Overview

Lesson Procedure

70-70 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction25 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Think of a decision your town, school or family is facing. Where in the past did someone face nearly the same decision? What would you need to know about what they chose, and what happened afterward, before their story could help?"

   Take three or four answers. Point out that each one turns a present problem into a research question about a past case, which is how many sustained research projects begin. W.9-10.7 and W.11-12.7 use the same words; in grades 11 and 12 the difference is in the work: longer projects, primary sources read alongside secondary ones, sources that disagree, and a synthesis that must say what the evidence can and cannot support.

   Introduce the project the lesson follows. Leila, a senior, is writing a six-week research paper for Mr. Okafor's seminar. Leila, Mr. Okafor, the librarian Ms. Varga, the town of Rook Harbor and its council are invented for this lesson. Her subject is real: the hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900, and what the city did afterward. Her notes quote real sources. Read Text 1. Students write one sentence: what exactly was wrong with "Do seawalls work?"

   1Week 1, Monday. Research proposal for Mr. Okafor's senior seminar: six weeks, 2,000-2,500 words, at least six sources, at least two of them primary sources.

   2Why this topic: My grandmother lives in South Flats, the lowest neighborhood in Rook Harbor. Last spring the town council began debating two ways to protect it from storm surge: building a sea wall along the waterfront, or paying part of the cost for owners to raise their houses on higher foundations. The vote is next year.

   3First question: Do seawalls work?

   4Mr. Okafor's comment: "Work for whom, against what, and compared with what? Every seawall on every coast is a library, not a project, and 'do they work' invites a yes or a no. Find one place where people faced your town's choice, where you can see what they chose and what happened next."

   5Revised question: After the hurricane of September 8, 1900, why did Galveston, Texas, protect itself with a seawall and a raised city, and how well did those protections work? The second half of the project: what should Rook Harbor's council learn from Galveston?

   6Before the sustained project starts, Mr. Okafor wants a one-period short project on one fact we will need. Mine: How many people died in the 1900 storm? I thought this would take ten minutes.

2. Direct Instruction25 minutes

   Name the parts of the standard in Leila's project. Her short project (Text 2) answers one fact in one class period. Her sustained project runs six weeks, with primary sources from 1900 (Texts 3 and 4) and later secondary sources (Texts 5 and 6). Her question is self-generated and tied to a problem, a vote in her town. She will narrow and broaden the question as the sources push her (Texts 1 and 6). Her final section synthesizes the sources and demonstrates understanding by stating what they support and what they cannot settle (Text 7).

   Read Text 2, then the two primary sources: Willis Moore's letter, written five days after the storm, and a 1900 book's account of Colonel Robert's plan. Both are exact public-domain texts; "[...]" marks the omitted paragraphs in Text 4. Use Diagram 2 to picture the short project, then work through the examples.

   1Short project, Week 1, Wednesday. Question: How many people died in the 1900 storm?

   2Isaac M. Cline, the Weather Bureau's official in Galveston, in his report printed in the Monthly Weather Review in 1900: "conservative estimates place the loss of life at the appalling figure, 6,000."

   3The Handbook of Texas, published by the Texas State Historical Association, entry by John Edward Weems: "Between 6,000 and 8,000 people in the city of Galveston had died." The same entry says the city had 38,000 inhabitants.

   4The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), page on the seawall as a historic landmark: the storm killed "at a minimum, 6,000 of the island's 44,000 inhabitants."

   5A 2015 blog post from NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory: "Estimates of the number dead vary greatly, from 8000 to 12,000."

   6Answer: No one knows the exact number, and none of these sources claims to; Cline himself calls 6,000 a conservative estimate. They agree on at least 6,000. The Handbook counts the city, while the ASCE counts the whole island, which has more people. In my report I will write "at least 6,000 and perhaps as many as 12,000."

   7What this changed: I had planned to copy numbers from whichever source I read first. From now on I will record, for every number, what it measures, where and when.

   1Chief Willis L. Moore, of the United States Weather Bureau at Washington, being asked his opinion of the idea of rebuilding Galveston on some other site, replied as follows:

   2"Weather Bureau, U. S., Washington, D. C., September 13, 1900.

   3"I should not advise the abandonment of the city of Galveston. It is true that tropical hurricanes sometimes move westward across the gulf and strike the Texas coast, but such movement is infrequent. Within the last thirty years no storm of like severity has touched any part of the coast of the United States. There are many points on both the Atlantic and gulf coasts, some of them occupied by cities the size of Galveston, that are equally exposed to the force of both wind and water, should a hurricane move in from the ocean or gulf and obtain the proper position relative to them. It would not be advisable to abandon these towns and cities merely because there is a remote probability that at some future time a hurricane may be the cause of great loss of life and property.

