Say “YES” to Clean Air!
Due: Tuesday, December 5th
You are a member of the campaign for a politician who is running for political office. Your group will construct a political campaign surrounding one of the major issues we have talked about in class (Acid Rain, Smog, Ozone depletion, Global Warming-Methane production & Deforestation).
You will be required to find creative and effective ways to support your party’s candidate and cause, using information from your class notes, textbook, and Internet sources.
You will also need to demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the causes and effects of air pollution, how humans specifically impact the atmosphere, and propose solutions to environmental issues and ways humans can help prevent air pollution.
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Helpful definitions:
ü Campaign (noun, verb): A race between candidates to be elected for office
ü Office (noun): A position of authority, duty, or trust given to a person, as in a government or corporation
ü Party (noun): An established political group organized to promote and support its principles and candidates for public office
ü Lobby (verb): To try to influence a public official to take a desired action
Members of my campaign party are:
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
4. ______
5. ______
6. ______
7. ______
The topic we are campaigning for is:
The stance we have chosen to take on our particular environmental issue is:
Once in your campaign group, decide who will take on each role. Every role is important for a successful campaign—so teamwork will be the key. Responsibilities for each role include a Written (W) and an Oral (O) part, and are listed below.
Politician Responsibilities:
Person taking this role (1): ______
W: Write a campaign speech.
O: Deliver a well-rehearsed and convincing speech to the class. Participate in an interview with the Journalist.
Campaign Finance Manager Responsibilities:
Person taking this role (1): ______
W: Write a letter to an environmental organization to request donations.
O: Prepare a speech, to be given at a charity event, thanking the people who came and donated money to your cause.
Journalist Responsibilities:
Person taking this role (1): ______
O: Ask the politician questions in an interview.
W: Record the answers from the interview. Using the responses, write a newspaper-quality article about the politician’s argument to inform the public.
Citizen Protestor & Supporter Responsibilities:
People taking this role (2):
Supporter: ______
Protestor: ______
W: As an individual affected by the campaign issue, write a letter to the editor.
O: During the politician’s speech, support or protest the politician.
Advertising Manager Responsibilities:
People taking this role (2): ______
______
W: Create a street sign and a flyer to promote the politician.
O: Create a script for a short and concise fifteen second radio or television commercial in support of your Politician.
The office we are running for is (President, Governor, etc.):
The state or country we are representing is:
We chose this place in particular because (ex. “New Orleans is below sea-level. Global warming would cause the oceans to rise, and it would be under water.”):
Politician
Assignment Details
Writing Prompt: 40pts
You are a politician who is running for office. One of the major issues you feel the public needs to be aware of is how the environment is being affected by human actions. Your campaign will focus on one particular issue your group is assigned by Miss Saunders. In order to personally address the public, you will be delivering a campaign speech before Election Day.
This speech will be your most convincing method to explain to voters your position on the environmental issue. Thus, planning the content and delivery is crucial to winning the election.A key element of any campaign is to develop a strategy that connects you with the voters. Making voters see that issues you know are important—are important to them, too—will win the election.
Things to think about when writing your speech:
ü What are details of the environmental obstacle?
ü Why should people care about it?
ü Why will you be best to address it, if elected?
ü What will you specifically do to help resolve the issue?
ü How will you tie your solution back to the main objective of your message?
ü Be Quotable. Many voters will only hear brief sound bites the media take from your speeches. Give them a good one.
ü Somewhere in your speech, sum up your message briefly.
ü Relate personal stories to your message. (They can be made up!)
ü Be creative, funny and witty without losing your message.
ü Be yourself!
(over…)
Politician
Assignment Details (continued…)
Type III
FCAs for written speech:
1. Use a catchy lead and a strong conclusion to attract the audience. 10pts
2. In addition to class notes and the textbook, use at least two Internet sources to find facts to support your position. (Write websites you used under FCAs). 15pts
3. Address the environmental problem and propose a solution, plan of action, or advice to voters of how to halt negative effects of the specific issue. 15pts
Oral Speech Delivery: 10pts
ü Deliver a well-rehearsed and convincing speech
ü Coordinate with Journalist what questions will be asked, and when they will be interjected
ü Coordinate with Supporter/Protester when “spontaneous” outbursts will occur
ü Speech itself limited to 3 minutes
o with interruptions, limit to 6 total minutes
Campaign Finance Manager
Assignment Details
Writing Prompt: 40pts
You are the Campaign Finance Manager for a politician who is running for office. One of the major issues your politician feels the public needs to be aware of is how the environment is being affected by human actions. The campaign will focus on one particular issue your group is assigned by Miss Saunders. Your primary responsibility will be focused on raising money to finance your politician’s campaign—so he or she can advertise and inform the public about the environmental issue. In order to raise the money, you will write a letter to 3 different organizations that would support your cause, and request a donation from each of them. The body of all 3 letters can be the same.
This letter will be your most valuable method of raising money for your campaign. Without money to fund the campaign, there will be no chance for your politician to get their voice heard by the public. Thus, planning the content and tone is crucial to winning the election.A key element of any letter to request donations is to find a similarity between your position on an environmental issue, and the core beliefs of the organizations you are writing to. Making an organization see that issues they care about—are what your politician thinks are important, too—will be most effective in helping you to raise enough money to help your party win the election.
