Bismarck City Civics
| Site: | Learnbps |
| Class: | SST Grade 3 Bismarck Studies |
| Book: | Bismarck City Civics |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Saturday, June 7, 2025, 5:49 PM |
How to people get along together in a community?
How do people get along together in a community?
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Why Do People Need Community Governments?
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What Do Community Governments Do?
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How are Community Governments Organized?
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What Responsibilities do Citizens Have in a Community?
SST-03.C: Civics & Government (C)
- SST-03.C.01 Compare and contrast the responsibilities and powers of government officials at various levels and branches of government.
- SST-03.C.02 Describe the structure of government and how it functions to serve citizens/residents.
- SST-03.C.03 Describe the structure of governments in North Dakota and how they function to serve citizens.
- SST-03.C.04 Explain the importance of the basic principles that provide the foundation of the American system of government. (e.g. Amendments, Constitution, symbols, patriotic traditions, government leaders, etc.).
- SST-03.C.05 Describe procedures for making decisions in a variety of settings.
- SST-03.C.06 Compare and contrast personal and civic responsibilities and explain why they are important in community life.
- SST-03.C.07 Develop and implement an action plan to address or inform others about an issue.
Why Do People Need Governments?
You have learned that a community is a place where people live, work and play together. In order to do those things people need to get along together! In first grade you learned about how people get along together in classroom. You learned about how people
get along together in a school. Now it is time to learn about how people get along together in a community!
What is one way people in your classroom get along together?
People Need Rules!
In first grade you learned that rules help you get along in a classroom. Rules help keep you safe. Rules help keep things fair. People want to feel safe in their community.
People want things to be fair. People want to get along together in their community. For all these reasons communities need rules.
We give another name to rules in a community. We call them laws. Laws are what rules are called in a community.
People Need to Be Safe
People want to feel safe in their community. Would you feel safe in a car in Lawless Town? Probably not! Laws help keep people safe. Lawless Town needs some laws about driving!
What is a Community Government?
Who makes the rules in your family? Who makes the rules in your classroom? Who do you think makes the laws in a community?
In a community laws are made by a government. A government is a group of people chosen to make laws and choices for a community.
A characteristic is a way to describe something. People have characteristics. What are some of your characteristics? What color is your hair? What color are your eyes? What characteristics do government leaders need to be good as mayors and council
members?
People Need Community Services
Community governments make laws. Community governments keep people safe. Community governments also provide community services.
A service is something someone does for you. Community services are things that a community government does for people living in a community.
Lawless Town needed a law about speeding. Would a law be enough? Who would stop the people who were driving too fast? Lawless Town would also need police officers. They could stop the people who were driving too fast. Police officers are a community
service. A community government provides police officers.
If your house was on fire. You would call 911. The fire station would send firefighters to put out the fire. Firefighters are another community service. A community government provides firefighters.
What is another community service your community provides?
People Need Help Solving Problems
In your classroom your teacher helps solve problems. In a community the community government helps solve problems.
In Lawless Town people were throwing garbage everywhere. Pretend you lived in Lawless Town. What if you didn’t like all that garbage? What could you do? You could go to the community government. You could ask the community leaders to help you solve the problem. Maybe they could pass a law about garbage. Maybe they could have a town clean-up day.
People in a community need laws. Laws help people feel safe in a community. A community government is a group of people chosen to make laws for a community. A community government helps keep people safe. A community government also provides services.
It provides police officers. It provides firefighters. A community government also helps people solve problems.
Why Do People Need a Community Government?
- A community government makes laws.
- A community government keeps people safe.
- A community government provides services.
- A community government help solve problems.
Why Are Laws so Important in a Community?
You need rules in your classroom.
People in a community need rules, too!
In a community rules are called laws.
What is one important rule in your classroom? Why do you have that rule?
Why Do Communities Make Laws?
Students in Mr. Johnson’s room were leaving the classroom a mess. Everyday Anita and Susan stayed behind to clean it up. Mr. Johnson thought that wasn’t fair. Mr. Johnson made a new rule.
Everyone has to help clean up the classroom at the end of the day.
Why did Mr. Johnson make the new rule?
Mr. Johnson made the rule in order to solve a problem. What was the problem?
- Students were leaving the classroom a mess.
- Two students had to clean the mess up.
The same thing happens in communities. Communities make laws in order to solve problems.
Read the community law below. What problem do you think
the community had?
It is the responsibility of the owner of any dog to keep the dog on the owner's property.
Why did the community need this law?
The community had a problem with dogs running loose. The loose dogs were in other people’s yards. They sometimes bit people. The loose dogs were sometimes in danger. Cars came close to running into them.
Should Laws Protect People’s Rights?
Do you think Mr. Jones liked the new Garbage Law? He probably didn’t! He felt it was his right to throw his garbage on his lawn!
When communities make laws they do need to think about the rights of people. These rights are called individual rights. Individual is another name for one person. Individual rights are things a person is allowed to have or to do.
What About the Common Good?
