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Description

This activity is designed for a social studies, politics, civics or citizenship class. To view a list of courses associated with this learning resource, please visit our Curriculum Connections page.

In this activity, students explore how much they care about decisions that are made by the federal government and how much voting matters to them. Students then engage in a series of voting simulations where they can see in a fun and engaging way how voter turnout affects choices and decisions. Finally, they view a consolidation video and reconsider their response to the question “Does voting matter?”

Time needed

60 minutes 

Big idea

In every election, whether voter turnout is high or low, one person is elected in each electoral district and ends up with the power to make decisions that affect all of us.

Inquiry question

Does voting matter?

Students will

• think critically about how voting can affect individuals and society
• apply citizenship skills as they assess the consequences of voting decisions on individuals and communities
• communicate their understanding and express their conclusions in whole-class discussions
• through personal reflection, become self-aware of any changes in their thinking since the start of the activity

Materials

The following materials are provided in different formats to help meet your needs. You can also find all essential materials for this lesson at the bottom of the page.

Printable materials

• Campaign speeches
  • Standard [HTML]  [PDF]
  • Language learners [HTML]  [PDF]
• Campaign signs [HTML]  [PDF]
• Ballots [HTML]  [PDF]
• Summary of party platforms [HTML]  [PDF]
• Dot-voting chart [HTML]  [PDF]
• Exit card [HTML]  [PDF]
• Optional assessment rubric [HTML]  [PDF]

Digital materials

• Does Voting Matter? Marie-Claire's Story video [Link to Youtube]  [Transcript]
• Does Voting Matter? Marcie's Story video [Link to Youtube]  [Transcript]
• Slide deck for teachers [HTML]  [PPT]

Material not included

• Stickers or markers 

10 minutes

Part 1: What do I care about?

To introduce the big idea that elected officials make decisions that affect all Canadians, ask students to reflect on whether they care about the following federal issues. (They are to raise their hand if they care.)

Do you care if the government:

• changes rules about immigration to Canada?
• makes it more difficult for seniors to receive the Old Age Security pension?
• places penalties on businesses that contribute to climate change?
• joins a military alliance that could lead to war?
• changes prison terms for serious crimes?
• removes coins as a method of paying for items?
• negotiates new agreements with Indigenous peoples?

Explain that the Government of Canada makes decisions about each of these matters through our elected members of Parliament. Whether we realize it or not, and whether we choose to vote or not, many aspects of our lives are affected by the government’s priorities and by the decisions of law makers.

Part 2: Class poll

Ask students: Does voting matter to you? Using a traditional dot-voting chart, invite them to respond by placing a dot on the chart. They will use a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 = It doesn’t matter to me, and 5 = It matters to me a lot.

You can use the dot-voting template provided. You’ll need to enlarge the template or create your own poster using chart paper. Alternatively, you can use a polling app or other online voting tool such as Polleverywhere, Kahoot, Google Classroom or Google Forms.

Explain that students will revisit the inquiry question “Does voting matter?” at the end of the lesson.

35 minutes

Part 1: Voting Simulation

Explain that students will elect a new class president today. You will lead them through four rounds of voting, using different scenarios for voter turnout.

Select four students to represent each of the four parties: Captain’s Party, Dinosaur Party, Wizard Party, Zombie Party. Make sure to select students who are comfortable standing up and reading aloud to the class.

Ask each candidate to read their campaign speech. Encourage them to add their own dramatic and comic flair.

Round 1: Free vote

1. Tell students to go to the corner of the room featuring their preferred candidate. If students choose not to vote, they must remain seated.
2. The candidate for the party that receives the most votes wins the election. There can be only one winning candidate. Ties must be broken with a coin toss or other tie breaker.
3. Use the Summary of Party Platforms to announce the activity associated with the winning candidate’s party platform (such as “make a dinosaur call” or “move like a zombie”).
4. All students must do the activity associated with the party platform.
5. Ask one or two students from each group the following question:
   • How did the outcome of the vote affect you?

Round 2: Low voter turnout

1. Randomly choose five students to vote for the candidate of their choice. All other students are restricted from voting and must stay seated.
2. Use the Summary of Party Platforms to announce the activity associated with the winning candidate’s party platform (such as “make a dinosaur call” or “move like a zombie”).
3. All students must do the activity associated with the party platform.
4. Explain that you had only five students vote to represent low voter turnout. Ask students the following questions:
   • For the voters: How did your vote affect the election?
   • For non-voters: How did you feel about not being able to participate in the vote?

Round 3: Fifty percent turnout

1. Randomly select half the students in the class to vote for the candidate of their choice. All other students in the class are restricted from voting and must stay seated.
2. Use the Summary of Party Platforms to announce the activity associated with the winning candidate’s party platform (such as “make a dinosaur call” or “move like a zombie”).
3. All students must do the activity associated with the party platform.
4. Ask the whole class:
   • How did the outcome of this vote compare to the previous two votes?
   • How might the outcome have been different if the other half of the class had voted?