   4"We have just passed through a summer that for sustained high temperature has no parallel within the last thirty years. Records of low temperature, torrential rains, and other meteorological phenomena that have stood for twenty and thirty years are not infrequently broken. There does not appear to be, so far as we know, any law governing the occurrence or recurrence of storms. The vortex of a hurricane is comparatively narrow, at most not more than twenty or thirty miles in width. It is only within the vortex that such a great calamity as has befallen Galveston can occur.

   5"It would seem that, rather than abandon the city, means should be adopted at Galveston and other similarly exposed cities on the Atlantic and gulf coasts to erect buildings only on heavy stone foundations that should have solid interiors of masonry to a height of ten feet above mean sea level. Rigid building regulations should allow no other structures erected for habitations in the future in any city located at sea level and that is exposed to the direct sweep of the sea.

   6"But Galveston should take heart, as the chances are that not once in a thousand years would she be so terribly stricken, and high, solid foundations would doubtless make her impregnable to loss of life by all future storms.

   7"WILLIS L. MOORE,
   "Chief U. S. Weather Bureau."

   1Can the city of Galveston, almost obliterated by the recent storm, be protected from all future assaults by the Gulf?

   2Colonel Henry M. Robert, United States Corps of Engineers, and divisional engineer of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, who is stationed here at present, says that Galveston can be absolutely protected from every storm by a sea wall built along the Gulf front.

   [...]

   3[...] Colonel Robert now proposes an additional plan, simple and inexpensive, for affording the fullest and most complete measure of protection from all storms. This new plan is to construct a sea wall along the Gulf front of the city.

   4It is estimated that the height of the waves in the recent storm, which was the severest ever experienced on the Texas coast, was about ten to twelve feet. Colonel Robert suggests that a wall at least twelve feet above the beach, and running the entire length of the water front, or about ten miles, be built immediately to barricade the city from the Gulf. A height of twelve feet above the beach would give fourteen feet above the water, and would, Colonel Robert thinks, afford ample protection.

   5COST OF THE SEA WALL.

   6As to the expense of such a structure, it is thought by engineers that a liberal estimate would be about $1,500,000 per mile. This wall, as projected by Colonel Robert, would extend from a point on the south jetty, where the latter crosses the Gulf front of the city, and would follow the line of the beach, two or three feet above the water level, until it reached the southwestern limit of the island, in the shallow water of West Bay. At the latter point the danger from storms is not serious.

   • Narrowing by choosing a case

     Mr. Okafor's comment on "Do seawalls work?" asks "Work for whom, against what, and compared with what?" and tells Leila to "Find one place where people faced your town's choice" (Text 1, paragraph 4).

     Result: A case study narrows the inquiry without shrinking it to one fact. Galveston gives Leila a decision, the reasons given at the time and a result she can check, and it keeps her town's problem in view.

   • A short project that is not so short

     Leila expected her death-toll question "would take ten minutes" (Text 1, paragraph 6). She found four sources and four different figures (Text 2, paragraphs 2-5).

     Result: Her answer reports what the sources share, "at least 6,000," and the range above it, instead of picking the figure she liked. A short project is complete when it answers honestly, even when the honest answer is a range.

   • Reading a primary source for its assumptions

     Moore writes that there does not "appear to be, so far as we know, any law governing the occurrence or recurrence of storms," then promises that "not once in a thousand years would she be so terribly stricken" (Text 3, paragraphs 4 and 6).

     Result: The first sentence admits no one can predict storms; the second predicts one. A researcher notes the tension and treats the thousand-year figure as reassurance, not evidence, then looks for what actually happened.

   • Whose words? Reported speech in a primary source

     Text 4 is not Robert's own report. Lester writes that Robert "says" the city can be protected, "suggests" a wall and "thinks" it would give ample protection (Text 4, paragraphs 2 and 4).

     Result: The book reports Robert's plan secondhand, a few weeks after the storm. Leila can use it as evidence of what was proposed in 1900, but for the design actually built she needs the engineers' 1902 recommendation, which the ASCE page summarizes (Text 5).

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs read Texts 5 and 6. Diagram 1 places the events on a timeline drawn to scale. Pairs fill in the discrepancy log below for the three disagreements Leila notes in Text 5, then discuss the questions after it.

