congress web site. In this lesson, students will examine certain New Deal programs and identify in what form they exist today.

Illinois' Changing Society: 1940 - 1999

1. Find out if any of your ancestors participated in World War 2. Conduct an interview with someone who participated in World War 2 or lived during that time.

2. Did any of your female ancestors work in factories during the war? Complete the activity On the Home Front from EdSitement. This activity is on the actions taken on the home front to help with the war effort during World War II.

3. Complete the activity Listening to History from EdSitement. This activity is on conducting an oral interview with a family member.

4. Complete the lesson Exploring Cultural Rituals from the Library of Congress web site. In this lesson students will use photos, documents, and music from the American Memory collection and other resources to investigate rituals and customs of various cultures.

5. Conduct an interview with someone from your community of a different ethnic background than your own. How do their experiences differ from your own family's experiences?

6. Complete the Activities on Everett Dirksen and the Civil Rights movement. In the first activity, students will analyze a political cartoon about passing civil rights legislation. In the second activity, students will analyze a letter to Dirksen from the US Assistant Attorney General regarding the Federal Government's role in protecting civil rights activists.

Illinois in the New Millennium

1. Participate in the activity Is the Electoral College Out of Date. In this activity, students will gain an understanding of the electoral college system, interpret and analyze the need for an electoral college in today's political society and make proposals on changes to the electoral college system.

Other General Activities

1. In our study of history, we use primary and secondary sources to acquire information. Click on the link above to find the difference between primary and secondary sources. Then create a list of sources and categorize each item as a primary or secondary source. For example, how would you categorize an original photograph of an event and a newspaper article about an event? Finally, complete the activity from the Library of Congress on Analyzing Primary Sources.

2. Complete the lesson America Dreams - through the Decades from the Library of Congress web site. In this lesson, students will research the American Memory collection to uncover the dreams of Americans through the decades.

3. Divide the class into groups. Have each group take one of the major eras in Illinois history and create a presentation for the class describing the major social, cultural, political and economic characteristics in Illinois during each era.

4. Divide the class into groups. Have each group create a timeline that identifies the significant people and events for one of the major eras of Illinois history. Post each group's timeline along a classroom or hallway wall to create a complete timeline of Illinois history. Go to the Timelines page for a list of timelines on Illinois history.