MCMA Educational Initiative Committee

Purpose

For most students, the local community is more accessible, more tangible, and more comprehensible than the State or national levels. For example, it is more likely that over the lifespan a student will be appointed to a committee or be elected to office in a city or county than to a State or national committee or office. The Minnesota City/County Management Association has been working for several years to develop curriculum units that will help students understand how their local community works. A number of strands and substrands in the Minnesota Academic Standards lend themselves to local government applications. Further, all cities and counties have websites and most post information to those sites that can be used to bring the local community into the classroom. This site provides links to a number of curriculum components created by MCMA members for classroom use, and from other sites on the Web (notably the Michigan Civics Institute). This page is regularly updated as new components are developed and tested.

MN Academic Standards in History and the Social Studies: Links to Lesson Plans

Strand V: Geography

• Substrand C: Spatial Organization
  • Standard 1: "The student will understand the regional distribution of the human population at local to global scales and its patterns of change."
  • Standard 4: "The student will analyze the patterns of location, functions, structure, and characteristics of local to global settlement patterns and the processes that affect the location of cities."
    • Build a Block–A lesson that teaches students the issues involved in the subdivision of land and providing the space for services that will be needed.
    • Balancing Working and Living–A lesson in which students create a local economy which matches employment opportunities with household characteristics.
  • Standard 5: "The student will use regions and the interaction among them to analyze the present patterns of economic activity in the United States and around the world at various scales."
• Substrand D: Interconnections
  • Standard 1: "The student will describe how humans influence the environment and in turn are influenced by it."
    • Design with Nature–A lesson that asks students to assess the environmental tradeoffs in locating building sites.

Strand VI: Economics

• Substrand A: The Market Economy
  • Standard 7: "The student will understand the economic role of government in a free market economy."
    • Landowners' Game–A lesson, based on the Prisoner's Dilemma and "The Tragedy of the Commons," that points up the difference between private goods and public goods in trying to supply good quality rental housing.
• Substrand B:The National Economy
  • Standard 1: "The student will understand the economic activities of government."
    • City Surfing–A lesson on the range and diversity of services provided by local government, using city websites.
    • Activities and Services Provided by Local Governmental Units–A lesson assessing the differences between services focusing on health, safety, or general welfare.
    • Municipalities: Is It Time for a Change?"–A lesson assessing the quality of services provided by municipalities.
    • City Services and Operation–A lesson linking city services to the budgets for providing them.
    • Local Government Funding–A lesson identifying the source and amount of revenue raised by one's local community
    • Truth in Taxation/Budget Lessons–A lesson using the annual Minnesota"Truth in Taxation" hearings.
• Substrand E:Economics and Public Policy
  • Standard 1: "The student will apply economic theories and concepts to public policy issues."
    • Minapple Game–A role-playing simulation in which the students attempt to resolve an issue that wraps economics and political issues in the same package.

Strand VII: Government and Citizenship

• Substrand A:Civic Values, Skills, Rights and Responsibilities
  • Standard 3: "The student will analyze various methods of civic engagement needed to fulfill responsibilities of a citizen of the republic."
    • How to Make Representative Government Work for You–A lesson in representative government and organizing for change.
    • Get Involved–A lesson on the variety of ways to be involved in the local community
    • Citizenship Lessons–A lesson for creating a mock city council and creating a process for solving a local issue.
    • Guidelines for running a public meeting (City of Hugo)
• Substrand B: Beliefs and Principles of United State Democracy
  • Standard 3: "The student will understand tensions that exist between key principles of government in the United States."
    • Poor Hannah–A lesson that asks students to balance the conflicting demands of individual liberty and preserving the public health and safety.
    • Home Rule or not Home Rule, That Is the Question–A lesson that balances the principle of home rule against the principle of efficiency.
• Substrand D:Governmental Processes and Institutions
  • Standard 4: "The student will understand the role and influence of political processes and organizations."
    • Minapple Game–A role-playing simulation in which the students attempt to resolve an issue that wraps economics and political issues in the same package.
    • Evaluating the Relationship between Local Governments–A role-playing simulation through which students assess the relationship between local units of government.
    • Change in the Air: The Uncertain Future of Smelly Lake Village–A lesson on the procedures for passing a local ordinance.
  • Standard 6: "The student will understand Minnesota state and local government structure and political processes."
    • What Would Happen If–A lesson on the structure of local government and its relation to the US Constitution.
    • Teaching the Types of Local Government in Michigan: Model Building "–A lesson comparing the different types of local government.
    • The Law in Your Community–A lesson in which students assess local community ordinances
    • Local Government Employees–A lesson on the types of work done by local government employees, and how those roles interrelate.

Committee Members:

• Dianne Miller,City of Eagan, Committee Chair
• Mike Ericson, City of Hugo
• Rebecca Erickson, League of Minnesota Cities
• Tony Filipovitch, Urban Studies, Minnesota State University Mankato
• Kevin Frazell, League of Minnesota Cities
• Ron Johnson,City of Lake City
• Phil Kern, City of Delano
• Kay Kuhlmann, City of Red Wing
• Michael Redlinger, City of Moorhead
• Clinton Rogers,City of Janesville
• Bob Therres, City of Blaine
• Dave Unmacht, Scott County

City Members of MCMA (103KB DOC)