How the government goes to law and attends to the weather.
Read the current chapter online: “The Departments of Justice, Interior, & Agriculture.”
Suggestions
- Rock Creek Park was the third park established by the government and was authorized in 1890. View the final outcome.
- View a photo of the Department of Justice Building.
- Compare and contrast the roles and duties of the Supreme Court with those of the Justice Department (pg. 144).
- Learn about the history of the Office of the Attorney General created by the Judiciary Act of 1789.
- Learn more about Davy Crockett.
- Copy Davy Crockett’s motto on Drawing and Writing Paper and then illustrate the concept. (If you prefer, you can use a motto you more identify with.)
Be always sure you’re right—THEN GO AHEAD!
- Find your United States Attorney!
- List the roles of the United States Attorneys.
- View an interactive organizational chart of the Department of Justice, which now includes the FBI, DEA, and ATF.
- The original Department of the Interior Building was housed in the Patent Office Building.
- View and learn more about the Department of the Interior Building today.
- View the Old Patent Building, now part of the Smithsonian Institution.
- Read more about the role of the U. S. Patent Office. Narrate.
- Look up those listed in the book who filed U. S. Patents and find out what type of patents they filed:
- Make a list of the current bureaus within the Department of the Interior.
- The Department of Labor is now its own department; as is the Department of Education.
- Learn more about the history of the Census Bureau, which is now part of the Department of Commerce.
- Learn more about the Homestead Act which officially ended in 1988.
- Listen to “Uncle Sam’s Farm,” the song that the phrase in the text was taken from:
“And Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm….”
- Learn what the Bureau of Indian Affairs does today.
- Read a more current list of the duties of the Department of the Interior.
- Learn more about the Pension Building.
- View an old photo of the Agricultural Grounds in Washington, D. C.
- View the Department of Agriculture Building.
- Compare and contrast the architecture of the Department of Agriculture building with that of Versailles.
- View a current list of Agricultural Colleges in the United States.
- Summarize the duties of the Department of Agriculture.
- Read the comment about agriculture given in the book: “Agriculture is as necessary to the development of a nation as art. It is more desirable than statecraft, more noble than war, more lasting than internal improvements, more productive than law; for upon it both the welfare and subsistence of a nation depend.” Would you consider that statement true today? Why or why not? Defend your position with a short persuasive essay.
- View a list of the current USDA agencies.
- The Weather Bureau is now part of NOAA, a division of the U. S. Commerce Department.
- Learn more about Arlington National Cemetery.
- Create an acrostic poem using the word liberty and this interactive from ReadWriteThink.org.
- There are now 147 national cemeteries. Read about the history of national cemeteries in the Untied States.
- Learn more about O’Hara’s poem.
- Read the history of Arlington House.
- View the “Temple of Fame.”
- Copy the text of Lincoln’s Gettysburg speech into your copybook.
Additional Resources
The Robert F. Kennedy Building
More on the Department of Justice building.
DOJ Seal History and Motto
Meaning and history behind the seal.
Attorneys General of the United States
Portraits and bios.
History: The Department of Everything Else
Great background on the Department of the Interior.
Past Secretaries
Of the Department of the Interior.
The Old Patent Office Building
History from the Smithsonian.
The Homestead Act of 1862
The history behind the act.
ARS Timeline
Agricultural Research at USDA.
How Arlington National Cemetery Came to Be
History from Smithsonian Magazine.
Activities
Milestones in U.S. Patenting
Excellent interactive site from the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Listen to Soundmarks
Did you know sounds could be patented? See how many you recognize!
Introduction to Greek Architecture
Learn more about the buildings covered in the lesson at Khan Academy.
Arlington House
Virtual tour.
Books
A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee by Davy Crockett
His autobiography.
Fifty Glimpses of Washington
Photo book in the public domain.
Units & Lesson Plans
The Patents and Trademarks of Biomicry
Great activity book download for kids from the patent office.
Liberty Defined
Lesson plan from the National Teacher Training Institute.
Notebooking Pages & Printables
Inventors Coloring Book (archived)
Free download from the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Departments of Justice, Interior, & Agriculture Notebooking Pages
Our free and simple notebooking pages for copywork, narrations, dictations, or wrapping up.
Enjoy the entire series:
