D1.1.6-8: How a Compelling Question Represents Key Ideas in a Field

Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-70 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Your school owns an empty lot next to the gym. Some people want a garden, some want parking, some want a basketball court. Write two questions you would want answered before anyone decides."

   Collect six or eight questions on the board. Ask: "Which of these could you answer by looking something up? Which ones would people argue about?" Circle the ones people would argue about and tell students these are close to what the C3 Framework calls compelling questions. Leave the list up; students sort it again at the end of Direct Instruction.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: Two kinds of questions. A compelling question is a question worth arguing about. It has more than one reasonable answer, and you need evidence to defend yours. A factual question has one answer that you can look up, such as a date, a number or a name. Factual questions are still useful: they often become the smaller supporting questions you answer on the way to a compelling one.

   Part 2: Fields and key ideas. A field (also called a discipline) is a subject that experts study in a particular way, such as civics or economics. A key idea is a big concept that people in a field use again and again to explain the world. A question represents a key idea when you cannot answer it well without using that idea. Show the table and Diagram 1.

   Four fields and some of their key ideas (adapted from the Dimension 2 disciplines of the C3 Framework)

   Field	What it studies	Some key ideas	Words that often signal them
   Civics	How people govern themselves and make rules together	Authority (the right to decide), rules and laws, citizens taking part, deliberation (talking a choice through)	who decides, should, fair, rights, vote, law
   Economics	How people choose what to do with scarce (limited) money, land, time and work	Costs and benefits, opportunity cost (the next-best choice you give up), incentives (rewards or costs that push people to act), who pays and who gains	worth it, cost, pay, trade-off, jobs, taxes
   Geography	Where things are, why they are there, and how people and places affect each other	Location, site (the land a place sits on), land use (what a piece of land is used for), human-environment interaction (how people change land and land shapes people)	where, why here, land, river, near, far
   History	How and why life changed over time, and how people in the past saw their world	Change and continuity (what changed and what stayed the same), causes and effects, perspectives (how different people saw events), using sources as evidence	change, before and after, why did, at first, then

   Part 3: One story, four fields. Read Source 1 aloud. Olmsted helped design Central Park, so he is not a neutral reporter; ask students to watch for places where he judges other people. Words to explain first: a legislature is the group of elected lawmakers for a state; precipitately means in a hurry; aldermen were members of a city council; a grudge is a lasting anger at someone; premises here means the matter being decided; aristocratic government is rule by a small group of nobles; the old country means Europe; breathing-places are open spaces with fresh air; anticipations are hopes. Then read Source 2. Words to explain: frontage is the land that faces something; per annum means each year; a toll is a fee for using something; interest is the yearly cost of borrowed money; capital here means money and businesses; a commission is a group appointed to run a project, and the enterprise is the project itself; an acre is about the size of a football field without the end zones.

   1The New York legislature of 1851 passed a bill providing for a park on the east side of the island. Afterwards, the same legislature, precipitately and quite as an after-thought, passed the act under which the city took title to the site of the greater part of the present Central Park.

   2This final action is said to have been the result of a counter movement, started after the passage of the first bill merely to gratify a private grudge of one of the city aldermen.

   3When, in the formation of the counter project, the question was reached, what land shall be named in the second bill, the originator turned to a map and asked: "Now where shall I go?" His comrade, looking over his shoulder, without a moment's reflection, put his finger down and said, "Go there"; the point indicated appearing to be about the middle of the island, and therefore, as it occurred to him, one which would least excite local prejudices.

   4The primary selection of the site was thus made in an off-hand way, by a man who had no special responsibility in the premises, and whose previous studies had not at all led him to be well informed or interested in the purpose of a park.

   [...]

   5During the following six years there was much public and private discussion of park questions; but the progress of public opinion, judged simply by the standard which it has since formed for itself, seems to have been chiefly backward.

   6This may be, to a considerable degree, accounted for by the fact that many men of wealth and influence—who, through ignorance and lack of mature reflection on this subject, were unable to anticipate any personal advantage from the construction of a park—feared that it would only add to their taxes, and thus were led to form a habit of crying down any hopeful anticipations.

