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    Unintended Consequences

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    Subject: Civics; Social Studies

    Lesson Length: 45 mins - 1 hour

    Topic: Public Policy Consequences

    Grade Level: 10, 11, 12, 9

    Standards / Framework:

    Brief Description: Students will learn how to evaluate a public policy in terms of unintended outcomes and consequences.

    Know Before You Start: Students should be familiar with issues impacting their community.

    Hook:

    • Have students imagine they are a member of a town council tasked with making decisions about the town's budget allocation. One of the proposals on the table is to increase funding for after-school programs for local youth. The intended outcome is to provide a safe and enriching environment for children.
    • Ask students:
      • "What could be some unintended consequences of this policy.?"
      • "What could happen as a result of this increase in funding, both positive and negative?”
      • "How might this decision impact the broader community?”

    Activity:

    • Have students brainstorm examples of public policies in their community and then create a visual representation of the consequences of a hypothetical public policy using a concept map considering both intended and unintended outcomes. 
      • Policy Examples: plastic bag ban, soda tax, minimum wage increase, public transportation expansion, affordable housing, curfew laws, beautification projects
    • In small groups, have students explore a recently proposed or accepted policy in their community by accessing their local news outlets and finding a news article or report. The policy can cover a wide range of topics, such as education, public health, transportation, housing, or the environment.
    • Have students take notes and highlight the intended and unintended consequences of the policy in a T-Chart, then present their T-Charts to the class, explaining the connections they made between the policy and its consequences.
    • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a comic to evaluate a public policy in terms of unintended outcomes and consequences.

    Closure:

    • Have students share their comics with the class or in small groups.
    • Emphasize the importance of evaluating public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes and consequences.
    • Encourage students to think critically about policies they encounter in the future and how they can contribute to informed discussions and decision-making.

    Differentiation:

    • Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
    • Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
    • Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.

    Resources:

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