Essential+Questions

=What is an Essential Question?=

Students have to think critically to answer an essential question. Instead of simply looking up answers, they conduct research and create an original answer. An essential question:
 * provokes deep thought
 * makes students produce original ideas rather than predetermined answers.
 * may not have an answer
 * encourages critical thinking not just memorization of facts.
 * requires students to function at the top of BLOOMS TAXONOMY (//**evaluate, synthesize, and analyze**//)

=WHICH ONE? HOW? WHAT IF? SHOULD? WHY?=

=Types of Essential Questions:=
 * ===**Essential**=== || ===**Non-Essential**=== ||
 * What's it like to live in Hong Kong? || Which city in Southeast Asia is the best place to live? ||
 * What is AIDS? || Which serious disease most deserves research funding? ||
 * How are "form" and "function" related in biology? || How many legs does a spider have? How does an elephant use its trunk? ||
 * How do effective writers hook and hold their readers? || What is "foreshadowing"? Can you find an example of foreshadowing in the story? ||
 * Should it be an axiom if it is not obvious? || By what axioms are we able to prove the Pythagorean theorum? ||
 * What distinguishes fluent foreigners from native speakers? || What are some French colloquialisms? ||
 * How would life be different if we couldn't measure time? || How many minutes are in a day? How many hours are in a day? ||
 * //**Which one?**// (which one is better?)
 * **//How?//** Ex: What are some sustainable solutions to environmental problems and //**HOW**// could they be implemented?
 * **//What if?//** These questions are hypothetical, and ask you to use the knowledge you have to pose a hypothesis and consider options. Ex: **//WHAT IF//** the Cultural Revolution had never happened? //**WHAT IF**// students didn't have to go to school?
 * //**Should?**// These questions make a moral or practical decision based on evidence. Ex: //**SHOULD**// we clone humans? //**SHOULD**// we discontinue trade with countries that abuse human rights?
 * //**Why?**// These questions ask you to understand cause and effect. "WHY" helps us understand relationships; it helps us get to the essence of an issue. Ex: //**WHY**// do people abuse drugs? //**WHY**// is the death rate higher in one Third World country than another?

=__Examples:__= //please be careful when searching for essential questions on the internet, there are plenty of really bad questions posing as "essential questions" out there. Use well known sources!//

Social Studies
 * Whose story is this? Whose voices aren't we hearing?
 * How should governments balance the rights of individuals with the common good?
 * Should (e.g., immigration, alcohol and drugs, media) be restricted or regulated? When? Who decides?
 * Why do people move? When do they "have to" move and when do they "choose to" move?

Mathematics
 * What kind of problem is this?
 * What should I do when I'm stuck?
 * When is estimation better than counting?
 * How can I simplify this into a more familiar and easier to work with quantity?
 * What is the pattern?
 * How does what we measure influence how we measure? How does how we measure influence what we measure (or don't measure)?
 * How accurate (precise) does this need to be?
 * Given ___, what can we conclude? What can't we conclude?

Language Arts
 * What is the relationship between "fiction" and "truth"?
 * How are stories from other places and times about me?
 * Have we run across this idea before?
 * What do good readers do?
 * What is the author saying? What makes you think so?
 * How do texts differ, and how should I read as a result?
 * What should I do when the text doesn't make any sense?
 * How do effective writers hook and hold their readers?
 * Why am I writing? For whom?

Art
 * What is art? How does it differ from "crafts"?
 * Where can we find art?
 * What can artworks tell us about a culture or a society? How can they mislead us about that culture or society?
 * What's the difference between a thoughtful and a thoughtless critique?
 * Do artists have a responsibility to their audiences? Do audiences have a responsibility to artist?

Science
 * What makes objects move the way they do? why does this thing move that way?
 * What are we made of? What is everything made of?
 * How are the structure and function related in living things? Why is this creature doing this and built like that?
 * Where did it go? (with reference to conservations of energy and matter)
 * How should we evaluate a scientific claim?
 * How can we best measure what we cannot directly see?
 * Do the data warrant that otherwise-plausible explanation?
 * Is this error an avoidable mistake or inherent in the data?

World Languages
 * What are the key similarities and the differences between (target lan-guage) and English?
 * How do I get beyond thinking in English?
 * What is the best way for me to retain as much language as possible in long-term memory?
 * How might the context help me understand words I do not know?
 * What should I do when I am stuck?
 * How can I sound more like a native speaker?
 * How can I keep the conversation going?
 * How can I explore and describe cultures without stereotyping them?