What are You?      

     As the presidential election approaches the increased polarization of our nation’s political culture becomes very visible.  Every map that is flashed on the TV seems to focused on RED or BLUE states.   This color war begs the questions, What makes a state RED or BLUE?  and What makes a person RED or BLUE?   Before we begin to answer these questions, I want you to explore your own political views and answer the most important question, What color are you?

            Tonight for Homework I want you to go to the following site and complete the survey.

www.politicalcompass.org

It is a long survey so give yourself a little time to complete it and after finishing you will be placed on a spot in the political spectrum.  If you can, print out your graph, if you can not print it out, remember your coordinates on the graph.             

            Take some time and read the results.  Look at the other graphs on the results page.  Are you closer to Stalin or Hitler?  This is a question you can answer by looking at the historical figure graph on the results page.   

Part 2   Wednesday – Thursday

            Now that we have explored the issue of RED and BLUE go to the following site, predict how the election will go on the interactive map.  Simply click on the state and pick the candidate you think will win.  You have to pick OBAMA or McCain for each state on the map.  I will collect all map entries on Friday.  Print it out the screen when you have finished and hand it in to me.  After the election, we will examine your maps and see if anyone got the election right.  I am sure I can get a prize for the winner.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/calculator/

If you prefer to do things electronically, you can go to my wiki for this worksheet as well.

http://dalylcmr.pbwiki.com/FrontPage