Make learning about the constitution fun with the following game and quiz.
George Washington said:
"A primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty more pressing…than communicating it to those who are to be the future guardians of the liberties of the country?"
Our children need to learn about the founding of our nation. But it doesn't need to wait until they take a government class in high school. You can find a number of free online resources for learning about America's founding.
The U.S.I.Q. Game, created by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, is one such resource I stumbled across the other day.
The U.S.I.Q. Game
The goal of U.S.I.Q is to teach students about the Constitution itself, as well as the process by which the Constitution came to be the law of our land. Specifically it covers the following topic areas:
- Intellectual and Ideological Sources of the Constitution
- America's Founders (The Revolutionary War)
- The Constitution-Making Process
- The Legislative Branch of Government
- The Executive Branch of Government
- The Judicial Branch of Government (Judicial Review)
- States' Rights, Slavery, and the Preamble
- The Amendment Process, the Supremacy Clause and Ratification
- The Bill of Rights
- Amendments 11-27
Interactive Constitution
One section of the U.S.I.Q. site includes the entire Constitution, but in an interactive format. Students can click on many of the words and a short, easy-to-understand definition will pop up.
For example, clicking on the word Representative brings up the definition "A member of the U.S. House of Representatives, elected by the people of his or her state to represent them in making laws for the United States. (Also called a Congressman or Congresswoman.)"
How to Play
U.S.I.Q. itself can be played in different ways.
As a Game. When playing U.S.I.Q as a game, you select a topic category, a difficulty level (5th-12th grade is what is listed), and the number of questions, and then take a multiple choice quiz. You can also play against another player, and they choose their own topic, difficulty level, and number of questions. The answers are given immediately following each question so the players have immediate feedback.
As a Quiz. You select the topic category, difficulty level, and number of questions, and you can take the quiz online all at once with the answers given at the end. Or you can print the quiz and answer key to administer it offline.
Example Questions
Here are two example questions from U.S.I.Q.
Who made the following statement while trying to persuade his colleagues from Virginia to oppose the proposed Constitution: "As much as I value a union of all the states, I would not admit the Southern states into the Union, unless they agreed to the discontinuance of this disgraceful (slave) trade"?
The Fifth Amendment says that "no person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." Which later amendment essentially repeated this rule?
I don't think I have to point out that this game is not just for kids. I believe I need to spend some serious time playing the U.S.I.Q game myself!
U.S.I.Q. could be an excellent jumping off point for studying the Constitution. Using the quiz questions as the foundation, you could then delve into research on individual topics such as slavery, treason, the judicial branch, etc.
Children do not realize how much they learn from games and quizes but this online game to learn about the constitution is great.
LOVE this and so will my son. He loves anything to do with history and government. Thanks for sharing this link!
icivics is another good one.