The Electoral College Map (Recommended for all ages)
Help students understand the math behind the vote for President with this interactive map.
Learning activities
- Check out the results of the 2004 election, and decide which states each candidate needs to pick up or hold onto to win in November.
- Explore which combinations of "swing states" might help decide the election.
- Learn how the electoral college results have changed since 1980.
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See also: The Primary Results Map, where students can view results of the primary elections right down to the county level.
Google Trends (Recommended for: Middle Schoolers and up)
Keep track of interest in the candidates and the issues by learning which search terms are most popular on Google.com.
Learning activities
- Learn which issues are generating the most search interest, and compare whether they're the most important issues as identified by the polls.
- See how the candidates stack up against each other in search interest. Who's searched for most often, and what could be some reasons for the discrepancy?
- Explore how events in the news might affect interest in the candidates online.
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YouTube YouChoose (Recommended for: Middle Schoolers and up)
Watch videos straight from Barack Obama and John McCain's official YouTube channels, or search for congressional or senatorial candidates from your district in the politicians category.
Learning activities
- Learn which themes and issues are most important to the candidates.
- Compare the most popular videos from McCain and Obama and discuss what they imply about the race between the two candidates.
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Journey Maps (Recommended for all ages)
Travel around the globe on a journey through the lives of Obama and McCain.
Learning activities
- Learn about the candidates' travels around the world.
- Choose events from the candidates' lives and use Google Search to learn more about those parts of their biographies.
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Elections Video Search (Recommended for: Middle Schoolers and up)
Search through computer-generated transcripts of political videos on YouTube to learn what politicians have said on any topic.
Learning activities
- Search to see what the candidates are saying about the issues, and examine the differences in how they speak about them.
- Check out how frequently the candidates talk about specific issues, and discuss what this means about what the candidates and voters care about most.
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Google Elections News (Recommended for: Middle Schoolers and up)
Access current and archived content from over 4,500 news sources to give students multiple perspectives on the candidates and the issues.
Learning activities
- Get up-to-date information on where the races stand.
- Read the most commonly cited quotes from the candidates by searching for their names.
- Examine which issues the press pays the most attention to, and compare to polls about what voters feel are the most important issues in the election.
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Power Readers (Recommended for: Middle Schoolers and up)
Check out articles that political journalists and the candidates are reading.
Learning activities
- Compare which articles the candidates think are most important and interesting. What do they say about the candidates' personalities and stances on the issues?
- Learn what popular political journalists think is important in this election.
- Examine how the articles the candidates select compare to those the political journalists choose to highlight.
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Broadcast yourself (Recommended for: Students ages 13 and up)
YouTube allows students over 13 years old to upload videos to express themselves and their opinions about politics through videos that they create. Visit the YouTube handbook for tips on producing great videos.
Learning activities
- Create a video that expresses your views on the issues and candidates.
- Collaborate with others to create, record, and upload a political discussion, or use the video medium to examine the competing words and ideas in this election.
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Letters to the Next President
(Recommended for: Students ages 13-18)
Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future is an online writing and publishing project that invites students ages 13-18 to write about the issues and concerns they want the next president to address and, with the support of their teachers, to publish their writing for a national audience using Google Docs.
Learn more at nwp.org »
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Blogger (Recommended for: Students ages 13 and up)
Blogger makes it easy for students to journal their thoughts and opinions about the elections.
Learning activities
- Research the election and use Blogger to collect articles, quotes, photos and videos.
- Write about the issues, and discuss the challenges and opportunities the next president will face.
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Google Sites (Recommended for: Students ages 13 and up)
Build an election-focused website by creating and editing pages, uploading files and embedding photos, videos, documents, presentations, calendars, charts and more.
Learning activities
- Working alone or collaborating with others, create a "guide to the election" or "guide to the issues" website.
- Collect articles, photos and videos on important issues, and get students to add their opinions and analysis.
- Invite your class to create a site comparing the positions of all of the candidates on the ballot in November.
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Google Presentations (Recommended for: Students ages 13 and up)
Create, collaborate on and share professional-looking presentations about the candidates and issues.
Learning activities
- Working alone or in a group, build a presentation on an election issue or candidate.
- Create a presentation that explains the differences between candidates' positions on the issues.
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Google MyMaps (Recommended for: Students ages 13 and up)
MyMaps lets you and your students draw and add placemarks, photos and more to Google Maps, and share the results with others.
Learning activities
- Create a MyMap to explore local history and landmarks.
- Chart the travels of the candidates on the campaign trail.
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In Quotes (Recommended for: Middle-schoolers and up)
Compare the presidential and vice presidential candidates' statements on the issues.
Learning activities
- Select a keyword or search to find what the candidates have said on the issues.
- Click the up and down arrows to cycle through their statements and examine how they vary.
- Compare and contrast the candidates' rhetoric on the issues.
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