In Court Quest, people from around the country need help to navigate our
court system. Your students listen carefully to each case and guide litigants
to the right court by directing them to the state or federal court system and
identifying the correct level of court within those systems.
Learning Objectives



Distinguish between the federal and state court systems.
Identify the types and levels of courts within each sysem.
Evaluate case scenarios to send citizens to the correct court.
Prerequisites
None—students will learn about the court system just by playing the game. Even so, students will
get more out of the game if they have some background knowledge. The last page of this guide
has pre and post game questions you can discuss with your class. We also suggest teaching the
iCivics lesson “Judicial Branch in a Flash” the day before your class plays the game. You can find
that and all of our lesson plans at www.iCivics.org/teachers.
In Casual Mode, your goal is to assist 20
citizens with no time limit. In the Time
Attack version, you have 15 minutes to help
as many citizens as possible.
After selecting your mode of play, you will
see a map of the United States. Citizens
that need your help will begin to appear on
the map. Click on a citizen to activate his or
her story.
❶ Click a citizen to activate
his or her story.
This work is licensed for your use by iCivics, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the study of American civics. You
may copy, modify, and share these materials freely for non-commercial purposes. Visit www.iCivics.org for more free teaching
resources.
2
When you activate a citizen’s story, a new screen appears. You will see your citizen standing on the
group of states that make up his or her federal judicial circuit.
❷ Read about the citizen’s
problem.
❸ Decide whether the citizen
belongs in the federal or state
court system.
Next, direct the citizen to the correct court within the federal or state court system.
❹ The icons represent the different
courts in the system. Click an icon to
see a description of the cases handled
by that court.
This work is licensed for your use by iCivics, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the study of American civics. You
may copy, modify, and share these materials freely for non-commercial purposes. Visit www.iCivics.org for more free teaching
resources.
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When you click a court icon, you will have the option to send the citizen to that court.
❺ Read about the court you have chosen.
❻ Click to send the citizen to that court, or
click “wrong court” to try again.
❼ Click the citizen to find out if
you chose the right court.
❽ After sending the citizen to court, you will
receive a message about the result. Continue
sending the citizen through the court system until
a decision has been reached. Sometimes the
citizen’s case will go all the way to the Supreme
Court. Other times a lower court will make a
decision, and the citizen’s case will be over.
W
g
❾ When the citizen’s case is
over, click “Back to US Map”
to choose another citizen.
❿ At the end of the game, you can
print a game certificate that
shows details of your game play.
This work is licensed for your use by iCivics, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the study of American civics. You
may copy, modify, and share these materials freely for non-commercial purposes. Visit www.iCivics.org for more free teaching
resources.
4
The game includes courts at both the
state and federal levels. State court
systems vary widely from state to
state, and there can be many
specialized courts within a state court
system. The state courts available to a
citizen depend on the state that
citizen is in.
You can pause the game at any time
to see a key to the various court icons
used in the game. A red, white, and
blue shield behind any icon indicates a
federal court.
Trial court with limited power. These
courts often hear cases involving minor
infractions or small amounts of money.
Trial court that can hear many different
types of cases.
Hears appeals from trial courts. Cases
from this court can be appealed to a
higher court.
Highest court in a court system. It hears
appeals from appellate courts, if there are
any, and from trial courts.
Special trial court that hears cases
involving a limited amount of money.
Special trial court that hears cases about
problems between a husband and wife.
Special trial court that hears only cases
about who owns or is allowed to use a
piece of land.
Special trial court that hears cases about
traffic violations and local laws.
Special trial court that hears only cases
about people’s rights to use water.
Special trial court that might hear cases
about adoption, family problems, or kids
who break the law.
Special trial court that hears cases about
adoption and about what happens to a
person’s property after the person dies.
Special trial court that hears only criminal
cases.
Special appellate court that hears only
criminal cases.
Special appellate court that hears appeals
only in cases about traffic violations.
Highest court to hear criminal cases in a
state.
Special trial court that helps decide what
to do with a person’s property after the
person has died.
This work is licensed for your use by iCivics, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the study of American civics. You
may copy, modify, and share these materials freely for non-commercial purposes. Visit www.iCivics.org for more free teaching
resources.
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You can use these questions to lead into playing Court Quest in the classroom.

There is a federal court system and there are state court systems. What do you think is the
difference?


If someone loses their case in court, is there anything they can do?


In general, federal courts deal with disputes over federal laws, while state courts deal
with disputes over state laws. In the game, you will learn the specific situations in which
each system is used.
They can appeal the case to a higher court.
What is the U.S. Supreme Court?

It is the highest court in the nation.
Use these questions as a way to debrief the individual experiences of playing Court Quest.

How would you describe the difference between the federal and state court systems?


Some states have very specialized courts. Which ones do you remember from the game?


(Answers will vary; let students describe the general differences in their own words.)
Students might mention traffic court, water, probate, family, etc. Refer to the court guide
in this game guide for a complete list.
What would happen if there was no appellate process?
Read the following types of cases out loud. For each one, have the class answer “state” or “federal”
as a chorus.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Cases
Cases
Cases
Cases
about
about
about
about
a state law or rule (S)
a national law (F)
family issues (S)
land and property (S)
5.
6.
7.
8.
Cases
Cases
Cases
Cases
about the state constitution (S)
that involve citizens in one state (S)
about the U.S. Constitution (F)
between citizens from different states (F)
This work is licensed for your use by iCivics, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the study of American civics. You
may copy, modify, and share these materials freely for non-commercial purposes. Visit www.iCivics.org for more free teaching
resources.