   1American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), "Galveston Seawall and Grade Raising." A board of three engineers, Henry M. Robert, Alfred Noble and Henry C. Ripley, reported on January 25, 1902. It recommended a curved concrete seawall rising 17 feet above mean low tide. The first section, over 3 miles long, was built from 1902 to 1904, and the wall was extended later. From 1903 to 1911, about 500 city blocks were raised with sand brought in by dredges, and around 2,000 buildings were lifted on hand-turned jackscrews.

   2Handbook of Texas: "Construction began on a six-mile-long seawall standing seventeen feet above mean low tide," and sand pumped from the Gulf floor "raised the grade as much as seventeen feet."

   3Rosenberg Library, Galveston and Texas History Center, "Grade Raising." Before the raising, that part of the island "probably averaged around five or six feet above mean low tide." Afterward, the ground sloped from about eight feet on the bay side to about twenty-two feet at the seawall. The project was completed in 1928, and "The expense was borne by the taxpayers and the individual property owners." During the work, people lived in their raised houses and walked on boardwalks fastened to the tops of fences.

   4NOAA blog (from my short project): the city decided "to raise the entire city by 17 ft."

   5My notes on the disagreements. Length: the ASCE gives the first section, over 3 miles in 1902-1904, and says the wall was extended later, so the Handbook's six miles probably describes a later stage. I need a source that dates each extension before I use either number. Height of the ground: "the entire city by 17 ft" is too simple. The Rosenberg Library describes a slope, highest at the seawall, and the Handbook's "as much as seventeen feet" fits it. I will describe the slope. End date: 1911 ends the first phase in the ASCE page, and 1928 is when the Rosenberg Library says the whole project was done. Both can be true.

   1Week 3. I had been reading only about the seawall. Two sources changed that. Moore's letter (Text 3) never mentions a wall: he wants buildings on stone foundations with masonry "to a height of ten feet above mean sea level." And the Rosenberg Library shows that the city raised the ground itself, behind the wall. The seawall was one part of a system. New question: How did Galveston combine a seawall, a higher grade and stronger buildings after 1900, and how well did the combination protect the city?

   2Week 4. The test came in 1915. The Rosenberg Library's page on that storm says: "The 1915 Storm gave the Seawall its first real test." Top sustained winds reached 93 miles per hour, water in the city reached 6 to 9 feet, and the storm caused 12 deaths and an estimated $5-8 million in property damage in the city. I also found Cline's own view, in his 1900 report: "I believe that a sea wall, which would have broken the swells, would have saved much loss of both life and property."

   3Week 4, conference with Ms. Varga. I told her I wanted to add a full engineering comparison of the two plans for Rook Harbor. She asked: "Can you judge an engineering study? Do you have six weeks for a second city?" I cannot, and I do not. I narrowed that half of the project. Instead of recommending a plan for Rook Harbor, I will write the questions that Galveston's history says the council should ask.

   4Week 5. One caution keeps coming back. 1915 was one storm. Twelve deaths against thousands is a huge difference, but the two storms were not identical, and I have not found a source that compares their strength directly. I can say the protections were followed by far fewer deaths in a severe storm. I cannot say the seawall alone caused that.

   Discrepancy log (pairs fill in the blank cells)

   What the sources disagree about	Source and figure	Other source and figure	Likely reason (place, time, measure or uncertainty)	What Leila will write
   Length of the seawall
   Height of the new ground
   When the grade raising ended

   Discuss: (1) In Week 3 Leila broadens her question, and in Week 4 she narrows part of it. What caused each change? (2) Which sentence in Week 5 keeps her from claiming more than her sources show?

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Read Text 7, Leila's final section. Students annotate it in three colors: sentences that combine two or more sources, sentences that apply the history to Rook Harbor's problem, and sentences that state a limit. Then they draft the opening of their own research proposal: a present problem, a past case that faced the same choice, a first question, and the short project they will run first.

   The quiz uses Texts 1-7 (Warm-Up, Direct Instruction, Guided Practice and this phase); point students back to them when they take it.

   1In September 1900, Galveston's leaders heard different answers to the question of how to save their city. Willis Moore, chief of the Weather Bureau, told them not to abandon it and to rebuild on "heavy stone foundations" under "Rigid building regulations," because a storm like this might not return "once in a thousand years" (Text 3). Colonel Henry M. Robert of the United States Corps of Engineers called for a sea wall along the Gulf front (Text 4), and Isaac Cline, who lived through the storm, believed a wall "would have saved much loss of both life and property" (Cline's report). The city did not choose one answer. It built a seawall, and it raised the ground behind the wall, block by block (ASCE; Rosenberg Library). In a way it met Moore's goal of building higher, though by raising the ground rather than with his stone foundations.