Round 4: Secret ballot

1. For this round, students mark their ballot in secret. All students may vote if they wish. Distribute one ballot to each student. Instruct them to mark the ballot with an “X” or a check mark to vote for the party of their choice. Caution them that if they vote for more than one party, their vote will be considered spoiled and will not be counted. Have them place their ballots in a box. For a quicker vote, you could use polling technology for this round or simply have students put their heads down on their desks and raise their hands to vote for their preferred candidate.
2. Assign two students to count the ballots, or do it yourself.
3. The candidate for the party with the most votes wins the election. There can be only one winning candidate. Ties must be broken with a coin toss or other tie breaker.
4. Use the Summary of Party Platforms to announce the activity associated with the winning candidate’s party platform (such as “make a dinosaur call” or “move like a zombie”).
5. All students must follow the activity associated with the party platform.
6. Ask students the following questions:
   • How was the outcome of the election the same as or different from the first vote?
   • Did you vote differently knowing that your ballot was secret? Why or why not?
   • Does voting matter? Explain your answer.

Part 2: Impact in Real Life

Explain that this simulation helps us understand how voting (or not voting) affects the outcome of an election. In real life, the decisions that elected officials make and the laws they pass could affect the lives of millions of people, whether they voted or not.

Show Does Voting Matter? video [Marie-Claire, Marcie] to the class and discuss it with your students afterwards.

Example of discussion questions:

• Did voting have an impact on their lives?
• How have their experiences influenced their attitudes to democracy and voting?
• How would they answer the question: “Does voting matter?”

15 minutes

Return to the original poll from the minds on phase. Ask students to respond again to the question “Does voting matter?” If you are using the dot-voting method, use a new colour of dot or marker so you can compare the two polls.

Ask students to reflect on the class responses to the question before and after the activity. Did the opinions of the students change? Invite students to make observations (notice) and ask questions (wonder).

Give each student an exit card. Invite them to reflect on the following prompts and write their responses on the card:

1. One thing I learned is…
2. One question I have now is…
3. One action I will take as a result of this learning is…

Optional extension activities

• Select an issue from a past federal election campaign and investigate whether voting mattered in the outcome of that issue.
• If an election campaign is happening now, predict whether you think voting will have an impact.

Teaching tips

• The “Do you care…” questions in the minds on phase relate to laws enacted by the government at the federal level. You may also wish to include provincial and local laws.
• Polling students before and after a learning activity can increase the learning during the activity. This approach engages students in the content and introduces a metacognitive element. It gives the teacher instant feedback on what students are thinking before and after the activity.
• A dot-voting system (also called “dotmocracy”) is a safe and quick way to do an anonymous poll.
• Exit cards require students to write in response to prompts or questions based on the lesson. The cards provide immediate feedback to help you assess students’ understanding of content, gather feedback for your teaching, and see what questions students are asking to suggest new areas of learning. For students, exit cards provide a reflective space to consolidate and reflect on their learning and to enhance their metacognition.

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Descriptive transcript
Date of publication: January 2021

Description

This activity can be used in a social studies, civics, citizenship or language arts class. To view a list of courses associated with this learning resource, please visit our Curriculum Connections page.

In this activity, students

• think about the importance of making sure they have trustworthy information before they make a decision on a political or electoral issue
• explore a series of scenarios designed to teach five strategies for verifying information: find the original, verify the source, check other information, read factchecking articles, and turn to places you trust
• reflect on the impact of false and misleading information in politics

Time needed

60 minutes

Big idea

Citizens need to be well informed to make good decisions when it comes to political issues, especially when they are deciding how to vote in a federal election. We all need to make sure we can trust news and other information that might help us make up our minds when it comes to voting.

Inquiry question

How can we find out if information about elections or political issues is something we can trust?

• Students will think critically about online information.
• Students will understand the importance of verifying information about political and election issues.
• Students will learn and practise skills for verifying online information.
• Students will learn about trustworthy sources for information on election issues, including the Elections Canada website and social media channels.

Materials

The following materials are provided in different formats to help meet your needs. You can also find all essential materials for this lesson at the bottom of the page.

Printable materials

• Round 1 scenario cards [HTML]  [PDF]
• Round 2 scenario cards [HTML]  [PDF]
• True or false? [HTML]  [PDF]
• Five digital strategies [HTML]  [PDF]
• Graphic organizer: Record your thinking [HTML]  [PDF]
• Teacher summary [HTML]  [PDF]
• Exit card [HTML]  [PDF]
• Optional assessment rubric [HTML]  [PDF]

Digital material

• Slide deck for teachers [HTML]  [PPT]

10 minutes

Ask students: How can we tell if we can trust information we find online?

Select 10 students. Invite each one to read a statement to the class from the True or False? handout. (Or read the statements to the class yourself.)

