Simulations and Role Play – Inquiry Teaching

A Simulation of Congress

Drew Story — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 00:25:31 +0000

Regarding Current Events: We recognize that our democracy is under incredible stress today, and that the majority of Americans think Congress is a broken institution. With the release of this product, we hope that teachers can show students how the Legislative Branch is supposed to function. With this inquiry based learning, students will also be better equipped to consider what reforms might improve and enhance this part of our government.

We have spent decades working on our Simulation of Congress. This set of materials provides teachers with directions, resources, and guides to run a complete simulation of the House of Representatives. Our students have often considered this simulation to be one of the highlights of their school year! The learning is deep, and often quite meaningful to students. As teachers, we also enjoyed this unit more than any other.

Way back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, we created Version 1 of this simulation using Apple’s HyperCard program. Our Simulation of Congress Version 1 had 100+ fictitious Members of Congress for students to portray, a tool for writing bills, the ability to randomly select the Members to be assigned, and other features that only a software program could provide. We sold a great many licenses for this software. However, when teaching US Government classes ourselves, we found having our students portray the real members of Congress was better and as online resources became readily available for researching Members and their districts, students learned additional skills. All of the materials you will find in Version 2 of our product are improvements we’ve made over the past 25.

The Simulation of Congress Version 2 comes with our Analyzing Congress Database Activity which should be used as one of the preliminary lessons. There’s no need to purchase this additional lesson plan separately.

Subject Areas: Government, Civics, Social Sciences, Humanities
Materials Required: Printed copies of the materials we provide, recordings of CSPAN segments or Internet access to stream them. For the Analyzing Congress activity: A virtual classroom or other screen sharing tool, or a large screen display with a computer.
Time Needed: Typically 5 to 7 weeks with five hour long class periods per week or a similar block schedule.

Below is an image showing the suggested scheduling of lessons and activities one could use with this unit:

Team Building – Survival Test Role Play

Drew Story — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 00:05:20 +0000

This lesson provides students with an opportunity to role play two different survival tests; one being lost on the moon, the other surviving a plane crash in the desert. (We liked to use one test for one grade, and the other for another grade level.) Students attempt to rank a list of items individually, then within a team.

The ranking of these lists are then scored against an experts ranking. Teachers may then use the individual and team scoring for discussing the strengths (or weaknesses) they found in their respective teams. Good teams listen to everyone’s ideas and will (nearly) always score better than an individual alone.

These role plays are always a big hit and fun lessons for students.

Subject Areas: Any
Materials Required: Copies of handouts in packet (or means of displaying them), paper for students.
Time Needed: Typically an entire class period.

Postcards From History

Drew Story — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 16:53:37 +0000

Sometimes a simple writing and art project can act as a closure activity for any unit. We had students create a “postcard from history” with attention to details including the drawing of the stamp, who was the card written to and/or by, in addition to what was written and drawn on the card itself. This lesson always worked well and pairs well with a quick read-around follow up. See our free Teacher’s Guide for Read Arounds if you wish to add that feature to your lesson.

This handout is created to work with any history class and includes directions for students.

Subject Areas: History, Social Sciences
Materials Required: Printed copies of the handout, colored pencils/pens/crayons.
Time Needed: Usually a full class period or as homework.

Discovering Atlantis

Drew Story — Tue, 05 Sep 2017 02:39:50 +0000

Always a fun activity for students, this culminating activity simulates the analysis of an archaeological dig on an imaginary island thought to be Atlantis.

Students may work in groups or independently as they write an essay using deductive inferences. Essays are then shared in a “read-around” activity. This lesson packet contains all you need to run the simulation, with directions and step by step guidance for the read-around activity, too, plus additional resources that may be used as extensions of this lesson.

Atlantis typically takes most classes two full periods to complete in addition to a homework assignment. It may take three to three and a half class periods if the writing is done completely in class.

Please consider adding a good introductory lesson to making deductive inferences by using our “The Flowers of Guatemala” lesson.

Subject Area: History, Social Sciences
Materials Required: Printed handouts, optional need for a whiteboard or display, too
Time Needed: Two full class periods, plus homework, or three in-class work days total.

Take the Power! Simulation Game

Drew Story — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 03:14:23 +0000

This simulation game is designed to teach students about the aspects of Human Nature which make the formations of government necessary. Additional applications can be drawn from this simple simulation.

We’ve also included several extensions that can be used for follow up or additional analysis by students.

Be sure to also download our Teachers Guide to Instructional Simulation Games for more information about using this active learning strategy.

Subject Areas: Social Sciences, Sciences, Humanities, Government
Materials Required: A chair
Time Needed: Typically an entire class period

Win as Much as You Can! – Simulation Game

Drew Story — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 02:36:58 +0000

This simulation game never fails to get student involvement and lots of enthusiastic responses. It has worked very well with 5th graders all the way to high school seniors. When introduced properly and followed up with a complete debriefing, usually runs an entire class period. Be sure to also download our free Teachers Guide to Instructional Simulation Games which provides details about this lesson format and the methodology behind it.

“Win as Much as You Can!” is designed to show how a perceived competition for resources can give a group (or groups) the appearance of success, while in reality the only way to truly “win” the game is through cooperation. After playing the simulation game, students will analyze and evaluate how cooperation and competition affect our world (or country) today.

Subject Areas: Social Sciences, Sciences, Humanities, Government
Materials Required: Optional – whiteboard or display for posting prompts
Time Needed: Typically an entire class period

World War III Simulation Game

Drew Story — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 14:36:53 +0000

This lesson plan is intended for use with any study of the Cold War, or reading any post-apocalyptic literature. It can also be used to facilitate discussions of the power of the President in the modern era. The debriefing questions used for this lesson highlight what is hoped to be learned:

How was our game similar to the real world?
Does Mutually Assured Destruction “work”?
What facilitates trust?
What makes M.A.D. stronger and more believable?
Do these forces work against one another?
If you could play the game again, do you think you could achieve a better outcome? Why or why not?

Be sure to also pick up our free Teaching Guide for Instructional Simulation Games to learn about this teaching strategy.

Subject Areas: Social Sciences, Sciences, Humanities, Government
Materials Required: Optional – whiteboard or display for posting prompts, printed handouts from this packet
Time Needed: Typically an entire class period

Free Guide to Instructional Simulation Games

Drew Story — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 02:55:11 +0000

This free teaching guide provides details about using instructional simulation games. In simulation games, students may role play being legislators, mayors, parents, national leaders, Civil War generals, or even criminals. The designer builds the game so that the player can experience some of the everyday responsibilities, decisions, rewards, and pressures found in a slice of historical or social life, whether it is of the Congress, the family, or a small economy.

This teacher’s guide provides reasons for why you should include simulation games in your curriculum, and details about how best to teach with them. Please feel free to share this guide with others.

We sell several simulations that pair with this free guide. Please be sure to check out the following lessons plans:

Our culminating activities of Atlantis and the Who Killed Caesar? Murder Mystery Party are also hybrids of simulation games.

And coming soon, a Simulation of Congress, and a Simulation of Bunker Hill.