Materials

• Blank 9" x 12" drawing paper (1 piece per student)

Instructional Activities

1. Review the term contribution. Tell students another contribution from ancient Rome was a form of government.
   
   
2. Introduce the term government. Explain that a government is a group of people who make laws, enforce laws, and determine if laws have been broken.
   
   
3. Complete the following activity to help the students understand the differences in government.
   • Divide your class into three or four teams.
   • Have each team choose a representative.
   • Tell the class that you are going to meet with their representatives, and the representatives will report back to them.
   • When you briefly meet with the representatives, give them an issue to discuss with their teams and vote on (e.g., what game the class will play at recess).
   • Have the representatives report back to you with the results of their teams’ votes.
   • Announce the majority vote to the class.
   
   
4. Review the meaning of the word democracy—citizens vote to make their own laws.
   
   
5. Review the meaning of a direct democracy—everyone votes or has a say on the laws or decisions that are made.
   
   
6. Explain that when they used representatives to vote, they were practicing a representative democracy. They still have a vote, but in this kind of government, citizens vote through a representative from their team (community). Explain that ancient Rome had a representative democracy. Another term that has the same meaning is a republican form of government. Another example of representative democracy you may cite is the school’s student council association, if one is present in your school.
   
   
7. Explain that the founders of the United States gained some of their ideas about government from studying history. They used this knowledge when they created the government of the United States. They studied the representative democracy in ancient Rome and incorporated these ideas as they formed the government of the United States.
   
   
8. Explain that the U.S. government is a democracy, pointing out that some ideas came from ancient Greece. However, we have representatives that we vote for, and they make our laws for us. The United States has a representative democracy; this idea came from ancient Rome.
   
   
9. Use a Venn Diagram to compare these forms of government.
   
   
10. Have students illustrate Kind of Government and add it as page 5 to their ancient Rome booklets. Have them write the word representative democracy and its definition.