Massachusetts State Government:
Its Departments and Services

Activity

1. Distribute the student worksheet, Massachusetts State Government: Departments and Services. Have students brainstorm in small groups about what services they think the government should provide to its people or how the government should help its people.

2. While students are thinking about/writing their responses on the worksheet, list the following government department headings on the board, leaving a column for each: Health and Human Services, Education, Public Safety, Housing and Other.

3. After sufficient time has been given for brainstorming/writing, direct students' attention to the board and ask for help in defining each department. Ask the class "What do you think Human Services means?" Perhaps isolate words that the students are familiar with to help in defining the terms. For example, circle the word "house" in "Housing" and make the connection to house/home.

4. When the class is clear on the meanings of each heading, have a representative from each group go to the board and list the service(s) they came up with under what they believe to be the appropriate department heading. For those responses that don't fall under the four departments listed, direct students to list them under the "other" column. For those students who have duplicate answers, encourage them to think of/offer another example.

5. When students are finished posting their responses, ask the class if they think that all services are posted under the appropriate government department heading. Help/have students make corrections if necessary. Add any from the following list that have been left out or have not been fully described:
Health and Human Services: Welfare, healthcare services (insurance, emergency care, wellness checkups, dental, mental health counseling), WIC, food stamps, corrections
Education: Education for children (K-12 system), adult basic education (ABE system), community colleges, colleges and universities (higher education)
Public Safety: Police Department, Fire Department, and Department of Motor Vehicles
Housing: Low rent apartments, programs that help people who are low-income buy a house

Note: Students may give specific program names for services or answers like: "go to the dentist". When finalizing the lists on the board, put the generic name of the service in parenthesis beside the specific program name: Example: MassHealth (healthcare), free food (food stamps/WIC)

6. Ask the class: What services does the government spend the most money on? Does anyone know how much money the Massachusetts government is spending this year for these services? If no one responds, direct them to the handout/overhead, Where Does the Money Go? Let students know that in a later lesson you will be talking about where the money comes from to pay for the services and what happens when there's not enough money to pay for the services.

7. List the following grid on the board without the given examples:

Government Examples of services we receive
Local (city, town) fire station, trash pick-up, public library, teachers
State (Massachusetts) education, healthcare, housing, government workers, state legislators
Federal (U.S.A.) military protection, prints money, Postal Service, Space Program (NASA)

Tell students: Now that we've talked about the services we receive at the state level of government let's talk for a minute about the services we receive at the other levels of government.

Ask students if they know what services they receive from the local level of government, in their town or city. If they need assistance, list the services in the appropriate column. Ask them what services they receive from the federal government same with the federal level. Ask for volunteers to tell you or to list the previously discussed state services in the grid. Discuss the services that may be offered at more than one level.

8. Ask students: What are some of the services you've used? Refer them to the list on the board.

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