Imagine there's no state borders, no California, no Pennsylvania, no Florida. This might be easy to imagine but very hard to do. A short PBS video asks the question, discusses the challenges, and suggests some alternatives to states that might make more sense.

Concepts

the 50 states, the united states, critical thinking, identity, the united states constitution, united states territories, north american geography, state geography

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Assign groups several different states to research, direct them to look for information about why the state lines are drawn as they are—when the state joined the union and unique features of the state
• Ask individuals to research dumb or bizarre state laws and suggest the reasoning that may be behind them
• Assign an argument essay in which writers make and support a claim on the question of whether or not to eliminate the current state boundaries

Classroom Considerations

• Part of the "American From Scratch" series

Pros

• The worksheet includes pre-viewing, viewing, and post-viewing questions
• The handout also includes links to an article about bizarre state laws and a link to dumb laws

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2 SL.9-10.3 SL.11-12.2 SL.11-12.3