Students will learn about how government works in the United Kingdom and the functions of the Westminster parliament.

QCA schemes of work: Unit 0.6: Government, elections and voting, Unit 12: What is the point of voting today? Unit 20: What's in the public interest?

Computers, a large picture of the Palace of Westminster, newspaper headlines, ballot box and voting slips.

Introduction:

Use a picture of the Westminster parliament to find out what students already know about what it is for, asking questions like: what is this building? what happens there? who are the people who work there?

Activities:

1. Working with computers or on paper: "Write the two words 'government' and 'parliament' and then add any ideas related to these as a spidergram." Share results as a whole class, drawing out any differences they see between the British government currently led by Gordon Brown and the parliament that debates at Westminster to make laws and approve - or disapprove - government decisions.
   
   
2. Introduce the activities in this area of the site: The 'Spending on Services' activity and the The Lowdown information section. The Spending on services activity then takes learning into issues of taxation and budgets, which are also good for economic literacy. The lowdown can be introduced between sessions to reinforce learning or as final summary activities.
   
   
3. Introduce any current newspaper headlines with UK political stories. Use these as a basis for holding a mock election campaign in the class. Individuals can volunteer or be chosen to speak for different political parties (this is more effective if there is time for advance preparation). After a round of speeches and questions, everyone should vote in a secret ballot. The results can be analysed to learn about voting systems and compared with current UK trends as shown by opinion polls. Results can be displayed on computer-generated charts.
   
   
4. Develop this scenario to explore what will happen when the chosen representative goes to the House of Commons as an MP, using a 'hot seat' technique to interview the winner - and the other candidates to get their views on what they would like to do if elected.
   
   
5. After doing this activity, students can get involved in active citizenship as democrats by following parliamentary debates or arranging with their MP to visit Westminster. Or they can visit the Newsround page on 'Guide to UK Parliament' (see 'Go off on a tangent!').

Ask students to find out about other parliaments in the United Kingdom; in Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast. Why were these set up? When and how do elections happen? What are the members called? What powers do they have?

OR: Research and present as visual information the roles of key members of the British government and who are currently in these positions. A minimum selection for this task should include: Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary. To find out more, visit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/pictures/galleries/newsid_1937000/1937275.stm.