The Island Simulation

The initial lesson in the Constitution series is focused on establishing in the students a strong recognition of the need and usefulness of a government. The Island Simulation is an exercise where the students will need to define and operate some form of governance structure to survive in a difficult situation. This exercise sets the framework of basic governance, its challenges in gaining agreement on what to do and on what decisions need to be made to enable a government to function. With this foundation, the students will then move into Lessons 2 through 7, which comprehensively develop the issues faced by our nation’s founders as they established a republic and separated the United States from their English overlords.

The structure of the Island Simulation will begin with the Desired Results, which include the goals, understandings and essential questions the students will address during the exercise. The Learning Plan is next and will guide the teacher through the exercise.  Learning Resources follow, and these are for the students and for the teacher as well. The final section is on Assessment.

A second focus of the Island Simulation is to emphasize the essential and important role of making decisions, especially good decisions that have strong possibilities of generating good outcomes. The principles of decision-making are defined in the material and will enable the students to use these principles in defining how to govern their activities while on the Island.