Daily Show: Public Opinion

This is a great clip to show how unreliable polls can be.  It is a good review of leading questions, inaccurate sampling, and media bias.  NOTE: I would recommend stopping this clip 30 seconds before the end for language that is likely not appropriate for the classroom. 

Poll Bearers

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

AP Government: Demographics and Public Policy

We have started a unit on public opinion and political participation in my AP Government class.  The chapter begins with an examination of current demographic trends in the US.  Pew Research has some really cool interactive graphics on their website that ties in very well with the chapter.  I assigned pairs of students demographic topics and had them research the trend and make predictions about how it will impact politics in the future.  Students eventually presented their predictions, and they came up with some great answers.

This activity is a great way to introduce the many ways that demographics and public opinion shape politics.

These are the websites I had students use:

The Next America
Pew Research Center

This is a downloadable version of the graphic organizer I had them fill out for their initial research:

Graphic Organizer

Let me know how it goes!