   2Moore's estimate of the risk was the weakest part of his advice. Fifteen years later a severe hurricane struck. The seawall had its "first real test," and 12 people died in the city, against at least 6,000 in 1900 (Rosenberg Library; my short project). The sources do not let me credit the wall alone, since the two storms differed and the city had also been raised, but they show that the combined protections were followed by far fewer deaths.

   3Galveston's history suggests four questions for Rook Harbor's council. First, does the plan deal with both the force of the waves and the height of the water? Galveston answered with a wall and with higher ground. Second, who pays? In Galveston, taxpayers and property owners shared the cost (Rosenberg Library). Third, how long will it take? Galveston's first seawall section took two years, but raising the ground was not finished until 1928. Fourth, what risk is the plan built for? Moore's "thousand years" turned out to be fifteen.

   4My sources disagree on some numbers, including the death toll, the length of the wall and the height of the fill, and I report ranges where they do. None of them can tell Rook Harbor which plan to choose. They can tell the council what to ask.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: (1) Name one place where a primary source and a secondary source in Leila's project point in different directions, and how she handled it. (2) Write one question Leila's research cannot answer. Then hand out the homework texts: Marcus's research log and source notes on the Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago (Text 8) and a set of safety suggestions printed in a 1904 book about the fire (Text 9). Marcus and his school are invented; his sources are real.

   Teacher note: Texts 3 and 4 and Texts 8 and 9 describe mass-casualty disasters, and the 1900 and 1904 books they come from use sensational language elsewhere (the Galveston book's full title promises "Death! Death! Everywhere!"). The excerpts on this page are factual passages; prepare students whose families have lived through a hurricane or fire.

   1Week 1. My question for the six-week project: Why did 602 people die in the Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago on December 30, 1903, and which of the safety rules that followed still protect audiences today? I picked it because our school's new auditorium has push bars on every exit door, and I wanted to know where they came from.

   2Source 1: University of Illinois Library, "Iroquois Theater Fire" (a research guide). The theater opened on November 23, 1903. On December 30 it held a standing-room-only crowd of over 1,900 people. A floodlight over the stage exploded and set the curtain on fire. The theater had no fire alarm or sprinklers, and the smoke vents above the stage were nailed shut. Many exits were locked or hidden behind heavy curtains, and others only opened inward. 602 people, mainly women and children, were killed. Laws that followed required outward-opening doors that stay unlocked, exit lights, automatic sprinklers, fire alarm systems, and flame-resistant scenery, props and curtains.

   3Source 2: Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, "Panic Bar," by Robert Bowling. It says the fire "killed 596 people." Carl Prinzler, a hardware manager in Indianapolis, developed the idea for the panic bar after the fire. With Henry DuPont, an architectural engineer, he designed a bar across an exit door that unlatches it under light pressure. They applied for patents in 1908 and sold the device under the name Von Duprin.

   4Source 3: Marshall Everett, "Lest We Forget": Chicago's Awful Theater Horror (1904). The book says that before the fire the building "had been heralded abroad as a 'fireproof structure,' with more than enough exits." The book also prints the safety suggestions in Text 9.

   1Clarence J. Root, of Chicago, an assistant of Prof. Cox in the weather bureau, makes the following suggestions in connection with the safe-theater agitation:

   [...]

   2"Exits--No steps or stairs should be used in the aisles or exits or anywhere in the theater. Easy inclines, similar to the ones in the new Pittsburg theater, should be used in the aisles, the inside entrances and exits, and the outside exits, all to be covered with rubber to prevent slipping. Two or three very wide exits ought to be provided on each side of the theater, and in addition, one (say twice as wide as the aisle) at the rear end of each aisle, the hallway leading from these rear exits, if not opening outdoors, to be wide enough to accommodate the entire number of exits. These rules should apply in the balconies, also. The outside fire-escapes to be long, easy inclines, with high sides, to prevent people from jumping. Each exit to have its own independent incline, so that the crowd from the first balcony cannot block those from the upper gallery, as in the Iroquois fire. All doors to swing outward and not to be locked during the performance. They should be inspected before each play and should be so connected, electrically, that every door in the house could be thrown open instantly, merely by the touching of a button, these buttons to be located on the stage and other places convenient to the ushers and employees. Theaters should not be built 'L' shape. That was one fault of the Iroquois. The crowd naturally followed the aisles to the back of the house and then, instead of finding themselves at the outdoor exits, as in most playhouses, they had to go clear to one side of the theater. This mixed them up with the crowds from the other aisles and concentrated too many people in one place.

