I use a story map-based investigation of voter turnout to help my 12th grade US Government students see whose voice is/isn't heard in elections. The investigation is local - they look at voting behavior in the City of Allentown, and compare it to nation- and state-wide behavior and results. Students notice correlations between race, income, and ideology and whether or not someone votes. Because it is geo-referenced, the students can see themselves in the data - how did their neighborhood turn out in recent elections, and how do they feel about it. Over 2 years of running this activity with 2 semesters of students (we're about to launch this investigation for the 4th time), we have achieved an almost 90% voter registration rate with our eligible students - and many credit this activity with their decision to register to vote.#vote
Awesome, Shannon! This is what we love to see -- students exmining their community, identifying an issue, understanding it through analysis, participating, evaluating the impact, and presenting the totality of the story. Nice write-up of a nice job!
