Free interactive · Alberta Grade 6 Social Studies · Democracy
Democracy Lab: who has a voice, who handles what, and what the Charter protects
Three activities for the three organizing ideas of Alberta's new Grade 6 Social Studies. Students compare who had a voice in five systems of government, sort real responsibilities to the federal, provincial or municipal government, and decide which Charter right a situation involves. It is free, runs in the browser, and needs no login or email.
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Milestone Teachers - created by an Ontario Certified Teacher · Last reviewed
Open Democracy Lab (free, full screen) · Alberta's new Grade 6 Social Studies: the teacher's guide
What it is
- Who Has a Voice?. Five systems side by side (Athens, the Roman Republic, England, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Canada today) through four lenses: who decides, who can take part, how leaders are chosen, and how rights are protected. Each card can open its evidence: the source's own words.
- Which Government Handles This?. 21 responsibility cards to sort into federal, provincial or municipal, each answered with the law or government page it comes from (often a section of the Constitution Act, 1867), plus a simplified 3D model of a legislative chamber.
- Charter Check. 14 situations. Students choose the group of rights involved, then read the Charter's exact words and discuss a reasonable-limits question under section 1.
- Teacher notes for each activity. Where it fits in the year, how to run it, questions to ask, and the misconceptions to listen for.
- A printable exit check. A short check on what the class did, printed as a student copy. The teacher key prints separately, from its own button, so it never ends up on the back of a student page.
- Free. No login, no email, no sign-up.
- Runs in any current browser. The app makes no network requests while it runs.
- Nothing is saved after the page is closed, and nothing is sent anywhere.
How to use it in class
- Project it and pick one activity. Each activity stands alone. Use Who Has a Voice? during Time and Place, the government sort during Systems and Charter Check during Citizenship.
- Let students commit before you reveal. In the sort, the class votes with fingers (1, 2 or 3) before a card is revealed; in Charter Check, students choose the group of rights before you click.
- Read the source aloud. Every answer names its source. Reading the Charter's words or the section number aloud is the point of the activity, not an extra.
- Print the exit check. Open the exit check at the end of the lesson, print the student copy for the class, and print the teacher key separately.
Curriculum link
Built for the three organizing ideas of Alberta's new Grade 6 Social Studies, implemented in September 2026. Alberta's curriculum text is not reproduced here; see the guide for a plain-language summary.
- Time and Place: Democracy across time and place. Who Has a Voice? compares Athens, the Roman Republic, England, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and Canada today.
- Systems: Democracy in Canada. Which Government Handles This? sorts real responsibilities by level of government, with the Constitution Act, 1867.
- Citizenship: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Charter Check applies the groups of rights to situations and asks about reasonable limits.
Alberta's new Grade 6 Social Studies: the teacher's guide
Units for this year
Ready-to-teach units for the same organizing ideas, each available as a Milestone Teachers download. Each includes an offline copy of Democracy Lab, and its teacher notes point to the lessons where each activity fits.
- Alberta Grade 6 Social Studies NEW Curriculum | Time and Place Democracy Unit. The Time and Place organizing idea: Athens, the Roman Republic, England and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. 10 lessons and a culminating task: 11 PowerPoint decks (121 slides), a 59-page student workbook, a 72-page accommodated edition and a 43-page teacher guide with answer key, and an offline copy of Democracy Lab. See the current price and currency on the product page before purchasing.
- Alberta Grade 6 Social Studies NEW Curriculum | Systems: Democracy in Canada. The Systems organizing idea: how the principles of democracy show up in Canada's governments. 10 lessons and a culminating task: 11 PowerPoint decks (104 slides), a 57-page student workbook, a 74-page accommodated edition and a 39-page teacher guide with answer key, and an offline copy of Democracy Lab. See the current price and currency on the product page before purchasing.
- Alberta Grade 6 Social Studies NEW Curriculum | Citizenship and Charter Unit. The Citizenship organizing idea: the Charter, rights and civic participation. 11 lessons and a culminating task: 12 PowerPoint decks (119 slides), a 68-page student workbook, an 87-page accommodated edition, a 46-page teacher guide with answer key, and an offline copy of Democracy Lab. See the current price and currency on the product page before purchasing.
- Alberta Grade 6 Social Studies NEW Curriculum Full Year Bundle | 3 Units. All three organizing ideas: Time and Place, Systems and Citizenship. The three units above in one resource bundle: Time and Place, Systems and Citizenship, each its own download. In the bundle, open the Time and Place ZIP to find the offline Democracy Lab. Extract the ZIP and keep its files together; school browser policies may restrict local HTML. See the current price and currency on the product page before purchasing.
Honest limits
- The 3D chamber is a simplified model built in code, not to scale.
- Haudenosaunee content is drawn from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council and the Onondaga Nation and is shown as a structure diagram only.
- Independent of Alberta Education: not an Alberta Education resource. Curriculum ideas are paraphrased.
Credits
- Charter and Constitution: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Constitution Act, 1867, quoted from the Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada.
- England: Magna Carta (1297), Habeas Corpus Act 1679 and Bill of Rights 1689 from legislation.gov.uk, Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Haudenosaunee Confederacy: Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council (haudenosauneeconfederacy.com) and the Onondaga Nation (onondaganation.org).
- Alberta: Municipal Government Act, Alberta King's Printer; Government of Alberta pages; City of Calgary pages.
- Art, software and type: Original illustrations made for Milestone Teachers, no photographs of real people. three.js (MIT licence), Lucide icons (ISC licence), Outfit and Instrument Sans (SIL Open Font License 1.1).
- Made by: Milestone Teachers. Created by an Ontario Certified Teacher.
Sources
Checked against the sources below on 29 September 2026.
- Government of Canada, Justice Laws Website: Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Government of Canada, Justice Laws Website: The Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982
- Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council: Government
- Onondaga Nation: Government
- Alberta Education and Childcare (LearnAlberta): Social Studies (K-6), Grade 6