When communities make laws they also have to think about the common good. The common good is what is best for everybody. Most people in Lawless Town felt the garbage law would be best for everybody.
Think about a seesaw, or a teeter totter. It can be hard to balance each side. That's why making laws can be hard.
A community needs to balance the common good and individual rights. It needs to protect individuals, I also needs to do what is best for everybody.
People in a community make laws to solve problems. Communities have to balance the common good and individual rights. Laws have to do what is best for everybody. Laws also have to protect individual rights.
Work with your teacher and your class to find some of your community laws. Work together to figure out what problems they were trying to solve.
How are Governments Organized?
You learned that laws are very important in a community. Laws help keep people safe. Laws help people get along together. Who makes the laws in a community? Read on to find out! Who makes the rules in your family? Who makes the rules in your classroom?
Who Makes the Laws in a Community?
You learned that Lawless Town had a new law about garbage. Who made the law?
Interactive 4.5 Making Laws in Lawless Town
Who made the garbage law? Click here to find out!
The people of Lawless Town held an election. They voted on five people to make their laws. Your community also has a group of people who make your laws. In many communities this group is called a council. A council is a group of people who make the laws in a community. Lawless Town has laws now! It needs a new name! Come up with a new name, then, make a welcome sign for the town!
Who Makes Sure People Follow the Laws in a Community?
Communities have a group of people who make the laws. Is that enough to just make laws? What if people don’t follow them?
You have rules in your classroom. Who makes sure you follow them? Your teacher! Your teacher reminds you about the rules. Your teacher enforces the rules. Enforce means to make sure people follow rules or laws.
Communities have a leader who enforces the rules. In many communities this leader is called a mayor. A mayor is a leader who enforces the rules in a community.
A mayor is in charge of the police department in a community. Police officers help the mayor enforce the rules.
What Happens if People Don’t Understand a Law?
The garbage law in Lawless Town was easy to understand:
People in Lawless Town have to put their garbage in a garbage can.
Sometimes laws in a community can be very hard to understand.
Look at this law: It shall be unlawful for any person to accumulate or permit to accumulate upon any public or private property within the Municipality, any garbage, rubbish, bulky waste, or any other municipal or residual solid waste except in accordance with the provision of this Ordinance, and any Department rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Act 97 and Act 101.
Wow! That law has a lot of big words. Who helps people in a community understand a law like this? Who interprets the law for them? Interpret means to explain what something means.
Communities have courts. A court is a place where leaders interpret laws. They help people understand what laws mean.
Courts have another important job in a community. A court is
also a place where leaders decide the punishment for
breaking laws.
Interactive 4.6 The Three Parts of Community Government
Click here to review the three parts of community government.
Why Do Community Governments Need Three Parts?
Why can’t one group do everything in a community? They could make the laws. They could enforce the laws. They could interpret the laws.
Wait! Why can’t one person do everything? That person
could make the laws. That person could enforce the laws.
That person could interpret the laws.
What do you think? Why do community
governments need three parts?
Letting one person do everything would give that person a lot of power. That might be a problem. That person might become a bully. That person might make unfair laws.
Letting one group do everything would give that group a lot of power. That might be a problem. That group might become a group of bullies. That group might make unfair laws.
That is why community governments need three parts. People don’t want their leaders to become bullies!
Class Activity
Work with your teacher and your
class to find out how your
community government is
organized.
What Responsibilities do Citizens Have in Bismarck.
Communities need a government. A government is a group of people chosen to make laws and choices for a community. A community government has a lot of responsibilities. The government has to make laws. The government has to keep people safe. The government has to provide services like police officers. The government has to help solve problems. What are some of your responsibilities at home? What are some of your responsibilities at school? What about the rest of the people in a community? Do they have any responsibilities? Read on to find out!
What is the Difference Between Personal Responsibilities and Civic Responsibilities?
In first grade you learned about personal responsibilities. Personal responsibilities are things an individual person is supposed to do. Brushing your teeth is a personal responsibility. Feeding your pet is a personal responsibility. Helping keep your home clean is a personal responsibility. Everybody in a community has personal responsibilities.
People in a community also have civic responsibilities. Civic responsibilities are things a citizen is supposed to do. A citizen is a member of a community, state or country. Helping keep the community clean is a civic responsibility.
What are Some Important Civic Responsibilities?
The community government is responsible for making laws. What civic responsibility do citizens have when it comes to laws? Do citizens need to sing a song about the laws? Do citizens need to paint a picture of the laws?
Of course not! Citizens need to obey, or follow, the laws. Obeying the laws is a civic responsibility. Why do you think obeying the laws is an important civic responsibility?
Voting is another important civic responsibility. Remember how the people of Lawless
Town used voting to choose their leaders. In your community people choose leaders
by voting too!
Interactive 4.7 Voting
Why is voting such an important civic responsibility?
You just learned that it is not enough to just vote. You need to vote wisely. You need to
learn about the people you are voting for. You need to vote for the person you think
will do the best job.
Interactive 4.8 Review
Time to show what you know! Click here to sort civic and personal responsibilities!
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