Gerrymandering is a tough concept for students to understand, but it's an important one in civics and government. You can use games to make this easier for your students to grasp. This slidedeck is a sample of how you can use a great board game, Mapmaker, to teach gerrymandering. You'll also find links to where you can download the slides, learn more about how to use them to teach, and subscribe for other game based learning information.

2. WHAT IS
GERRYMANDERING?
CREATING AN ELECTION MAP THAT FAVORS ONE POLITICAL
PARTY OVER ANOTHER
NAME COMES FROM ELDRIDGE GERRY, A MASSACHUSETTS
GOVERNOR WHO ALLEGEDLY DREW A DISTRICT THAT
LOOKED LIKE A SALAMANDER
TYPICALLY INVOLVES ELECTION DISTRICTS THAT ARE ODD
SHAPES

3. LET’S LOOK AT AN
EXAMPLE.
THIS MAP CURRENTLY HAS NO BOUNDARIES ON IT. THE
TOKENS REPRESENT VOTERS OF TWO DIFFERENT
PARTIES – THE RED PARTY AND THE BLUE PARTY.
DO YOU THINK THIS STATE IS MORE RED, MORE BLUE,
OR ABOUT THE SAME?

4. IT’S RED!
SEVEN ELECTION DISTRICTS WERE DRAWN ON THIS
MAP. THEY ARE ALL ROUGHLY THE SAME SIZE.
SIX ELECTION DISTRICTS FAVOR THE RED PARTY, AND
ONE ELECTION DISTRICT FAVORS THE BLUE PARTY.
DO YOU THINK THE SAME MAP COULD BE REDRAWN TO
FAVOR THE BLUE PARTY … ?
Not familiar with Mapmaker: the
Gerrymandering Game? Click here to read a
review of the game.

5. NOPE, IT’S BLUE!
THE DISTRIBUTION OF VOTERS IS THE SAME AS THE
PREVIOUS MAP, BUT THERE ARE NOW SIX BLUE
DISTRICTS AND ONE RED DISTRICT.
WHAT DO YOU NOTICE ABOUT THE MAP AND THE WAY
THE ELECTION BOUNDARIES ARE DRAWN?
HOW WAS THIS OUTCOME ACHIEVED?
DO YOU THINK IT’S POSSIBLE TO CREATE A MAP WHERE
EVERY DISTRICT IS BLUE (OR RED)?
Click here to read more about how to use this lesson in your class.

7. REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. DID YOUR GROUP HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH THE FIRST TASK? WHAT WAS HARD OR EASY ABOUT IT?
2. WHAT STRATEGIES DID YOUR TEAM USE TO CREATE A MAP THAT FAVORED ONE PARTY OVER ANOTHER?
3. HOW BALANCED OR UNBALANCED WAS THE MAP YOU CREATED IN COMPETITIVE PLAY?
4. DID ANY OF THE PLAYERS IN YOUR GROUP COOPERATE IN ANY WAY?
5. IF YOU HAD TO JUDGE WHETHER OR NOT A MAP WAS “FAIR,” WHAT KINDS OF THINGS WOULD YOU LOOK
FOR?

8. MORE FROM
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