Download A Supporting question

Essential Questions
What is an Essential Question?
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Questions that require you to make a decision
or plan a course of action. (Evaluationhighest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.)
Questions that probe for deeper meaning and
set the stage for further questioning.
Questions that foster the development of critical
thinking skills and higher order capabilities such
as problem-solving and understanding complex
systems.
A good essential question is the principle
component of designing inquiry-based learning.
Avoid
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"What is" questions
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"What is AIDS”
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"What is acid rain”
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While these are important questions, they
do not require that you make a decision or
plan a course of action.
Instead
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Ask, "How can I reduce the likelihood of
contracting AIDS?" (this requires a plan
of action).
"What is the best strategy for reducing
the impact of acid rain in the United
States?" (this requires a decision among
the various strategies).
Essential Question Samples
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Is it acceptable to clone humans?
Should animals be genetically altered to produce
human proteins?
Should the remaining cultures of smallpox be
destroyed?
What are the most effective steps for preventing
breast cancer?
How can bananas be genetically altered show
that they vaccinate the consumer against viral
diseases?
Should the HIV virus be modified for use in gene
therapy?
A Supporting question is:
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One whose answer
provides the facts
used to answer the
essential question
Essential
Question
Supporting
Question
Supporting
Question
Supporting
Question
Essential Versus Supporting
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"Should wetlands in the United States be
preserved? (remember: essential questions require that you ask a
decision-making or action plan question, this is an example of a decisionmaking question).
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Here are supporting questions relating to the
wetlands essential question:
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What is a wetland?
What are the reasons for saving wetlands?
Why are wetlands being destroyed?
Who is destroying wetlands?
How many of acres of wetlands exist in the
United States?
At what rate are wetlands being destroyed?
What are the best methods for saving
wetlands?
Activities to Support Essential
Questions about Wetlands
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Persuasive Argument for whether the
wetlands should be saved.
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PowerPoint Presentation
Publisher Brochure
Inspiration Web
Microsoft Word Document with Pictures
Each format should have evidence of all
supporting questions.
How do I know they learned the
Supporting Facts?
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Check for accuracy in presentation
Did they persuade you?
Self assessment
Create an assessment
Test
More Information….
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http://www.biopoint.com/ibr/askquestion.
html
http://mathstar.nmsu.edu/exploration1/uni
t/content_questions.html