Supreme Court Case Project Based Learning

This thorough lesson on Landmark Supreme Court cases in America includes a rigorous and authentic PBL activity, overview presentation on the cases, video overview, guided notes, and lesson plan.

Students are assigned a landmark court case for the Project Based Learning (PBL) activity. They must research the case, Constitutional question involved, the Court's decision, and its significance. A directions page describes all of this and includes multiple links students can use for their research. There are 34 landmark cases included for students to select from. Click the preview button to see the list.

The project can be done individually, in pairs, or with small cooperative learning groups. After conducting their research, students share their findings through authentic "Real World" project. These are career-based and designed to match up with student interests and abilities. Students can create a museum exhibit, podcast, or even documentary to present their findings. Twenty-five options are provided along with tips on how students could use each one.

An editable Google Doc version of the entire PBL activity is included if you need to make any changes or want to share through Google Classroom.

Also included is a PowerPoint (and Google Slides) overview of most of the major Supreme Court cases so that you can ensure students learn about each one. Two options for guided notes are included for this.

A fully-narrated "flipped classroom" video version of the presentation is also included! This can be assigned to students to save more time for their projects, saved for absent students, or used yourself to prep for the lesson.

This is an incredibly thorough resource that will surely help your students understand the significance of these landmark cases and the impact the Supreme Court has on American society.

This resource can also be downloaded as part of my Judicial Branch Unit Plan Bundle!

Thanks so much for checking it out!