Issues
Asylum and Immigration
Background Information
Bell Ringer: What is DACA? (3:57)
Lesson Plan: The Asylum Application Process (6 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Refugees & National Security (6 Clips)
Historical Context
Bell Ringer: Reduction to Refugee Admissions (7: 13)
The Coronavirus Pandemic
Background Information
Video Clip: Federalism during Public Health Emergencies (3:53)
Video Clip: Powers of the President during the Coronavirus Outbreak (2:50)
Lesson Plan: How Should the Government Address the Economic Impacts of the Coronavirus Outbreak? (8 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Should States Shift to Mail-In Voting during the Coronavirus Pandemic? (8 Clips)
Lesson Plan: What role should the federal government have in reopening the economy? (5 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Civil Liberties and the Coronavirus (7 Clips)
Historical Context
Lesson Plan: Lessons Learned from the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (7 Clips)
Video Clip: Parallels between the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and the Coronavirus Outbreak (7:45)
Video Clip: The Defense Production Act and Presidential Powers (3:46)
Economics
Background Information
Video Clip: The Federal Deficit during the Coronavirus Outbreak (5:33)
Bell Ringer: What are recessions and how can governments respond? (3:10)
Bell Ringer: Impacts of Monopolization (3:15)
Bell Ringer: Costs and Benefits of Regulations (2 Clips)
Deliberation: Should the federal government bail out state and local governments facing budget shortfalls? (9 Clips)
Lesson Plan: How Should the Government Address the Economic Impacts of the Coronavirus Outbreak? (8 Clips)
Historical Context
Bell Ringer: The Sherman Anti-Trust Act (2:41)
Bell Ringer: Comparing the Gilded Age to Today (4:43)
Education
Background Information
Bell Ringer: Financial Literacy - Student Loan Debt (7:49)
Classroom Deliberation: Should the government provide free college for students? (10 Clips)
Classroom Deliberation: Should Student Loans Be Forgiven? (11 Clips)
Historical Context
Lesson Plan: The GI Bill (8 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (2 Clips)
Employment and Wages
Background Information
Video Clip: The Raise the Wage Act (5:39)
Bell Ringer: The Impact of Technology on the Workforce (6:51)
Bell Ringer: Calculating Unemployment And Job Numbers (1:33)
Lesson Plan: Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Raised? (5 Clips)
Historical Context
Lesson Plan: The New Deal (6 Clips)
Environment
Background Information
Bell Ringer: Costs and Benefits of Regulations (2 Clips)
Classroom Deliberation: Should the federal government implement the Green New Deal? (12 Clips)
Classroom Deliberation: What Role Should the Federal Government Play in Conservation? (10 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Perspectives on Energy Production and Climate Change (7 Clips & Slides)
Historical Context
Bell Ringer: Burning Rivers and Environmental Squalor (2 Clips)
Video Clip: The United States and the Paris Climate Accord (4:39)
Foreign Affairs
Background Information
Bell Ringer: U.S. Foreign Policy and Interventionism vs. Isolationism (6:33)
Classroom Deliberation: What is the best approach to US foreign policy in the 21st century? (11 Clips)
Historical Context
Bell Ringer: Isolationists in World War II (11:42)
Gun Violence
Background Information
Bell Ringer: The Role of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (2:32)
Classroom Deliberation: How Should the Issue of Gun Violence be Addressed in the United States? (20 Clips)
Historical Context
Lesson Plan: D.C. v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago Supreme Court Cases (6 Clips)
Video Clip: History of the NRA & Gun Legislation (3:56)
Health Care
Background Information
Video Clip: Differences between Medicare for All and the Public Option (3:02)
Bell Ringer: Health Insurance and the "Free-Rider" Problem (2:14)
Classroom Deliberation: Should the federal government fund a single-payer health care system for everyone? (12 Clips)
Classroom Deliberation: Who is Responsible for Today’s Opioid Epidemic? (11 Clips)
Historical Context
Lesson Plan: The History of Federal Entitlement Programs in the U.S. (7 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Medicare and Medicaid Acts of 1965 (5:41)
LGBTQ+ Issues
Background Information
Video Clip: The Equality Act and LGBTQ Discrimination (5:24)
Video Clip: Arguments in the Masterpiece Cakeshop Case (6:18)
Lesson Plan: Landmark LGBT Supreme Court Cases (9 Clips)
Historical Context
Bell Ringer: The Impact of the Stonewall Riots (3 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Don't Ask, Don't Tell (8 Clips)
Bell Ringer: AIDS Protest at the FDA (2 Clips)
Policing and Racial Justice
Background Information
Video Clip: Peniel Joseph on the Significance of the George Floyd Protests (4:40)
Video Clip: Congressional Democrats Introduce Police Reform Legislation (2:37)
Video Clip: IACP President Steven Casstevens on Police Reforms (3:09)
Classroom Deliberation: Should Law Enforcement Utilize Civil Asset Forfeiture? (8 Clips)
Classroom Deliberation: Should qualified immunity for law enforcement officials be eliminated? (11 Clips)
Historical Context
Bell Ringer: The Kerner Report (4:32)
Bell Ringer: The Origins of the Black Lives Matter Movement (3:05)
Social Media and Data Privacy
Background Information
Bell Ringer: Data Protection and Privacy Policies (4:40)
Video Clip: Data Privacy Laws in the United States (3:00)
Video Clip: Moderation of Content by Online Platforms (4:42)
Video Clip: Coronavirus Contact Tracing Technology and 4th Amendment Concerns (5:25)
Deliberation: Should social media companies be responsible for removing content on their platforms? (7 Clips)
Deliberation: Should big tech companies be broken up? (9 Clips)
Deliberation: What type of policy should the federal government enact to protect data privacy? (10 Clips)
Tax Policy
Background Information
Bell Ringer: Trickle-Down Economics (2 Clips)
Bell Ringer: How the Federal Government Spends Your Taxes (2:43)
Bell Ringer: Marginal Tax Rates (2 Clips)
Bell Ringer: Wealth Taxes and How They Work (2 Clips)
Historical Context
Lesson Plan: 16th Amendment and Income Taxes (8 Clips)
Trade and Tariffs
Background Information
Video Clip: An Explanation of the Proposed United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (3:35)
Bell Ringer: Chinese Economy, Trade, and the Impact on the U.S. (4:48)
Lesson Plan: Trade Policy: Tariffs and Free Trade (9 Clips)
Lesson Plan: Replacing NAFTA: The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) (8 Clips)
Lesson Plan: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (9 Clips)
Historical Context
Bell Ringer: The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act and the Great Depression (2:06)
Lesson Plan: The History of Tariffs in the United States (8 Clips)
US-Mexico Border
Background Information
Bell Ringer: History of Border Security in pre-20th century America (6:17)
Classroom Deliberation: What should the United States do to address issues along the U.S.-Mexico border? (12 Clips)
Historical Context
Bell Ringer: 20th Century US Immigration Law: The Bracero Program (1:24)