Our Federal System of Government
Additional Activities

• View a video of all (or part) of an actual State of the Union address. Complete a response activity on the President's use of the State of the Union address. Analyze whether the address would be most effective if watched on television, listened to on radio, or read from the newspaper.
  
  
• View a video of all (or part) of an actual State of the Commonwealth address. In small groups, prepare a response to the address from the perspective of the opposing party in Virginia.
  
  
• View a video (or read written transcripts) of a State of the Union address and make a list of the most important points in the address. Then view (or read) the official response from the opposing political party. Compare your points to those that the opposing party representative chose as their focus.
  
  
• Research a U.S. cabinet office or executive agency. Create a brochure explaining its role in the national Executive Branch.
  
  
• Research a Virginia cabinet office or executive agency. Create a brochure explaining its role in the Executive Branch of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
  
  
• Research a local issue that involves both federal and state (or regional, or local) regulatory agencies. Analyze the different roles that each agency plays in the issue and any interaction they may have with each other. Do they seem to cooperate with one another? Are they in conflict? (An example could be an issue related to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, using resources cited in the Virginia Department of Education’s Lessons from the Bay at <http://www.doe.virginia.gov/.../science/elementary/lessons_bay/index.shtml>.)
  
  
• Research a federal or state court case that has had an impact on your family or community. Trace the steps leading to the court’s ruling. What have been (or what do you expect to be) the long-term results of this court ruling? Why?