Glossary
This glossary gives short, learner-friendly definitions for the key terms in the curriculum.
Some entries are core student words. Some are older learner extension words that appear later or in optional notes.
Jurisdiction Note: This lesson teaches a legal-system pattern. Exact rules differ by country, state, court system, school, and context.
These definitions are for learning, not for courtroom use. Some words have more technical meanings in real law, so several entries below are simplified learning definitions.
Terms
| Term | Definition | First Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptance | A clear yes to the terms of an offer, without changing them. | Week 4 |
| Agreement | A shared understanding between people about what they will do. Some agreements are legally enforceable and some are not. | Week 4 |
| Ambiguity | A situation where words can reasonably be read more than one way. | Week 8 |
| Amendment | A formal change to a rule, charter, or document. | Week 13 |
| Anti-circumvention | Older learner term for wording meant to stop people from sneaking around a rule through technical tricks. | Week 9 |
| Appeal | A request for a higher or later review because the process or legal reasoning may have gone wrong. | Week 18 |
| Beyond reasonable doubt | A very high level of confidence used in criminal cases. Courts do not assign one exact percentage. | Week 15 |
| Binding | Required to be followed, not just suggested. | Week 4 |
| Breach | Failing to do what an agreement or contract required. | Week 7 |
| Burden of proof | The job of proving a claim and the level of confidence needed to win. | Week 15 |
| Case Notes | The running journal kept across the full course. | Intro |
| Charter | A foundational document that sets up the rules and structure of a system. | Week 13 |
| Checks and balances | A design where different parts of a system can limit or correct one another. | Week 12 |
| Civil law | A branch of law that often focuses on private disputes and remedies between people or organizations. | Optional Week |
| Clear and convincing evidence | A higher proof standard than more likely than not; strong, persuasive support for a claim. | Week 15 advanced note |
| Commons | A shared resource that many people can use. | Week 2 |
| Consideration | The trade part of a deal: what each side gives, does, or promises. It can be money, action, a promise, or forbearance, depending on the legal system. | Week 4 |
| Contract | A more formal kind of clear deal that legal systems may enforce when certain requirements are met. | Week 4 |
| Counter-offer | A response that changes the offer, creating a new negotiation. | Week 5 |
| Criminal law | A branch of law in which the state prosecutes conduct treated as a public wrong. | Optional Week |
| Custom | An unwritten rule that people usually follow. | Week 1 |
| Distinguish | To explain why an older precedent does not control a newer case because the facts differ in an important way. | Week 10 |
| Distributed power | Power shared across more than one role or person. | Week 12 |
| Due process | A simplified learning definition: fair procedure before a serious decision, including notice, a chance to be heard, a fair decision-maker, and a decision based on reasons and evidence. | Week 16 |
| Edge case | A tricky what-if that tests how well a rule works. | Week 7 |
| Enforcement | How a rule is applied and what happens when it is broken. | Week 3 |
| Ethical judgment | A question about what is fair, kind, wise, or responsible, even when the law is unclear or absent. | Intro |
| Firewall | Older learner comparison for a shield that blocks misuse of power or access. In the main student voice, this curriculum uses the word shield. | Week 11 |
| Forbearance | Agreeing not to do something you had the right to do. | Week 6 |
| Foundational law | A starting rule written early in a system and often harder to change later. | Week 3 |
| Free rider | Someone who benefits from a shared system without carrying a fair part of the cost. | Week 2 |
| Gift | A one-way transfer with no exchange required in return. | Week 4 |
| Intent | The purpose a rule was meant to serve. | Week 8 |
| Interpretation | The work of deciding how a rule applies in a real case. | Week 8 |
| Invitation to treat | A display or listing that invites an offer rather than automatically making one. | Week 5 |
| Jurisdiction | Which court, body, or system has authority over a case or dispute. | Week 3 |
| Law | A rule made by a government and backed by public institutions or official systems. | Week 1 |
| Letter of the law | The literal wording of a rule. | Week 8 |
| Loophole | A way to follow the words of a rule while defeating its purpose. | Week 9 |
| Majority | The larger side in a vote. | Week 11 |
| Meeting of the minds | A shared understanding of the same terms. | Week 5 |
| Micro-Charter | The small governing document students build, test, and improve. The child-facing name is My Group Agreement. | Week 13 |
| Mutual obligation | A structure in which both sides owe something. | Week 6 |
| Norm | A social expectation that is not necessarily written down or legally enforced. | Intro |
| Offer | A clear statement of proposed terms for an agreement or exchange. | Week 4 |
| Overturn | To replace an older precedent with a new rule or decision. | Week 10 |
| Patch | An older learner term for a specific rule fix or official update. | Week 9 |
| Plain meaning | The most ordinary, direct reading of the words. | Week 8 |
| Preamble | The opening statement of a foundational document, explaining its purpose. | Week 13 |
| Precedent | A previous decision that later decision-makers may need to follow or seriously consider, especially when it comes from a higher court in the same legal system and the facts are similar enough. | Week 10 |
| Predictability | Knowing roughly what will happen next because the system is stable. | Week 1 |
| Preponderance of the evidence | More likely than not. This is a lower proof standard often used in civil cases. | Week 15 |
| Procedural due process | The fairness of the steps used: notice, evidence, hearing, response, neutral decision-maker. | Week 16 |
| Promise | A commitment someone makes to another person or to themselves. | Week 1 |
| Purpose clause | A sentence that explains what a rule is trying to protect or accomplish. | Week 9 |
| Ratify | To formally approve and adopt a document or amendment. | Week 13 |
| Regulation | A rule for managing a shared system or activity. | Week 2 |
| Remedy | What the system does to repair a wrong after a violation or breach. | Week 7 |
