Civics B
Stanek, Spring 2023
Research Project #2
Landmark Supreme Court Cases
Student Presentations
Question to be answered by your THESIS Statement: How do Supreme Court decisions affect individuals?
Overview: We will study the following Supreme Court cases. Each pair of students will research and prepare a slide presentation to teach the class about these landmark cases.
Landmark Supreme Court Cases
Loving v. Virginia
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
Dobbs v. Jackson MS Women's Health Organization
Fisher v. Texas
Schenck v. United States
Wisconsin v. Yoder
Morse v. Frederick
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
Shelby County v. Holder
Bethel v. Fraser
Bolling v. Sharpe
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
New Jersey v. TLO
Bowers v. Hardwick
Griswold v. Connecticut
Tinker v. DesMoines
Helpful Websites:
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/supreme_court/supreme_court.cfm
http://www.supremecourt.gov
www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html
Required elements for the presentation:
Slides—presentation must be in the form of a slide deck. Power point must contain a minimum of five slides.
What is the constitutional issue in the case?
What happened in this case?
Who are the parties?
What are the arguments in favor of and against each point of view?
Which arguments are most persuasive? Why?
What was the decision of the court?
Which justices wrote the majority/minority opinions?
Describe the legal reasoning in the majority/minority opinions with direct quotes from the justices
What precedents are established by the decision?
How does this decision affect the everyday lives of Americans?
Visuals—use pictures, graphics, and maps to help the audience understand the material. Minimum of three visuals
Discussion or Activity—create discussion questions or an activity to help the audience to better understand and connect to the issues of the case. Sample activities might include:
Reading and discussing a current event article related to the case.
Analyzing a political cartoon related to the case.
Leading a discussion around the basic issues of the case.
All activities must be reviewed by Mr. Stanek before the presentation.
Students will also be evaluated on the following presentation skills.
Effective use of class time
Cooperation with partner
All above requirements met
Clear speech
A full 10 minutes
Ability to field questions
Supreme Court Presentation Rubric group members:
Civics B 2023 SCOTUS case:
Mr. Stanek
Part 1:Slide Show Format (10 Points)
___ presentation in form of a power point
___contains a minimum of five slides
Part 2: Slide Show Content (50 Points)
___What is the constitutional issue in the case?
___What happened in this case?
___Who are the parties?
___What are the arguments in favor of and against each point of view?
___Which arguments are most persuasive? Least persuasive? Why?
___What was the decision of the court?
___Description of written opinion(s)
___What precedents are established by the decision?
___How does this decision affect the everyday lives of Americans?
Part 3: Visuals (20 Points)
___uses relevant pictures, graphics, and maps to help the audience understand the material.
___Minimum of three visuals
Part 4: Presentation Skills (20 Points)
___Poise
___Eye Contact
___Clarity of Speech
___Cooperation between partners
___use of note cards
___Overall preparedness
___A full 10 minutes
___ability to field questions
Part 5: Discussion or Activity—create discussion questions or an activity to help the audience to better understand and connect to the issues of the case. Sample activities might include:
Reading and discussing a current event article related to the case.
Analyzing a political cartoon related to the case.
Leading a discussion around the basic issues of the case.
All extra credit activities must be reviewed by Mr. Stanek before the presentation.
Overall Score:
____ / 100
Comments: