For both 2305 and 2306:
This link takes you to District Viewer, an interactive map of legislative districts in the state of Texas, made available by the Texas Legislative Council.
You can use this to get familiar with the nature of the various legislative districts in the state. By clicking on the map, you can zoom in on the local area. If you also look at the top of the map, you'll see a small box with the word "plans" in it. Click on it and a box will open up where you will see the maps for congressional, state board of education, state house, and state senate districts.
2305 students are to focus on the congressional districts (these are the districts where members of the US Congress are elected from - US Senators represent the entire state, so no need to draw those districts). 2306 students are to choose either a state house or state senate district (these are where members of the Texas Legislature - either House or the Senate - are drawn from).
Here's a key point - something you'll be told later in the semester in each class. The U.S. Constitution reserves to each state the ability to drawn legislative districts - including that of the U.S. House of Representatives. So the districts you see are the result of political conflict that plays out every 10 years or so in the Texas Legislature following each census.
For more detail - click here on the Texas Legislative Council's Texas Redistricting page.
I'll post a few maps relevant to the assignment soon.
