Municipalities: Is it Time for a Change?

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This lesson is most appropriate for High School classrooms.

Theme: How does a local municipality come into existence

MCF Benchmark: Explain the advantages and disadvantages of a federal system of government.

Other benchmarks this lesson targets include: none

Materials needed:

  • Municipalities Powerpoint Attachment
  • Services Worksheet Attachment
  • Michigan Municipalities Attachment
  • New Municipalities Attachment
  • Constructed Response Rubric Attachment
  • One of the following:
    • a transparecy of the Services Worksheet and overhead markers
    • a flip chart paper and markers
    • electronic recording equipment, such as tape recorder or video recorder

Methodological procedure:

  1. The teacher will use Muncipalities PowerPoint to introduce Michigan's municipalities. This either can be shown to the class via an LCD projector or copied for students to read.
  2. The teacher should review the concept of popular sovereignty with the students. If the students are familiar enough with the concept, have them cite examples of how popular sovereignty is exhibited in creating municipalities. Otherwise spend a few minutes reviewing the concept, using the creation of municipalities as a concrete example of popular sovereignty.
  3. Given the Services Worksheet, the students will work cooperatively to describe the services provided by their local municipalities.
    The students should go beyond simple yes and no answers about who provides; they should describe the role the municipality plays in providing the service. For example, one student may write that his/her city provides sound police and fire protection. Another student may write that his/her township does not have an organized election process.
  4. Students will discuss the following question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of municipalities providing these services?
    The teacher should use a group discussion strategy to invite students to share information from their worksheet, as well as personal experiences related to the municipality where they reside.
    Notes from the discussion should be recorded on a common worksheet, flip chart paper, or electronic recording.

Author's notes:

popular sovereignty - concept
municipality - vocab
incorporation - vocab

This is a fairly short lesson that should easily be completed in one 45- minute class period. The assessment can then be a homework assignment. If the class is 90 minutes, the assessment can be discussed and then completed during class time.

" A Bird's Eye View of Michigan Local Government...," which can be found in the Web Sites section provides a good background for this lesson. The teacher may want to distribute parts of this to the class (specifically the section on 'Powers of Local Government'). Otherwise they may have difficulty completing the Services worksheet. Alternatively, the teacher may prefer the students do research on their own to complete the assignment.

Assessment strategies:

Using graphic prompts on the changes in municipalities (see the 'New Municipalities' worksheet in the Downloads section), the students will write a constructive response:

  • Identify two trends in municipalities since 1950.
  • Explain how each trend has an advantage and a disadvantage affected by the process of becoming a municipality. Students must exhibit a knowledge of how specific municipalities come into existence in their responses.

Enrichment suggestions:

Students will write a testimony speech about a possible change in a municipality's authority, directed to a local governing body. Included in their response should be the steps and requirements that must be met in order to establish this change.

Available downloads:

  • Michigan Municipalities, (40 K)
    A bar graph showing the change in the number of townships, cities, and villages in Michigan from 1950 to 2002
  • New Municipalities, (34 K)
    A bar graph showing the new townships, cities, and villages created during each of the last five decades.
  • Services Worksheet, (23 K)
    This worksheet allows the student to describe the services provided by a local municipality.
  • Scoring Rubric, (29 K)
    This is a scoring rubric for the assessment task.
  • Municipalities PowerPoint, (269 K)
    This is an overview of Michigan's municipalities. It includes a description of each municipality, legislation that has affected each municipality, and the process to chnage a municipality.

Suggested web sites: