C-SPAN Classroom Electoral College Map
Overview: Lesson ideas and activities for students with the use of the C-SPAN Electoral College Map. Essential Question: Identifying how the Electoral College works by using and Electoral Map. Lesson Plan: 1. Start by distributing an electoral college map, and begin asking questions on basic map skills: a. What is the title of this map? b. What do the different color numbers stand for? For example, what is the population of New York? c. How many Representatives does the state of California send to the House of Representatives? (Explain that every state has 2 Senators and the number of people sent to the House of Representatives is based on population, give more examples until the students show understanding) 2. Give students a blank map of the U.S., and have them complete it using the following: a. Label the number of electoral votes for each state. b. Use the following map on C-SPAN’s Politics web page, Looking at the 2004 election results, shade the map based on the following predictions for the 2008 election: Label a state Red if it was Red in 2004, and will stay Red in 2008. Label a state Blue if was Blue in 2004, and it will stay Blue in 2008. Label a state Purple if it was Red in 2004, but will be Blue in 2008. Label a state Orange if it was Blue in 2004, but will be Red in 2008. Label a state Yellow if it is a battle ground state for 2008. c. Looking at the 2006 election results, have students identify red states that turned blue and vice versa after the election. Ask what this could mean for the 2008 Presidential election. 3. Other ways to use the 2008 C-SPAN Electoral College map in the classroom a. Make scaled maps. Have the students re-draw state boundaries based on the number of electoral votes per state. (For example, states with populations of 5.5-9 million people will be larger than states with populations of 0-2.9 million people.) Compare that to the "actual" size of the state. (Level: Beginner).
b. Follow the candidate. Over several weeks, map where the candidates make campaign stops (give the states' votes to that candidate) and see how long it takes to get to the magic number. (Level: Middle) c. Exit Polling. Use the map to discuss the role exit polling plays in election results. Students can visually see how it is possible for a candidate to gain electoral votes before the polls close in the west. Discuss the impact of voter participation on exit polling. (Level: Middle) d. Follow the trends. Get historical electoral information for each of the states. Keep track of how often and when states switch from one party to another. (Level: Advanced) e. Stage a mock election. Have each student study the state--its economy, voting history, current elected representatives. Then, students will individually make predictions as to which party will win their state's electoral votes in 2004. (Level: Advanced) f. Focus on the "Battleground" states. Color in, or mark the (17 or 18) states considered to be the ones where the candidates are likely to battle it out because they had the closest contests in 2004. (Find the battleground states by linking to the 2004 Electoral Results Chart and seeing which states had the closest margin.)
Additional Resources: C-SPAN Electoral College Map