Our Federal System of Government
Session 9: Congress (Using Tables)

Materials

• Handout: “Congressional Workload Table” (Attachment G)
• Transparency: “Congressional Workload Chart” (Attachment H)
• Textbook

Instructional Activities

1. Explain that every two years all of the members of the House of Representatives and 1/3 of the Senate are elected. The two-year period of time that these same representatives and senators serve is called a “Congress.” Each Congress is numbered from the first Congress to the 108th Congress, which served from January 2003 to December 2004.
   
   
2. Distribute the handout, "Congressional Workload Table" (Attachment G). Many bills are introduced during each Congress (two-year period). Ask a variety of questions to encourage students to look at the data.
   •     In which year were the most bills introduced in the House of Representatives?
   •    In which year were the most bills introduced in the Senate?
   •    Was this the same year?
   •    In what year did the House of Representatives pass the most bills?
   •    In what year did the Senate pass the most bills?
   •    Was this the same year?
   •    Did the years that more bills were passed correspond to when the most were introduced?
   •    What factors could influence how many bills are introduced and whether they are passed?
   •    Look at the number of days the Senate was in session during each Congress. Why is that interesting?
   
   
3. Lead a discussion on how to extract information from a chart. Display the transparency “Congressional Workload Chart” that depicts the caseload of the Senate (Attachment H). Ask students to answer the two questions in activity #2 above that refer to the Senate. Is it easier using the bar graph? Why or why not?