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The Senate and the House of Representatives 1

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The Senate and the House of Representatives 1 Why It Matters The Senate and the Ask students to imagine that they have one of the most important jobs in gov- House of Representatives ernment. Tell them that they work long TAKING As you read, take hours to help people, and that they are BEFORE YOU READ NOTES paid well for their efforts. Ask students notes on the Senate The Main Idea Focus Questions Key Terms and the House of Represen- how they feel about this job. Now tell tatives. Use a chart like this them that every two years they have to Congress is divided 1. What are the two houses bicameral legislature, one to record your notes. into two houses, the of Congress? p. 136 battle to keep their job for only another Senate and the House of 2. What are the qualifications, apportioned, p. 136 U.S. Congress two years. How do they feel now? Representatives, and its salaries, and rules of conduct gerrymandering, p. 137 Two Houses Congress Members Explain to students that members of the members have certain for members of Congress? immunity, p. 138 qualifications. House of Representatives face exactly expulsion, p. 139 this situation. censure, p. 139 Key Terms Preteach the following terms: When your town decides local issues, The House of Representatives bicameral legislature lawmaking body of such as funding for a road or a new According to the Constitution, the number two houses (p. 136) school tax, each voter has a say. This of representatives each state can elect to the apportioned distributed (p. 136) is direct democracy. On a national House is based on the state’s population. gerrymandering drawing district lines level, direct democracy would not be practical. Imagine Each state is entitled to at least one represen- that favor a particular political party, politi- a vote on every national issue. Instead, we choose men tative. Washington, D.C., Guam, American cian, or group of people (p. 137) and women to vote for us. They represent us. These rep- Samoa, and the Virgin Islands each have one resentatives are the members of Congress. immunity legal protection (p. 138) nonvoting delegate in the House. Today there are 435 members in the expulsion when a person must give up his Two Houses of Congress House. Why 435 members? In 1789, when or her seat in Congress (p. 139) Congress is the lawmaking body of the the fi rst Congress met, the Constitution censure formal disapproval of the actions federal government. The Constitution allowed for 65 representatives in the House. of a member of Congress (p. 139) states that the Congress shall be composed Each state elected one representative for every of two houses—the Senate and the House 30,000 people in the state. However, as new Taking Notes of Representatives. states joined the Union and the population increased, membership in the House kept U.S. Congress Why is Congress divided into two houses? growing. Eventually, Congress had to limit Two Houses Congress Members The framers of the U.S. Constitution wanted to make sure that both small and large states the size of the House to 435 members. • House of • Must be a Certain Every 10 years, after the census is taken, Representatives: age, U.S. Citizen, would be fairly represented. So they created Congress determines how the seats in the 435 members, and legal resident of a bicameral legislature , a lawmaking body states represented state represented of two houses. Membership in the House House are to be apportioned , or distributed. based on • ReCeive yearly salary of Representatives is based on state popula- If a state’s population decreases, the number population, two- of $162,100 and tion. In the Senate, each state is represented of its representatives may be reduced. States year terms other benefi ts whose populations grow may be entitled to • Senate: two • Must follow rules of equally. The system also allows each house to more representatives. members per state ConduCt check the actions of the other. (100 total), six-year terms 136 CHAPTER 5 Teach the Main Idea At Level The Senate and the House of Representatives 1. Teach Ask students the Reading Focus 3. Review To review the section’s main questions to teach this section. ideas, lead a discussion on the similarities 2. Apply Tell students to create a graphic and differences between the two houses of organizer with two boxes. One box should Congress. be labeled “House of Representatives,” 4. Practice/Homework Have students write and the other should be labeled “Senate.” a short essay on which house of Congress As students read the section have them fi ll they would rather belong to. Essays should in this graphic organizer with information explain students’ reasons as well as stating a about the House of Representatives and the preference. Remind students to describe how Senate. members of their chosen house help their constituents. 