| Ideas for Using the Electoral College Card Templates |
| 1. Make flash cards. Cut along the dotted lines and paste each "state" card back-to-back to its corresponding Electoral College count card. Students can use these cards to familiarize themselves with the Electoral College and test their knowledge. (Level: Beginner) |
| 2. Play concentration. Cut along the dotted lines. Then, study the votes assigned to each state. Turn all the cards face down. Try matching states and Electoral College counts. (Level: Beginner)
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| 3. Divide the cards into regions: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Mountain States, West Coast, Southwest, or any other designations and ask students to determine issues of importance to those regions and how many electoral votes are connected to the region and the issue. (Level: Middle) |
| 4. Strategize. Cut along the dotted lines and attach (glue or tape) the "state" card side-by-side with its
corresponding Electoral College count card. (You may also write the corresponding electoral vote count on each state card.) Line up and color-code the safe
Republican states (red) on one side of a large table or the floor, with the safe
Democratic states (blue) on the other side and place the battleground states in the
middle. Keep a calculator handy and have students role play advisors to the
Democratic and Republican candidates and develop strategies for winning the
270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. (Level: Advanced)
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| 5. Fewest states needed to win? Divide students into teams and have each team figure out a way to earn 270 electoral votes using the fewest possible states. Then, each group will determine an electoral strategy for the candidates. (Level: Middle)
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Other Electoral College Map Ideas
1. Make scaled maps. Have the students re-draw state boundaries based on the number of electoral votes per state. (For example, states with populations of 5.5-9 million people will be larger than states with populations of 0-2.9 million people.) Compare that to the "actual" size of the state. (Level: Beginner)
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| 2. Follow the candidate. Over several weeks, map where the candidates make campaign stops (give the states' votes to that candidate) and see how long it takes to get to the magic number!! (Level: Middle) |
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3. Exit Polling. Use the map to discuss the role exit polling play in election results. Students can visually see how it is possible for a candidate to gain electoral votes before the polls close in the West. Discuss the s of state politics and voter participation on exit polling.
(Level: Middle)
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4. Follow the trends. Get historical electoral information for each of the states. Keep track of how often and when states switch from one party to another. (Level: Advanced)
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| 5. Stage a mock election. Have each study the state--its economy, voting history, current elected representatives. Then, students will individually make predictions as to which party will win their state's electoral votes in 2004. (Level: Advanced)
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| 6. Focus on the "Battleground" states. Color in, or mark the (17 or 18) states considered to be the ones where the candidates are likely to battle it out because they had the closest contests in 2000. (Find the battleground states by linking to the 2000 Electoral Results Chart and seeing which states had the closest margin.) (Level: Advanced)
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IN THE COMMUNITY
Electoral College Flash Cards 