AFNORTH INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE/HIGH SCHOOL

STREET LAW

Mr. T.J. Bohler

SY 2004-2005

Course Title: Street Law

Teacher: Mr. T.J. Bohler

Room: B1.20 (Blue Pod, First Floor)

E-Mail: Tom_Bohler@eu.odedodea.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Street Law is a semester-long course designed to provide students with the ability to analyze, evaluate, and resolve legal disputes. Through case studies, role plays, mock trials, moot court simulations, and research, students will gain a practical understanding of law and the legal system, and how it relates to their everyday lives. Students will acquire the analytic skills and content necessary to examine legal disputes and develop informed interpretations and resolutions substantiated by evidence.

STUDENT GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

· Understand the principles and values underlying the US Constitution.

· Develop an awareness of current issues and controversies relating to law and the legal system.

· Understand the roles that law, lawyers, law enforcement officers, and the legal system play in society.

· Participate in groups.

· Promote effective and informed citizen participation in the legal system.

· Understand the rights and responsibilities of US citizenship.

SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS AND THEMES

SS1 Citizenship: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic, so that the learner can:

a. Assume the responsibilities of a democratic citizen

b. Discuss national security and individual rights.

c. Trace the historical development of options that citizens may use to change government policies.

d. Prepare examples of the impact of media on the formation of public opinion.

SS Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity, so that the learner can:

a. Evaluate how a society’s norms and mores greatly influence its laws.

b. Identify effects resulting from contact between two or more cultures.

c. Discuss the philosophical move from self-reliance to reliance on the government.

d. Describe and interpret values and attitudes that pose obstacles to cross-cultural understanding.

e. Analyze how language, literature, the arts, and artifacts demonstrate beliefs and values and contribute to the transmission of culture.

SS3 Time, continuity, and change: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the way human beings view themselves in and over time, so that the learner can:

a. Explain the cycle of reform philosophies in United States society.

b. Trace perceptions of government as they change over time.

c. Discuss the increase in awareness of minority problems.

d. Show the impact of given historical events on the social fabric of the United States.

SS4 Space and place: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of space and place, so that the learner can:

a. Discuss the effects of the philosophy of the frontier.

b. Show the relationship between transportation and the development of major urban centers.

c. Compare factors that contributed to the development of industry and agriculture in United States’ expansion.

d. Locate the geographic sites where the United States has acted as peacekeepers.

SS5 Individual development and identity: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity, so that the learner can:

a. Evaluate violence and civil disobedience in society.

b. Summarize how and why a distinct American character has developed and continues to evolve.

c. Describe how an individual’s view of the world is affected by one’s gender, class, religion, education, race, and family.

SS6 Individuals, groups, and institutions: Social studies programs should provide for the study of the interaction among individuals, groups, and institutions, so that the learner can:

a.