136 CHAPTER 5 Congressional Representation Congress apportions representatives to the 8" House based on population. /) California, with 53 represen- .5 75 /% .& Reading Focus tatives, has the most, while 03 ./ Montana and six *% ." 4% 8* /: other states have only 8: .* 3* What are the two houses of Congress? 1 representative. *" 1" $5 /& /7 /+ *- 0) 65 */ %& Two Houses of Congress $0 $" 87 ,4 7" .% .0 ,: %$ Explain How are seats in the House /$ "; 5/ 0, of Representatives apportioned? by /. "3 4$ The District of state population according to the most California .4 "- (" Columbia does 59 not have a voting recent census Number of Representatives: 53 -" representative in Identify Cause and Effect Why Area of State: 163,707 square miles '- Congress. )* did Congress limit the size of the Population: 33,930,798 )* House of Representatives? New Montana ", states had joined the Union, and the ANALYSIS Number of Representatives: 1 SKILL ANALYZING VISUALS country’s population had increased, so Area of State: 145,556 square miles What five states have the most representatives the numbers of members of the House Population: 906,316 in the House of Representatives? kept growing. Make Judgments Do you think gerrymandering is ever fair? Possible Voters elect their representative accord- tives are elected for two-year terms. If a rep- answer: no, because it favors certain ing to the congressional district in which resentative dies or resigns before the end of groups, and other groups might have a they live. Each state’s legislature is respon- a term, the governor of the representative’s smaller chance of being represented in sible for dividing the state into as many home state is required to call a special elec- gerrymandered districts congressional districts as it has members tion to fi ll the vacancy. in the House of Representatives. District boundaries must be drawn so that each dis- The Senate trict is almost equal in population. The Senate is much smaller than the House of Info to Know Many of these congressional districts Representatives. No matter what its popula- The Capitol Building The U.S. Capitol have very oddly shaped boundaries. A prac- tion, each state is represented by two senators. building is about 750 feet long, 350 As a result, today’s Senate has 100 members— tice called gerrymandering is often the rea- feet wide, and 288 feet high. This vast Gerrymandering two senators from each of the 50 states. son. is the practice of space is divided between ceremonial drawing district lines that favor a particular Senators are elected to Congress for six- political party, politician, or group of people. year terms. Elections are held in November uses, congressional offi ces, and meeting For example, a state legislature made up of of each even-numbered year. However, only chambers. The chambers of the House mostly one party might draw district lines one-third of the Senate’s membership comes of Representatives are in the south wing that place a majority of their supporters in as up for election every two years. Organizing on the second fl oor, while the Senate many districts as possible. elections in this way ensures that at least two- meets in the north wing. When Con- Elections for members of the House of thirds of the senators have prior experience. gress is in session, visitors and the press Representatives are held in November of If a senator dies or resigns before the end of can watch the proceedings of either a term, someone must take his or her place. each even-numbered year. All representa- house from galleries on the third fl oor. 137 go.hrw.com THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH Online Resources KEYWORD: SZ7 CH5 Differentiating Instruction Below Level ACTIVITY: Running for Congress Learners Having Diffi culty Contrast the House of Representatives 2. Have students refer to the text to help fi ll and the Senate out the graphic organizer with the correct 1. Create a graphic organizer like the one below information. Then, with input from students, on the board. Omit the blue answers. Have fi ll in the graphic organizer on the board. students copy it onto their own papers. 3. Lead a discussion about how the differences Number Area Length of noted in the graphic organizer lead to of Members Members’ other differences between the House of Members Represent Term Representatives and the Senate. Verbal/ Answers House of Linguistic, Visual/Spatial Representatives 435 district 2 years Analyzing Visuals California, Alternative Assessment HandBook: RuBric 13: Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois and Graphic Organizers Senate 100 state 6 years Pennsylvania (tied) 137 Most states allow the governor to appoint Members of Congress a person to fi ll the vacancy until the next regular election or until a special state elec- Members of Congress have certain require- tion is held.
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