Assess students' understanding of the U.S. federal separation of powers and checks and balances by testing identification of the three branches and their core constitutional powers, explanation of specific checks each branch can exercise (e.g., veto and override, judicial review, appointments and advice-and-consent, impeachment, budgetary control), and application to short scenarios that require selecting and justifying which branch acts and which checks apply; suitable for Grade 9–12 with multiple-choice, short-answer, and brief-analysis items.