This inquiry leads students through an investigation of what can be done about our polluted media environment. The inquiry uses an ecological metaphor to understand our media environment to better understand the causes, effects, and potential solutions to addressing the problem. The inquiry sets up a dichotomy in the ways to potentially address the problem. In essence it gets students to consider what would be more effective– regulation the producers of media content or educating the consumers of this polluted media environment.
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This inquiry leads students through an investigation of what can be done about our polluted media environment. The inquiry uses an ecological metaphor to understand our media environment to better understand the causes, effects, and potential solutions to addressing the problem. The inquiry sets up a dichotomy in the ways to potentially address the problem….
This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the challenges posed by hate groups to young people as a lens for understanding the problems posed by xenophobia more broadly. It is part of a series of lessons commissioned by the Democracy Project at the University of Virginia centered around the podcast Democracy in Danger. Democracy…
This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the right to vote as articulated (or not) in the Constitution and the historical and current challenges with voting and election administration. In addressing the compelling question, students will consider the connection of voting to the functioning of our democratic-republic. Students will then investigate what the text…
This inquiry leads students through an investigation of historical and contemporary social, political, and economic issues posed by mass incarceration. It is part of a series of lessons commissioned by the Democracy Project at the University of Virginia centered around the podcast Democracy in Danger. Democracy in Danger lessons share some basic characteristics. The compelling…
This inquiry leads students through an investigation of historical and contemporary US immigration policy and how the policies stack up against the idea that United States is a “nation of immigrants.”. It is part of a series of lessons commissioned by the Democracy Project at the University of Virginia centered around the podcast Democracy in…
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This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the lead up to the execution of Queen Anne Boleyn of England, the first British Queen to be executed. It requires students to examine primary sources from the time, as well as secondary scholarship to investigate evidence of Anne’s guilt or innocence, and make an informed decision…
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This 4th and 5th grade inquiry expands students’ understandings of Indian removal in the early 1800s by centering Cherokee resistance to removal policies. The compelling question—“How did the Cherokee resist removal?”—engages students in an examination of the Cherokee, whose ancestral homelands include parts of present day Tennessee, and the efforts they took to resist removal…
This Kindergarten/1st grade inquiry expands students’ understandings of how groups represent themselves through what they wear. The compelling question—“What do things I wear say about me?”—engages students in an examination of material culture by considering the factors impacting their own choices of what they wear such as geography, culture, and religion. Students will examine the…
This 3rd grade inquiry asks students to think about a challenging local public policy issue: eminent domain. The compelling question—“Was the Chickamauga Dam worth it?”—engages students in an examination of a historic eminent domain case study that happened right in their backyard. The Chickamauga Dam was a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) project — a result…
This 2nd and 3rd grade inquiry expands student understandings of how a state is shaped by exploring the ways in which geographic and cultural forces work together to define a region. The compelling question—“How did my state get its shape?”—engages students in an examination of the defining characteristics of Tennessee by noting the history around…