Meaning Behind Essential Questions
Essential questions of critical Social Studies are what the teacher is guided by to help their students think critically. These can be the backbone to any lesson or even any unit. It should cover the overarching topic that the students should learn through the curriculum. In the particular inquiry unit about Environmental Justice, these types of questions will be extremely helpful to guide student’s thoughts and discussions.
In Understanding by Design, by Wiggins and McTighe, the essential questions are mentioned to be as the doorways to understanding. The more open-ended the questions are the more the student is able to learn and grow their knowledge. Lattimer in “Challenging History: Essential Questions in the SS Classroom” explains how three qualities of essential questions are to get to the heart of the discipline, have more than one reasonable answer, and connect the past to the present. These characteristics show how essential questions are not direct answer questions that have one answer. These questions allow students to think critically and relate what they learn to their personal lives.
During one class, we discussed the four types of essential questions. One is Right There Questions, where there is a distinct answer that you can be found easily. Another is Search and Connect Questions, these are questions that you can look up through different sources to find the answer and put together. Text and Me Questions are questions that can be related to you personally. You are able to analyze the topics through a personal perspective. The last type of questions is called On My Own Questions. These questions ask the students about their personal experiences that do not always directly correlate with any text.
The following are possible essential questions relating back to the topic of Environmental Justice:
Right There Questions
· How does pollution affect the environment?
· What parts of the environment are struggling the most?
Search and Connect Questions
· What affects the environment negatively?
· Are suburban, urban, and rural environments affected differently just due to the type of environment?
Text Me Questions
· Whose responsibility is it to take care of the environment?
· What are the ways that we can help promote environmental justice?
On My Own Questions
· How are you affected by environmental issues?
· Have you ever physically seen negative effects on the environment? And how did that make you feel?
These questions could all work together to allow students to look at environmental justice though many different angles. The United States Environmental Protection Agency website (https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/learn-about-environmental-justice) would be a very good place to start and explore the topic of environmental justice, especially if this is new to the students you are teaching. There can be one overarching question that will be the root question and the rest of questions would be the branches that allow the teacher and students to explore different sub topics regarding environmental justice. The article named “What is Environmental Justice” (https://www.nrdc.org/stories/what-is-environmental-justice) may also be a good start to look at how environmental justice is “the modern-day civil rights issue.” Essential questions allow students to look from a personal perspective.
It is evident that through essential questions one main topic can be explored in many different ways and can be explored through different lenses. This is also beneficial for differentiated instruction because it allows students to work and analyze the topic at the level that is best for them. The different qualities and types of essential questions all work together to help students learn about the different topics of Social Studies.