   7The argument that certain towns of the old country did obtain some advantage from their parks, could not be refuted, but it was easy to say, and it was said, that "our circumstances are very different: surrounded by broad waters on all sides, open to the sea breezes, we need no artificial breathing-places; even if we did, nothing like the parks of the old cities under aristocratic government would be at all practicable here."

   1Land immediately about the Park, the frontage on it being seven miles in length, instead of taking the course anticipated by those opposed to the policy of the commission, has advanced in value at the rate of two hundred per cent per annum.

   2The cost of forming the Park, owing to the necessity of overcoming the special difficulties of the locality by extraordinary expedients, has been very great ($5,000,000); but the interest on it would even now be fully met by a toll of three cents on visitors coming on foot, and six cents on all others; and it should be remembered that nearly every visitor in coming from a distance voluntarily pays much more than this for the privilege.

   3It is universally admitted, however, that the cost, including that of the original off-hand common-sense blunders, has been long since much more than compensated by the additional capital drawn to the city through the influence of the Park.

   4A few facts will show you what the change in public opinion has been. When the Commissioners began their work, six hundred acres of ground was thought by many of the friends of the enterprise to be too much, by none too little for all park purposes. Since the Park has come into use, the amount of land laid out and reserved for parks in the two principal cities on the bay of New York has been increased to more than three times that amount, the total reserve for parks alone now being about two thousand acres, and the public demand is now for more, not less.

   Part 4: Model the move. Think aloud through the four examples below. Each time, say three things: the field, the key idea, and why you could not answer the question without that idea. Point out that a question can lean on more than one field; the skill is explaining the main idea it uses.

   • Geography: location and site (Source 1, paragraph 3)

     Why did the big park end up in the middle of Manhattan Island?

     Result: Field: geography. Key idea: location, the question of why something is where it is. To answer, you have to look at the place itself and at the reasons people gave for picking that spot. Source 1 says a lawmaker picked a point "about the middle of the island" because it "would least excite local prejudices," meaning it would anger the fewest neighborhoods. That evidence is about location, so the question really is a geography question.

   • Economics: cost and opportunity cost (Source 2, paragraph 2)

     Was it wise for New York to spend millions of dollars on land that would never hold buildings?

     Result: Field: economics. Key ideas: costs and benefits, and opportunity cost, because land used for a park cannot also be used for houses or shops. The question cannot be answered by one fact; you have to weigh what was given up against what was gained. Source 2 gives one side of the ledger: the park cost "($5,000,000)," which Olmsted himself calls "very great."

   • Civics: authority and who decides (Source 1, paragraphs 2-4)

     Should a few lawmakers be able to choose the site of a park for a whole city?

     Result: Field: civics. Key idea: authority, the right to make a decision for others, and how a fair decision should be made. The word "should" signals a judgment, so people can disagree. Source 1 says the site was chosen "in an off-hand way, by a man who had no special responsibility in the premises." A student answering would have to say what a fair process looks like.

   • History: perspectives and change over time (Source 1, paragraph 6; Source 2, paragraph 4)

     Why did many New Yorkers oppose the park at first, and why did their views change?

     Result: Field: history. Key ideas: perspectives (how different people saw the park) and change over time. The words "at first" and "change" are signals. Source 1 says some wealthy people "feared that it would only add to their taxes." Source 2 says that later "the public demand is now for more, not less." Explaining the shift means using both ideas.

   Go back to the warm-up list. For each circled question, ask the class: which field, and which key idea? Expect some questions to fit two fields; ask students to name the one the question leans on most and say why.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs read Source 3, four draft questions written by invented students. For each question they fill in a four-column chart: Compelling or factual?, Field, Key idea, and Why answering it needs that idea. They also note one sentence from Source 1 or 2 that would help answer it.

   1Four students in an invented seventh-grade class read Sources 1 and 2 and wrote these draft questions on the board.

   2Ana: Did the park help some New Yorkers more than others?

   3Ben: How many acres was Central Park in 1870?

