Back to Standards Index: National Council for the Social Studies C3 Framework

Standards Index: D2.Civ.13.9-12.

Find lessons and videos that align with D2.Civ.13.9-12.

Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.

Image from How the Military Response to 9/11 Led to Two Decades of War in Afghanistan

How the Military Response to 9/11 Led to Two Decades of War in Afghanistan

Students will learn how the U.S. military response to the 9/11 attacks led to decades of war and a chaotic ending."
Image from The War on Terror and the Debate Over Torture

The War on Terror and the Debate Over Torture

Students will learn about the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, focusing on the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” and the ensuing calls for accountability.
Image from Aftermath of the War on Terror

Aftermath of the War on Terror

Students will learn how the climate of fear and panic following the 9/11 attacks resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of innocent Arab immigrants.
Image from American Reckoning

American Reckoning

The video segments for this activity come from “American Reckoning,” a Frontline and Retro Report collaboration that examines a little-known story of the civil rights movement.
Image from Atomic Fears and the Arms Race: Nuclear Testing

Atomic Fears and the Arms Race: Nuclear Testing

Students will learn how the nuclear arms race impacted different aspects of society – including soldiers who were exposed to radiation during early atomic testing – and how it continues to impact them today.
Image from Campaigns and Elections: The 2000 Election

Campaigns and Elections: The 2000 Election

Students will learn why the 2000 presidential election, a race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, was decided by the Supreme Court, and how that led to changes that continue to influence our elections today.
Image from Coronavirus: Lessons From Past Epidemics

Coronavirus: Lessons From Past Epidemics

Students will learn lessons from history for dealing with the coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic by understanding the connections to previous global public health campaigns to eradicate smallpox and polio.
Image from Dr. Martin Luther King at Gee’s Bend

Dr. Martin Luther King at Gee’s Bend

Students will learn the history of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s fight for voting rights in Gee’s Bend, Ala., a town whose status today shows both the achievements and unfinished work of King’s movement.
Image from Emergence of the AIDS Crisis

Emergence of the AIDS Crisis

Students will learn the historical context of the AIDS crisis in the United States in the 1980s, and where it stands today.
Image from From Watergate to Campaign Finance Reform

From Watergate to Campaign Finance Reform

Students will learn how the Watergate break-in and the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon changed the way political campaigns were funded, and what that means for today.
Image from George C. Wallace and the Politics of Segregation

George C. Wallace and the Politics of Segregation

Students will learn how Alabama Gov. George Wallace’s evolving positions on race reveal both the intensity of the white backlash to desegregation during the 60s and the growing political power of the black community during the 70s and early 80s.
Image from How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees

How the U.S. Has Treated Wartime Refugees

Students will examine the question of what obligation countries have to refugees. As Afghan and Ukrainian migrants settle in the U.S., this video asks whether refugee resettlement is better now than it was for the Vietnamese 50 years ago.
Image from Immigration in the 1990s: Proposition 187

Immigration in the 1990s: Proposition 187

Students will learn about the anti-immigration movement in California in the 1990s, and why it is relevant today.
Image from McCarthyism: Populism and the Press

McCarthyism: Populism and the Press

Students will learn how Joseph McCarthy rode to power on a wave of anti-communist fears, and how television contributed to both his rise and fall.
Image from Public Policy: Welfare Reform

Public Policy: Welfare Reform

Students will learn how President Bill Clinton signed a welfare bill to reform a program created as part of the New Deal in 1935; and how the bill has reshaped the relationship between poor Americans and the government.
Image from Race, the Media and the Myth of the ‘Crack Baby’

Race, the Media and the Myth of the ‘Crack Baby’

Students will learn how the news media contributed to a false narrative about the fate of babies born to mothers with addiction problems, what that narrative teaches us about the role of perspective and historical context, and how that false narrative continues to influence us today.
Image from Sanctuary Cities: An Uproar That Began Long Ago - Mini-Lesson

Sanctuary Cities: An Uproar That Began Long Ago - Mini-Lesson

Students will learn about how as deportations of unauthorized immigrants rose under President Donald Trump, some churches and cities declared themselves sanctuaries and shielded migrants from immigration enforcement.
Image from Suffrage for Black Women

Suffrage for Black Women

Students will learn how Black women have often been at the forefront of activism and advocacy relating to ballot access, voter suppression, and the right to vote.
Image from The Battle for Votes: Gerrymandering

The Battle for Votes: Gerrymandering

Students will learn the causes and effects of gerrymandering, and how court decisions authorizing race-based gerrymandering have reshaped American politics and created complex legacies.
Image from The Birth of the Environmental Movement: DDT and Rachel Carson

The Birth of the Environmental Movement: DDT and Rachel Carson

Students will learn how the U.S. government came to develop environmental protection policies and what that means today as we struggle to balance the risk between pesticides and disease.
Image from The Civil Rights Movement Expands: Busing

The Civil Rights Movement Expands: Busing

Students will learn what happened in 1971 when the U.S. Supreme Court authorized the use of cross-town busing to desegregate schools, and why much of the integration achieved through busing has unraveled in the last two decades.
Image from The Clinton Presidency: “Zero Tolerance”

The Clinton Presidency: “Zero Tolerance”

Students will learn the social and political forces that led schools to adopt “zero tolerance” discipline policies in the 1980s and 1990s, and the racially unequal consequences of these policies today.
Image from The Cold War Space Race

The Cold War Space Race

Students will learn how the United States space program was fueled by Cold War rivalry, and how the U.S. government leveraged the program’s success in its public relations battle with the Soviet Union.
Image from The Cold War: From the Truman Doctrine to the Berlin Airlift

The Cold War: From the Truman Doctrine to the Berlin Airlift

Students will learn how the Berlin Airlift helped protect Berlin from Soviet control, contributed to the rise of NATO and set the tone for the Cold War.
Image from The Environment and Natural Resources: Wild Horses

The Environment and Natural Resources: Wild Horses

Students will learn about efforts in the early 1970s to enhance environmental regulation and species protections and what happens when those policies lead to conflict – in this case over the wild horse.
Image from The Korean War

The Korean War

Students will learn how President Harry Truman’s use of presidential power during the Korean War continues to influence U.S. foreign policy and military engagements around the world today.
Image from The Moral Panic Over “Superpredators”

The Moral Panic Over “Superpredators”

Students will learn how politicians of both parties used flawed predictions about the rise of a new class of youthful offenders known as superpredators to justify a series of dramatic changes to the nation’s criminal justice system during the 1990s.
Image from The War on Drugs: The New Face of Heroin

The War on Drugs: The New Face of Heroin

Students will learn the origin and racial context of America’s multi-decade war on drugs, and the impact the changing demographics of heroin users have had on the debate and public policy.
Image from Why Supreme Court Confirmations Have Become So Bitter: Mini-Lesson

Why Supreme Court Confirmations Have Become So Bitter: Mini-Lesson

Students will examine the nomination and confirmation process for Supreme Court Justices and learn why the judges often reveal so little.