Great Government for Kids

Your Local Government

Welcome

Your Local Government

State and Federal
Government

Famous Citizens

Teacher Resources

Unit Overview, Lesson Plans, and On-Line Textbook

Internet Websites Bibliography

About the Authors

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A city council is a group of citizens that are in charge of the government of a city or town. Sometimes these people are elected and sometimes they are appointed. They meet once a month in a public city council meeting to make decisions about local issues. The people who live in the community come to these meetings to voice their opinions about local issues. After the council hears from all, they vote on the issue. Majority vote rules.

To find out more about a city council and local government, you will do the following two activities:

Scavenger Hunt: You will find out how one suburban community, Lafayette, California, organizes their city council. You will use the City of Lafayette website to get your answers to this scavenger hunt.

Click here to start the Scavenger Hunt

City Council Simulation: You will pretend to take part in a City Council meeting voting on this fictional issue: Should Lafayette build a waterslide park at the Lafayette Reservoir?

Click here to go to the Simulation.