This inquiry leads students through an investigation of electronic and paper maps as representations of the physical world. In examining the different ways in which the two mediums reflect place and positionality, students should consider the utility and relative value of different geographic representations. Through interaction with the formative performance tasks and featured sources, students build their knowledge and understanding so that they are able to develop an argument that answers the compelling question "Do We Still Need Paper Maps?"

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of modernization and development in three African countries: Kenya, Botswana, and Algeria. Students focus on the characteristics of development in these countries and respond to the challenges that each country faces in the light of modernization. The inquiry is designed to be a series of research case studies in which students work in groups to research one of the three countries and write a one-page research summary on their assigned country.

This inquiry focuses on the concept of religious freedom driven by the compelling question "Does religious freedom exist?" and establishes the importance of religious freedom and tolerance as a way for students to learn about world religions and their spread over time. They extend their emerging understanding by investigating how the concept of religious freedom has emerged over time and examining the current status of religious freedom around the world.

The goal of this inquiry is to introduce students to historiography as they wrestle with historical significance within the context of a historical controversy. The common narrative about the end of slavery has given credit to President Abraham Lincoln, who earned the nickname “The Great Emancipator.” However, over the past 30 years, many scholars have sought to revise this narrative, with a critical mass now arguing that the slaves freed themselves. Students look at the laws that emancipated certain slaves over time and then examine the arguments contemporary historians have made about who was responsible for freeing the slaves. This inquiry invites students to engage with the actual historical debate, but rather than focusing on the veracity of claims, students concentrate on the significance of the issues behind the claims. By looking at the controversy about who freed the slaves, students should understand why this issue matters 150 years later. It is important to note that, in their contrasting interpretations, scholars do not really disagree on the facts of emancipation, but rather on the interpretation of those facts. This crucial difference is key to helping students engage in what it means to think and act like historians.

This inquiry investigates the multifaceted views of imperialism in China during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by investigating the compelling question Do the Boxers deserve a bad rap? Students consider not only the brutal events of the Boxer Rebellion in China, but also the reasons why the Boxers rebelled against foreign powers in the first place. While progressing through the inquiry, students consider the political, economic, and religious reasons for both imperialism and the Boxer Rebellion. Students then consider the actions of the Boxers and whether or not those actions might be misunderstood.

This first-grade inquiry features an investigation of economic decision making through the context of how families manage their money. In examining the costs and benefits associated with making decisions about spending and saving money, students should be able to develop an argument with evidence to answer the compelling question “What choices do we make with our money?”

This inquiry engages students in expanding their understandings of families in general and the idea that families can be both similar and different. Although much of family life may be shared - language, religion, culture, and traditions - there are important differences across these elements. The compelling question "How can families be the same and different?" offers students opportunities to explore a range of family dimensions - structure, activities, and traditions.

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of recent studies that try to quantify a country's happiness through various economic measures. By investigating the compelling question about whether Americans could be happier, students consider the ways in which economic values impact our perspectives on happiness and the extent to which we could be happier as a country. Students will investigate three studies of global happiness and the platforms of three American political parties to develop an understanding of the relationship between values, economic policy, and how we view economic happiness and could improve upon it.

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. Students explore the environmental, economic, and social consequences of increased sugar production. Students work with featured sources focused on sugar production and the treatment of enslaved workers on sugar plantations.

In this inquiry, students investigate the interaction between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags that incuded the first Thanksgiving. The compelling question focuses on how the relationship between Native Americans and European settlers deteriorated over time.

This inquiry leads students through the political, social, geographic, and economic changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain between roughly the years of 1760 and 1840. Students consider the ways in which movement affects a person's geographic location and daily life as well as the structure of society. Students will develop an interpretation of the positive and negative influences of the Industrial Revolution and the extent to which these influences affected people in the past and people today.

This inquiry explores how communities develop and sustain themselves by examining the positive and negative impacts of development on community environments. In considering the idea that communities grow and change over time, students develop an argument with evidence that answers the compelling question "How do we shape our environment?"

This inquiry engages students in expanding their understandings of diverse cultures. Students examine diverse cultures and histories around the globe.

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the Ottoman Empire during the 16th century by examining the esteemed leader Suleiman the Magnificent. By investigating the compelling question, students are asked to evaluate the postiive and negative impacts Suleiman had on the region. Students create an argument supported by evidence as to the appropriateness of the label "magnificent."

The goal of this inquiry is help students understand the central debate about the government’s role in fostering economic opportunity over the past half century. As this is a historical inquiry, it focuses on the motivations, actions, and impacts of two particular US presidents: Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan. Their economic programs stand in for the larger argument that persists today between liberal and conservative approaches to federal economic policy. Thus, the compelling question “How should the president foster economic opportunity?” is intentionally timeless to emphasize its relevance today. Students look at Johnson’s and Reagan’s visions for the economy, the policies they advanced to achieve their visions, and modern interpretations of each president’s legacy.

This kindergarten inquiry leads students through an investigation of self by recognizing that all humans have both unique and similar characteristics. By investigating the compelling question “Is everyone unique?” students begin to see how they are similar to and different from their classmates. The study of similarities and differences among individuals provides the foundation for students to demonstrate their understanding of and respect for others.

This inquiry is an exploration into the concepts of time, continuity, and change in a community with the dual purpose of establishing students' understandings of the passage of time and explaining why the past matters today. One way to explore present circumstances is through an examination of the short- and long- term effects of the past. Through identifying the relationship of cause and effect, students learn to recognize how continuity and change over time help us understand historical developments in our present communities.

The goal of this inquiry is to help students develop their thinking in terms of continuity and change through learning about US immigration policy actions and their effects over time. By examining whether there is anything new about current immigration policy debates, students compare and contrast the discourse around immigration at three key moments in US history—the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the Immigration Act of 1924, and the Immigration Act of 1965—with the current immigration policy. Students need to develop a deep understanding of each of the three policies in order to write a thoughtful argument that analyzes continuities and changes in perceptions of and policies regarding immigration throughout the post–Civil War period of US history.

This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the Great Compromise using various sources related to its adoption. The Great Compromise was the pivotal breakthrough of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. By investigating the compelling question, students examine the structure of government under the Articles of Confederation, investigate two proposals (Virgina and New Jersey plans for a new arrangement, and analyze the role of the Connecticut Plan and the Great Compromise in the development of the United States Constitution. By completing this inquiry, students will begin to understand the importance of compromise in democracies.

This inquiry asks students to investigate the dispute over free trade. By considering the arguments of professional economists who may use the same data but come to very different conclusions, students examine the “price” of free trade as it relates to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In understanding the arguments for and against free-trade policy in general and applying such concepts to existing policy more specifically, students can gain clarity about this age-old debate and become participants in a contemporary discussion involving international trade.