   4Chloe: Who should get to decide how a city uses its land?

   5Dev: How did building the park change the way the land around it was used?

   Teacher model for one row (Chloe's question): Compelling: people can disagree, and the word "should" asks for a judgment. Field: civics. Key idea: authority, who has the right to decide for others. Why it needs that idea: you cannot answer without saying who ought to have power over public land and how they should use it. Helpful evidence: Source 1, paragraph 4, where the site was picked "in an off-hand way."

   Answer key for the other rows: Ana: compelling; economics; who pays and who gains (a cost-benefit idea), since a park can help some people more than others; Source 2, paragraph 1, on land values near the park, shows one group that gained. A civics answer built on fairness is also defensible if the student explains it. Ben: this is the weak sample on purpose. It is factual, with one answer you can look up, so it does not represent a key idea by itself; it could become a supporting question for Ana's or Dev's. Dev: compelling; geography; land use and human-environment interaction, since the park changed how the land around it was used; Source 2, paragraph 1, on the "frontage" and land values.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Each student writes one new compelling question about Central Park for a field the teacher assigns (deal the four fields out around the room). Under the question, the student writes a three-sentence explanation: My question belongs to ___ because ___. The key idea it uses is ___. You could not answer it without that idea because ___. Then the student names one sentence from Source 1 or 2 that would help answer it.

   Students trade with a partner who has a different field and use the Question Check: (1) Could people disagree about the answer? (2) Can you name the field and the key idea? (3) Does the explanation say why the key idea is needed, not just that it is there? (4) Is there a source that could help? The partner marks each item yes or not yet and writes one suggestion.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: On an index card, rewrite this factual question as a compelling one, then name the field and key idea of your new question: "In what year did Central Park open to visitors?"

   Teacher note on the sources: Sources 1 and 2 are quoted exactly from the 1902 printing of Olmsted's 1870 paper. Olmsted was the park's co-designer in 1858, according to the National Park Service's page on him at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, so he is an interested party. His figures, such as the cost of $5,000,000 and land values rising "two hundred per cent per annum," are his own claims from 1870 and are not checked here; they are good material for a question about whether to trust them. The passages use the 1870s spelling "per cent" and the phrase "men of wealth and influence," which reflect who held power then.

   Quiz passage. Questions 9-14 of the quiz use Source 4, six draft questions about a town water pump. It is a deliberately mixed sample: some of the questions are strong and some are weak on purpose.

   1An invented sixth-grade class studied a different topic: the town water pump that stood on many town squares in the 1800s. Before families had pipes in their homes, people carried water from shared pumps and wells. The class wrote six draft questions.

   21. When was the first town pump built in our state?
   2. Who should pay for a pump that every family uses: the town, or each family that uses it?
   3. Why were pumps usually placed in the town square instead of at the edge of town?
   4. How did daily life change when water pipes reached people's homes?
   5. Was a free public pump a good deal for the town, given what it cost to dig and repair?
   6. What color were most town pumps painted?

   Homework passage. The homework uses Source 5, an invented town's decision about an old rail yard.

   1Harlow Falls is an invented town. Next to its river is an old rail yard, about 20 acres, that has been empty for ten years. The town owns the land.

   2Two offers are on the table. A company wants to buy the land for a warehouse. It says the warehouse would bring about 150 jobs and pay property taxes (taxes on land and buildings) every year. A group of neighbors wants the town to keep the land and turn it into a riverside park with a walking path. They say the closest park is two miles away and many families in the neighborhood do not own cars.

   3The town council will vote next month after a public hearing, a meeting where any resident may speak. Some residents worry that a park would cost money to build and keep up. Others worry that a warehouse would bring heavy truck traffic past the elementary school.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which question about Source 1, paragraph 7, represents a key idea of geography?

   AWho were the people in the city that argued against the park? BDid being surrounded by water mean the city needed no park? CHow much did the land for the park cost the city in the 1850s? DWas the vote on the park site a fair way to decide?

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 2, paragraph 3, claims the park's cost "has been long since much more than compensated by the additional capital drawn to the city." Which compelling question would test that claim using a key idea of economics?

