Ninth graders learn how the U.S. Constitution divides power between the national (federal) government and the states — a system called federalism — with some powers belonging to each level and some shared.
Students will be able to…
Why can your state set its own driving age, but only the national government can print money or declare war? The answer is federalism — the sharing of power between the nation and the states.
Project this and sort each power by whether it belongs to the national (federal) government or the state governments.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.
Your state sets the driving age, but only the nation prints money — why?
Students investigate.
Students analyze.
Students communicate.
Students conclude.
Aligned to the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards (Civics & Government).
Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ roles across levels of government.
Explain how the Constitution distributes powers.
Analyze the powers of governmental institutions.
Construct arguments using evidence.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Have students pick a real issue they care about and figure out whether the federal or state government has the power to act on it. A printable federalism sheet is in the Social Studies library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.