Quick Civic Mirror allows educators and students to test-drive the Civic Mirror in 3-5 classes (with the option of continuing on, of course) while tackling the issue of how much our daily choices - when added all up - combine to create good or bad societies.
Unit Theme: “Our Choices and their Consequence”
The theme of ‘choices’ exists throughout the social sciences, making Quick Civic Mirror a good fit for a variety of courses. For example:
- Economics is the study of human choices and their material effects,
- Law is the study of how societies deal with inappropriate and/or questionable choices,
- Government and politics is one big choice if you think about it,
- Ethical and moral philosophy explores what good and bad choices are,
Feel free to modify and adjust this unit outline to meet your needs and situation. You will encounter countless teachable moments with your students in and out of your classroom. Embrace them!
Unit Objectives
1. To learn more about The Civic Mirror and how to use it.
2. To use The Civic Mirror Practice Run experience to help students realize that: (A) Their individual choices can - and often do - affect other people both positively and negatively, and (B) Collectively, our individual choices matter because the quality and well-being of any society is dependent upon the kinds of choices its members make.
Lesson Overview
Lesson 1 - Introduce The Civic Mirror: Read the introduction as a class and students tour through the program.
Lesson 2 - Civic Mirror Practice Run: Students cooperate and compete in a trial version of the civicmirror.com online program with the goal of trying to attain the highest standard of living for their fictitious, Civic Mirror family.
Lesson 3 - Reflect on Choices Made in CM Practice Run: Students reflect on the choices they and their classmates made in the Civic Mirror Practice Run and the reach/magnitude of their positive and negative consequences.
Lesson 4 - Real World Connections: Students connect what they learned from the CM Practice Run and Lesson 3 to life in the real world, thinking about how many small choices can have big, big effects.
Lesson 5 + Work Period and Presentations (optional): Students work to complete a performance task that challenges them to synthesize what they learned and experienced into their own theory about what makes choices good or bad.
