As part of their election unit in social studies, third- and fourth-grade students participated in their own electoral college simulation. Gaining an understanding of the process, a mock election was held between “Even” and “Odd, with students using dice to simulate the electoral votes that would go to each candidate. Students were placed in pairs and were assigned various states that they would go on to record and tally even and odd dice rolls to determine the outcome for each state.
This fun and interactive lesson included live tallying of votes as they came in, and students also color-coded a map to indicate the results of each state. Towards the end, the excitement in each grade 3/4 classroom was building and students were completely engrossed in the process. Before announcing the final tally, students checked, double-checked, and triple-checked their addition to make sure results were accurate. “Even” won the race in both classes!
This simulation allowed students to get a real feel for how the electoral college works and why election day has the pacing that it does. Gaining an understanding of how electoral votes are distributed and the weight that they carry from state to state, students made many insightful connections from this mock process – all in the midst of our country’s very own electoral college results!
To view a video of their electoral college simulation, click here.