After each statement has been read, invite the class to guess whether it is true or false. When all of the facts have been read, give students these answers:

• Shakespeare invented the name “Jessica.” True
• Hippo milk is blue. False: it is pink
• Mammoths were still alive when the Egyptians built the Great Pyramid of Giza. True
• Scientists have found 100,000 golf balls in Loch Ness. True
• The Canadian Space Agency invented the Dust Buster vacuum cleaner. False
• The first owner of the Mona Lisa hung it in his bathroom. True
• Sonic the Hedgehog’s middle name is Maurice. True
• The magnetic field at Magnetic Hill, New Brunswick, makes cars roll uphill. False: an optical illusion makes it look like cars are rolling uphill when they are actually rolling downhill
• All kangaroos are left-handed. Mostly true: grey and red kangaroos, the two largest species, are nearly all left-handed

Invite the class to reflect: How well did they do at guessing? Was there any way to tell the true facts from the false ones?

Tell students that this exercise shows how difficult it can be to figure out whether things are true or false without doing more research. This is especially true about things we learn from the Internet, because almost anyone can create and spread believable-looking content online. News and other online content often comes to us indirectly, sometimes through sources we trust (like friends or family). We can’t just trust our gut or rely on our own instincts when we are judging online content.

Tell students that there are two kinds of false information online:

• Misinformation – when people share something they think is true but isn’t
• Disinformation – when people share false or misleading information on purpose

Tell students that in this lesson, they will find out about some key strategies to help them avoid being tricked by false and misleading information. Give them the Five Digital Strategies handout and review the five strategies together.

• Find the original
• Verify the source
• Check other information
• Read fact-checking articles
• Turn to places you trust

Point out that we must follow these steps when we get information online about politics or elections. This information can influence how we make important civic choices, including voting. 

40 minutes

Students will do two rounds of fact-checking simulations in small groups.

Divide the class into five teams. Each team will work with one of the five scenarios. Explain that there will be two rounds of fact-checking simulations.

• In the first round, students will explore a fictional scenario to show them how to use the strategies.
• In the second round, they will explore a real scenario so they can practise the strategies and see how they would work in real life.

Students will record their thinking during each round. At the end of each round, they will share if and how their thinking changed as they found more information about the scenario.

Teacher tips:

• You can assign students roles within their teams, such as card master, recorder(s), reporter and reader (or students can do this themselves).
• If students would find it helpful, model one scenario for the class before teams begin their work.

Round 1: Fictional Scenarios

Give each team at least one copy of the graphic organizer. Tell them that each time they get a card (A to E), they will make a record of their thinking to show how trustworthy they think the information is. Each new card may change what they think, but they should always evaluate the information in the first card (A). Each team may designate one or more recorders who will write down the team’s thinking.

Give each team its scenario card (A) for Round 1. Tell them that each card contains a possible scenario where they might need to verify information about a political issue or about the election process in Canada. One student reads the card aloud to their team. Then the team ranks the level of trustworthiness on the graphic organizer and explains their thinking in the space provided.

Now give each team the next three cards (B, C, D). These are the strategy cards for their scenario. You can give them one at a time yourself, or you can give them all to a student designated as the card master.

A student should first read the card aloud. The team will discuss and consider whether the card changes the trustworthiness ranking they gave to the scenario. They then record their thinking on the graphic organizer before they read and discuss the next card.

Teacher Tip: If you are handing out the cards, you could have students try to guess which strategy will be used next and why.

Once they have read all three strategy cards (B, C, D) and completed the graphic organizer, hand out the answer card (E). A student in each team reads it aloud and the team gives a final ranking and explanation of their assessment.

Then give teams a few minutes to prepare to share their scenario with the class. If roles were assigned, the student designated as the reporter will speak for the team.

Each team will

• read its scenario aloud
• share its final trustworthiness ranking
• share which strategy was the most helpful

Round 2: Real-Life Scenarios

Now tell students that this isn’t just a make-believe situation. More and more, people are getting their information about elections and politics from online sources, such as social media. They cannot be sure they can trust the information.

Distribute the Round 2 scenario cards. Tell students that each scenario is based on real-life examples of political or election information that people have had to evaluate online. Give students a second copy of the graphic organizer and have them repeat the process from Round 1.

10 minutes

Give teams a few minutes to prepare to share their Round 2 scenario with the class. If roles were assigned, the student designated as the reporter will speak for the team.

Each team will again

• read its scenario aloud
• share its final trustworthiness ranking
• share which strategy was the most helpful

Ask students these questions:

• What do you think is the best way to respond to false or misleading information online?
• What surprised you the most about the activity?
• How do you think misinformation and disinformation could affect our elections?

Explain to students that it is our responsibility to detect misinformation and disinformation and to help keep it from spreading by not sharing or “liking” it. This is especially important in an election period, when false or misleading information could influence the way people vote.

A couple of minutes before students leave class, give out the exit card and have them complete the following sentence prompts:

• One thing I learned was...
• The next time I want to find out if something online is true, I will...
• To be an engaged and informed citizen in a democracy, it’s important to...

Optional extension activities

• Have teams search the Internet or their social media channels for news stories that seem fishy or too good to be true. They are to verify whether the stories are real by using the strategies they learned in this lesson. Then have them pass the article to another team as a challenge to see if that team is able to find the answer.
• Show students how to do a reverse-image search on a site such as tineye.com.
• Show students how to use fact-checking websites such as Snopes.com and AFP Fact Check Canada.

Teaching tips

Descriptive transcript
Date of publication: January 2021