5th Grade

This inquiry unit is designed for 5th grade students to investigate the election process. Students will learn how the process works and be asked to think critically about it. They will investigate primary sources, biased articles, statistics, and more to eventually form an opinion on this “hot” topic in the United States of America. Throughout this unit students will be asked their current opinion, encouraged to challenge it, and allowed to change their opinion at any time with new information. This unit is designed to revisit questions as students dive deeper for a more thorough and nuanced understanding of our election process. Through the analysis of the featured sources, discussions, and use of critical thinking, students will create an argument based on the overarching question “Picking the President: How do we choose?”

The Heart of Social Studies

Inquiries

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Electoral College v. Popular Vote

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Betrayal

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of leaders during the American Revolution. By investigating the compelling question “Is betrayal always bad?” students evaluate the actions of King George III and George Washington. The formative performance tasks build on knowledge and skills through the course of the inquiry and help students understand the motives of…

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4th Grade, 5th Grade
Kentucky
Civil War, Geography, local history, State history, US Government, US History
Tier 1

Slavery in Kentucky

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the influence of slavery on the history of individual states, particularly highlighting Kentucky. (The blueprint for this inquiry was purposefully written so as to allow for other states or regions to adapt it to their local particulars.) By investigating the compelling question–How did slavery shape my state?–students…

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Social Media

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of rights and responsibilities involved when posting to social media. By investigating the compelling question “Social media, why can’t I post that?”, students evaluate the power of the written word, its effect on others, and civic responsibility toward others. The formative performance tasks build on knowledge and skills…

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Complex Societies

This inquiry provides students with an opportunity to evaluate a series of innovations by three complex civilizations— Maya, Aztec, and Inca. In examining the compelling question “What makes a complex society complex?” students explore how complex societies and civilizations adapt to and modify their environment to meet the needs of their people. Students use the…

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Bananas

This inquiry prompts students to investigate the social, economic, and environmental issues surrounding the global banana industry. In investigating the compelling question regarding real cost of bananas, students explore the pros and cons of the banana industry, including the practices of multinational corporations (MNCs) and smaller fair-trade cooperatives and organizations. Students grapple with several layers…

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New France

This inquiry focuses on the emergence, growth, and collapse of the New France colony in North America. French explorers, missionaries, traders, and settlers established an important presence in North America, beginning with Jacques Cartier’s explorations in 1534 and continuing through the 19th century. The development of the fur-trading industry, along with a relatively stable relationship…

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Puerto Rico

This inquiry examines the historical and contemporary factors surrounding the debate over Puerto Rico’s statehood. The compelling question “Should Puerto Rico be a state?” provides students with an opportunity to participate in the debate by focusing on national and cultural identities and the economic arguments for and against Puerto Rico’s statehood. The inquiry embeds Taking…

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Declaration of Independence

This fifth-grade annotated inquiry asks why countries declare their independence. As an integral early step in the process of becoming independent, a declaration of independence functions as an argument for why people should be free. This inquiry focuses on the argument made in the United States Declaration of Independence. With a firm understanding of the…

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Sugar and Slavery

This inquiry provides students with an opportunity to evaluate the relationship between the dramatic increase in European sugar consumption in the 18th and 19th centuries and the reliance on the labor of enslaved persons to produce sugar in the Western Hemisphere. In examining the compelling question–“How did sugar feed slavery?” students explore the environmental, economic,…

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