People may participate in politics in many ways. They can write their Representative or Senator, or work in for a candidate or political party. They can make presentations to their local school board or city council, or call the police to complain about the neighbor's dog. Partly because of our federalist system, people have many opportunities to participate in our democracy on federal, state, and local levels. Some forms of participation are more common than others and some citizens participate more than others, but almost everyone has a voice in government.

The focus of this lesson is learning about the advantages and disadvantages of different kinds of renewable energy resources and their potential use in Michigan. Students read about different renewable resources, watch a teacher demonstration, and match different kinds of energy sources with the advantages and disadvantages of each. Students then compare the advantages and disadvantages of renewable and non-renewable resources and use the comparisons to write a letter to their state legislators.