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Worksheet
8: Plan a visit to Parliament
Who
works at Parliament and what happens there
- Level
3: Making group decisions
- Level
5: Participating in political process, visiting other places
- Level
6: Making choices about governing
You
can contact the Education Officer at the Parliamentary Service for
information sheets.
Divide
into pairs.
- (20 min)
Compile a list of central and local government services in your
community. Concentrate on finding the services you think you
or your friends might need. Use the phone book and other sources
to help you.
- (20 min)
Report your list back to your class. Choose the best list as
the basis of your class list. Divide the class list into:
- Central
Government services
- Local
Government services. Add helpful names and addresses not
already on the basic class list.
- (20 min)
Plan a class tour to Wellington.
- What
to see?
- What
to research?
- Who
to visit?
Questions
to consider:
- Why go?
- What
do you want to achieve?
- What
are the focus questions?
- What
does Parliament do?
Children
may say:
- They
argue;
- They
talk;
- They
make laws;
- They
run the country;
- They
make the budget;
- They
run government departments;
- They
allocate government finances.
Questions
which then arise from these:
- How do
they run government departments?
- How do
they allocate government finances?
- Who works
in Parliament?
- Where
in Parliament would they work?
- What do
they do?
Role
of MPs:
- Electorate
MPs, list MPs;
- PM;
- Secretaries;
- Media;
- Caterers;
- Messengers;
- Service;
- Security;
- Advisers
.
Where
do they work?
- Physical
outline of Parliament;
- The debating
chamber;
- Offices;
- Ministers;
- Dining
rooms;
- Press
gallery;
- Foyers
and function rooms and committee rooms.
Who
will we meet on a visit?
- Not the
PM;
- The tour
guides;
- Possibly
their MP, if they make an early appointment;
- Maybe
the security people associated with tour guides;
- Other
visitors
.
What
will we see?
- The entrance
foyer;
- The debating
chamber;
- The press
gallery;
- The legislative
chamber;
- The dining
room;
- The lobbies;
- The meeting
rooms/committee rooms/ Maori Affairs room;
- The grounds;
- The buildings;
- The library;
- Statues
.
What
sort of questions do we want to ask about these places and people?
Divide
the class
- What questions
do you want to ask about the debating chamber?
- What sort
of questions do you want to ask about the buildings and grounds?
- What do
you want to ask about the neighbourhood – the area around
Parliament?
- What do
you want to ask about the dining room?
- What do
you want to ask about the press gallery?
Children
in groups – brainstorm about these questions:
Preparing
yourself
Who is your local MP?
Where is Parliament located in Wellington? Consult a map.
What buildings comprise Parliament?
- Photograph
of the buildings;
- Look
at the phone book.
Who
works there?
What sort of information do we need?
What information can they give us?
How can people influence Parliamentarians to make changes?
Find out more from people in Parliament, people
in Wellington tourism and/or people in the travel industry near
you.
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