Education Technology


NCSS: The Court and the Constitution

Activity Overview

Students will examine the United States Constitution to explain the role of the Supreme Court in the United States. Students will be provided with a vocabulary list that will help them understand terms throughout the four Activities.

Before the Activity

See the attached Activity PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity.

Print the appropriate pages from the Activity for your class.

Install the NoteFolio (tm) and StudyCards(tm) Apps on the students' graphing calculators following the attached instructions.

Review the branches of the United States government. When you reach the Judicial Branch, access the Web site: http://oyez.org/tour/tour. Take the students on a virtual tour of the Supreme Court to give them the opportunity to see the Court as a physical place with real individuals who make decisions with historical implications.

During the Activity

  • Distribute the appropriate pages from the Activity to your class
  • Distribute the NoteFolio (tm) and StudyCards(tm) file(s) to your class using TI Connect(tm) and the appropriate TI Connectivity cable
  • Follow the procedures outlined in the Activity


  • Students will:
  • Describe the processes of the Supreme Court as outlined by the U.S. Constitution.
  • Analyze Supreme Court decisions to determine the merits of each case.
  • Compare the influence of society and historical period on two Supreme Court decisions that deal with the same topic.
  • Evaluate the effect of one Supreme Court decision on society and his/her life in particular.
  • After the Activity

    When the students have completed the question set, lead a class discussion that includes the questions and provides the correct answers. Students should revise the answers in their files so that they have the correct answers recorded. Have the students delete any old files if their device has limited memory space so that they can keep the completed NoteFolio(tm) file as a study aid and review tool.