Things to think about when writing your letter:
ü What are details of the environmental obstacle?
ü What do you know about the organization you are writing to?
ü Why did you contact this specific organization to help you tackle it?
ü Why should they help you?
ü What is your political party’s position on the environmental issue?
ü Why will your politician be best to address the issue, if elected?
ü What will your politician specifically do to help resolve the issue?
ü If they do donate, how will their money help the politician realize his or her goals for helping the environmental problem?
ü Somewhere in your letter, sum up your politician’s message briefly.
ü Should you invite them to the charity event you are hosting?
(over…)
Campaign Finance Manager
Assignment Details (continued…)
Type III
FCA’s for letter:
1. Include proper letter elements, and format. 10pts
a. Return address of the letter writer
b. The date of the letter
c. Complete name, title, and address of the recipient/organization (address can be made up!)
d. Salutation with a colon. (ex. Dear Ms. Brown, )
e. Body of the letter
i. 3-4 paragraphs, single-spaced; double-space between paragraphs
f. Closing (ex. Sincerely, Miss Saunders)
2. In addition to class notes and the textbook, use at least three Internet sources to find facts to support your position and organizations to write to. (Write websites you used under FCAs). 15pts
3. Propose a solution or plan of action that the politician plans to take if elected. 15pts
Oral Speech Delivery: 10pts
Pretend you have organized a fund raising social activity. You can choose to present a speech thanking people who already donated money to your party’s campaign, or alter it to motivate people at the benefit to have yet to donate money.
To include in your speech:
ü Parts of the letter you wrote to the organizations
ü Let donors know what your party and politician will do with the money
ü Express your appreciation for their generous donations
Journalist
Assignment Details
Writing Prompt: 40pts
You are a journalist for a local, well-respected, newspaper. Your editor has given you the task of covering the upcoming election, in which environmental issues are a heated debate among the candidates. Your primary responsibility will be to create questions to ask the politician who is running for office, interview him or her, and record the responses. In order to communicate the information you uncover in the interview, you will write an article to be published in your newspaper. With the intention of adequately informing voters who read your newspaper, the article should include the strengths and weaknesses of the politician’s argument, and what their plan of action is if elected.
This article will be the newspaper’s most important method of informing voters, in a non-biased way, of the issues in the campaign. Thus, planning the content and tone is crucial in order to influence thousands of voters. A key element of any non-biased article is to only use facts, not feelings, in order to discuss and comment on both sides of the politician’s argument. This will allow voters to make their own decisions about what issues are important to them, and ultimately, who they want to vote for in the election.
Things to think about when writing your newspaper article and interview questions:
ü What are details of the environmental obstacle?
ü Why should people care about it?
ü What is the politician’s position on the environmental issue?
ü What will the politician specifically do to help resolve the issue?
ü Why does the politician think he or she will be the best person to address the issue, if elected?
ü Somewhere in your article, sum up the politician’s message briefly.
ü What are some of the issues the politician does not address?
ü What are areas that people could oppose in the politician’s argument?
ü Why would a person vote for or against this candidate?
ü Be creative without losing your message.
(over…)
Journalist
Assignment Details (continued…)
Type III
FCA’s for article:
1. The student’s voice is used to create an interesting article. 10pts
2. Explain the candidate’s position on the environmental problem and the proposed solutions or plan of action. 15pts
3. Makes use of facts, not feelings, in order to discuss and comment on both the strengths and the weaknesses of the politician’s argument. 15pts
Oral Interview: 10pts
You are to work with the politician to stage an interview during part of his or her campaign speech. In reality, the article would be written after such an interview, but for the sake of time, questions and responses should be pre-formed, in order to write the article.
ü Pose thoughtful, well-rehearsed questions to the Politician
ü Collaborate with the Politician to rehearse what questions will be asked, and when they will be interjected
ü Collaborate with the Supporter/Protester to plan when “spontaneous” outbursts will occur, so as to not intrude on their time to speak, and avoid unplanned chaos
ü Questions and responses should be rapid and concise
o limited to 1-2 minutes
with interruptions, the politician’s speech is limited to 6 minutes
Citizen Protestor/Supporter
Assignment Details
Writing Prompt: 40pts
You are an individual who is a member in the community of which the politician will have control over if elected. After hearing the politician’s position on the environmental issue of debate in the campaign, you realize you will be greatly affected by whether or not the candidate gets elected and has free reign to lobby for laws to be passed on the issue. Your viewpoint can be that of a supporter for the candidate and the issues they support, OR a protestor against the candidate and what they stand for. To make sure your voice is heard by the community, and in order to urge other voters to vote with what you believe, you have the opportunity to write a letter to the editor of “Opinions” section of a newspaper.
This letter will be your most influential method of raising awareness for what you believe. This is your chance to legitimately have your voice heard by the public. Thus, planning the content and tone is crucial to influence voters to vote in favor of the position you support. A key element of any opinion letter is to use facts, combined with feelings, and hopefully elicit the support of other people who feel the same way that you do. If you are able to make a voter see that their personal core beliefs about the environmental issue either clash or coincide with the candidates, then they will decide to either protest or support the candidate along with you.