| Responsibility | Something a person should do to help keep a group, place, or system safe, fair, and workable. | Intro |
| Right | A simplified learning definition: a protection or freedom that helps stop unfair use of power. | Week 11 |
| Rule | An instruction that tells people what to do, what not to do, or how a system runs. | Week 1 |
| Rule of law | The principle that rules should apply predictably and consistently, rather than by personal whim. | Intro |
| Separation of powers | Splitting rule-making, enforcement, and interpretation into different roles or institutions. | Week 12 |
| Single point of failure | Too much power or importance placed in one person or part of a system. | Week 12 |
| Sovereignty | The principle that a nation has authority over its own internal system. | Optional Week |
| Specification | A clear description of what counts, what is required, and how something will be checked. | Week 7 |
| Spirit of the law | The broader purpose or fairness logic behind a rule. | Week 9 |
| Standing | The right to bring a case because you were directly affected or are otherwise legally allowed to do so. | Week 15 |
| Stare decisis | A legal principle about following earlier decisions. | Week 10 |
| Substantive due process | An advanced concept used in some systems about whether government had the power to make or apply a certain kind of rule at all. This curriculum mainly focuses on fair procedures. | Week 16 advanced note |
| Sustainable | Able to keep going without collapse or exhaustion. | Week 2 |
| System | A set of connected parts working together. | Week 1 |
| Tragedy of the commons | When individually reasonable use of a shared resource destroys it for everyone. | Week 2 |
| Treaty | A formal agreement between governments. Treaties are contract-like, but they are not the same as everyday personal contracts. | Optional Week |
| Unalienable | Not meant to be taken away, even by majority vote. | Week 11 |
| Verdict | The formal answer in a case. | Week 18 |
More Core Terms
| Term | Definition | First Introduced |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility | Making a message, space, or activity usable for more people with different needs. | Resources / final project |
| Advocacy | Speaking or acting to support a cause, a change, or a solution. | Outcomes / final project |
| AI-edited | Changed with help from an AI tool. That does not automatically make it bad, but it should be checked carefully. | Legal Checkpoint |
| AI-generated | Made mostly by an AI tool. That does not automatically make it false, but it should be checked carefully. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Attribution | Telling where a fact, image, quote, idea, or tool came from. | Final project |
| Authority | The power or job to make decisions, enforce rules, or act officially in a setting. | Outcomes |
| Bias | A leaning or pattern that can affect how someone notices, explains, or decides something. | Outcomes |
| Claim | A statement that says something is true and may need evidence. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Consent | A real yes that is freely given, not forced or pressured. | Week 7 / Week 13 |
| Court | A place or system where certain disagreements or cases get heard and decided officially. | Week 15 |
| Deepfake | A video, image, or audio clip made or edited to look or sound real when it is misleading. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Digital rights | Protections and expectations people may have in online spaces, such as privacy, safety, and fair treatment. This is a simplified learning definition. | Outcomes |
| Disinformation | False or misleading information shared on purpose to trick people. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Equality | Giving people the same thing or the same rule. | Outcomes |
| Equity | Noticing that people may need different supports or adjustments to get a fair chance. | Outcomes |
| Evidence | Information, examples, observations, or records that help support or test a claim. | Week 15 |
| Fair process | A child-friendly phrase for reasonable steps before a serious consequence or decision. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Fairness | Treating people in a way that is reasonable and just, even when answers are not identical. | Week 1 |
| Fact | Something supported by evidence or by information that can be checked carefully. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Government | The people and institutions that make, carry out, and interpret public rules. | Intro |
| Judge | A person whose job is to listen to a case and help decide it fairly. | Week 17 |
| Lawyer | A trained person who helps explain law, advise a client, or speak in a legal system. | Week 15 extension |
| Misinformation | False or misleading information shared without meaning to trick people. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Opinion | What someone thinks, believes, or prefers. An opinion can be thoughtful, but it is not the same as a fact. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Perspective | A point of view shaped by what someone knows, notices, needs, or experiences. | Outcomes |
| Petition | A request asking a person or group in power to make or change a decision, often with many supporters. | Final project |
| Policy | A written plan or rule used by a school, library, business, organization, or government. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Privacy | Having control over personal information, personal space, or things that should stay private. | Week 11 |
| Public official | A person whose job is to serve in government, such as a mayor, judge, council member, or school-board member. | Outcomes |
| Public service announcement | A short message meant to help the public know something important for safety, health, or community life. | Final project |
| Rumor | Information people pass along before checking whether it is true. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Source | Where information comes from. A source might be a person, document, website, book, record, or video. | Legal Checkpoint |
| Witness | A person who saw, heard, or knows something that may matter in a case or disagreement. | Week 17 |
A Note on Legal Terms
Exact terminology and doctrine vary by jurisdiction. Some systems use precedent heavily. Some use it differently. Some use different names for proof standards. Some divide legal questions in different ways.
The goal of this glossary is shared understanding, not technical completeness. If you need a real legal answer, use a real legal source in the relevant place.