   AWho admitted that the cost of the park had been too high? BDid the money the park drew to the city outweigh what it cost? CWhere in the city did the new businesses and homes open? DShould the commission have finished building the park sooner?

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 1, paragraph 7, reports the claim that "nothing like the parks of the old cities under aristocratic government would be at all practicable here." A student asks, "Could a kind of park made for nobles work in a country where voters choose their leaders?" Which key idea does this question mainly represent?

   ASite: the kind of land the park sits on BOpportunity cost: the choice given up CAuthority: who governs and who they serve DContinuity: what stayed the same for years

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 2, paragraph 4, says that "six hundred acres of ground was thought by many of the friends of the enterprise to be too much." Which compelling question would this sentence help answer?

   AHow many acres did the park cover when work began? BWho were the commissioners in charge of the work? CShould the park have been built on the east side instead? DWhy did even supporters of the park first think it was too big?

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which of these is a compelling question?

   AIn what year did Ohio officially become a state of the Union? BHow long is the Mississippi River in miles? CDid the telegraph change the way armies fought wars? DWho was elected the first mayor of the city of Chicago?

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which question could NOT be answered well without the economics idea of opportunity cost?

   AWhat did the town give up when it paved its only field for parking? BHow many cars can fit in the new parking lot at one time? CWho voted at the town meeting to build the parking lot? DOn which street is the town's new parking lot located?

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which word in this question most clearly signals a key idea of geography: "Why did the settlers put their houses on the hill above the marsh?"

   A"settlers" B"houses" C"above" D"put"

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A student says: "My question, 'Why did the town grow up at the bend of the river?', is a history question because the town is old." What is the best response?

   AThat is right, since any question about the past is history BIt is not a compelling question, since it starts with "why" CIt mainly represents civics, since every town has a government DIt is mainly geography: it asks why a place is where it is

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which question in Source 4 represents a key idea of geography?

   AQuestion 1 BQuestion 5 CQuestions 3 and 6 DQuestion 3

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Question 2 in Source 4 asks, "Who should pay for a pump that every family uses: the town, or each family that uses it?" Which key idea does it mainly represent?

    ALocation BChange and continuity over time CCosts and benefits for different groups DCauses and effects

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which two questions in Source 4 are factual rather than compelling?

    AQuestions 1 and 6 BQuestions 2 and 5 CQuestions 3 and 4 DQuestions 4, 5 and 6

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Question 4 in Source 4 asks, "How did daily life change when water pipes reached people's homes?" Which field and key idea does it mainly represent?

    ACivics: rules and laws for towns BEconomics: incentives CGeography: site DHistory: change over time

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which explanation of Question 5 in Source 4 best shows how the question represents a key idea?

    AEconomics: you must weigh what it cost against what the town got. BIt is about money, so that makes it a good question. CIt is history, because town pumps are old things. DIt is compelling because every person in town would give the same answer.

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    How could Question 1 in Source 4 be turned into a compelling question that represents civics?

    AWhen was the second town pump built in our state, and where? BShould the law have required towns to offer clean water? CHow deep did workers have to dig the first town pump? DWhich county in our state had the most town pumps in 1890?

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write a compelling question about Central Park that represents a key idea of civics. Then explain in two sentences why answering it needs that idea.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    In Source 2, paragraph 4, Olmsted says the land for parks reached "about two thousand acres." Write one factual question this sentence answers and one compelling question it could help answer. Name the field and key idea of the compelling one.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Choose one question in Source 4 that uses two fields. Name both fields and the key idea it takes from each.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Olmsted helped design Central Park. Write one compelling question about whether Source 2 can be trusted, and name the field and key idea it uses.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Explain the difference between naming a topic and naming a key idea. Use one question from this lesson as your example.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    A classmate writes the question "Is Central Park nice?" This is a weak question. Explain why, and revise it so that it represents a key idea of geography or economics.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to D1.1.6-8: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (Silver Spring, MD: NCSS, 2013). NCSS was not involved in the production of this lesson and does not endorse it.