Good Questions For Inquiry-Based Projects

Any question that matters to students is a good question. If students are genuinely interested in the answer and learning about the topic, then the question is worthy of investigation. - Sue Jackson

 'mini-inquiries', short-term research experiences that enable students to search for and find information quickly. To determine an answer, it may be as simple as jumping on the Internet or skimming through a book. Mini-inquiries are great ways to teach students how to investigate questions, pursue answers, and demonstrate their learning (Harvey and Daniels, p. 143).

Mini Inquiries vs. Inquiry based projects:

Student and teacher need to develop essential questions with the following characteristics:

• relevance to the learner
• open-ended and higher-order (have no right or wrong answer)
• answers are not already known
• multiple possible answers
• not too personal
• cannot be answered without careful and lengthy research—answers have to be more than simple facts
• able to be researched given the available resources—must be answerable
• make learners question their basic assumptions
• promote further inquiry

Examples of Essential Questions:

Grades K to 3	Grades 4 to 6	Grades 7 to 9
What makes a good friend? What makes a bad storm? How can we eat well? Why do you suppose the rain falls down? If you could change the town we live in, how would you make it better?	What are the traits of a good leader? What makes a fair punishment? What makes one writer more powerful than another? How could you invent a better city?	How do you know if a law is just? How is a hero different from a celebrity? Which leader of the previous century relied most on propaganda and appeals to fear?
Adapted from: www.questioning.org/mar05/essential.pdf

Scholastic Canada Education—Teaching Tip of the Month • March 2013