   3"Summary--A theater as described above could not burn, but a sprinkler system would do no harm. Heating and power plant in another building would prevent danger of an explosion. The aisles should be very wide and no standing room or portable chairs allowed. It may seem unnecessary in a fireproof theater to have such elaborate exits, but panics will occur from other causes than fires. A plan of the house should be printed on the cover of the program; this should plainly show the exits. A description of the fireproof qualities of the theater should also be printed. This will secure the confidence of the audience, and perhaps avert a panic. In a house built and equipped, strictly in accordance with the above ideas, a fire would be impossible and a serious panic unlikely."

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Text 1, paragraph 4, what is Mr. Okafor's main objection to "Do seawalls work?"

   ASeawalls are an engineering topic, and an English research paper should stay with literary subjects. BThe question has already been answered by engineers, so there is nothing left for Leila to find. CIt is too broad and invites only yes or no; a single case would show a choice and its results. DIt is too narrow, because a seawall is only one small part of how a town prepares for storms.

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What makes Leila's research question self-generated and tied to a problem?

   AIt comes from her town's debate over protecting her grandmother's neighborhood. BMr. Okafor chose Galveston for the whole class and asked each student to pick a different year. CShe found the topic in a list of famous disasters at the back of her history textbook. DThe Weather Bureau asked students to research the 1900 storm for its anniversary.

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Text 2, paragraph 7, how will Leila's research method change because of the short project?

   AShe will use only primary sources from 1900, since later sources cannot be trusted. BShe will choose the highest figure for every number, so that her report does not understate the disaster. CShe will stop using numbers in her report, since the sources never agree about them. DShe will record, for every number, what it measures, where and when, instead of copying the first figure she finds.

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The Handbook of Texas says the city had 38,000 inhabitants; the ASCE page says the island had 44,000. What is the best explanation, based on Text 2?

   AOne of the two sources must contain a printing error, since both describe the same place. BThe figures count different areas: the city alone, and the whole island around it. CThe ASCE figure was taken after the storm, when survivors moved to the island. DThe Handbook counts only adults, while the ASCE counts adults and children.

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Text 3, what does Moore recommend instead of abandoning Galveston?

   ABuilding a sea wall along the whole Gulf front, at least twelve feet above the beach BMoving the city's harbor and railways to Houston, which lies inland and out of the storm's reach CStone foundations with masonry to ten feet above sea level, under rigid rules DEvacuating the island every hurricane season and rebuilding only warehouses and docks

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Moore writes that "not once in a thousand years" would Galveston be "so terribly stricken" (Text 3, paragraph 6). Which evidence in Leila's later sources most directly tests this reassurance?

   AThe severe hurricane of 1915, which struck fifteen years later and gave the seawall its first real test BThe ASCE's statement that the first section of the seawall was over three miles long CThe Rosenberg Library's note that people walked on boardwalks during the grade raising DCline's 1900 report that conservative estimates put the loss of life at 6,000

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Robert proposed a wall "at least twelve feet above the beach" (Text 4); the engineers' board recommended one "rising 17 feet above mean low tide" (Text 5). What can a careful researcher conclude?

   AThe built wall was exactly five feet higher than Robert's proposal, since 17 - 12 = 5. BRobert's proposal was higher than what was built, because the beach is above the sea. CThe board rejected Robert's idea of a wall entirely and chose a different kind of protection. DThey use different reference points, so the two heights cannot simply be compared.

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Text 4 says Robert suggested a wall of "about ten miles" and that engineers thought a liberal estimate would be "about $1,500,000 per mile." What total cost does this imply?

   A$1,500,000 B$15,000,000 C$150,000,000 D$18,000,000

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Text 5 gives the seawall's length as "over 3 miles" (ASCE) and "six-mile-long" (Handbook of Texas). How does Leila handle this?

   AShe averages the two figures and reports a wall of about four and a half miles. BShe trusts the ASCE because engineers wrote it, and she drops the Handbook from her project. CShe reads it as a difference in time and looks for a source that dates each extension. DShe decides that the Handbook is wrong, because a six-mile wall could not have been built in two years.

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Why does Leila decide to describe a slope instead of writing that Galveston was raised "17 ft" (Text 5, paragraph 5)?

    AThe Rosenberg Library says the new ground sloped from about 8 feet to about 22 feet. BThe NOAA blog is a government source, so its figure must be treated as the official height. CThe Handbook says the grade was not raised at all, only the seawall. DThe ASCE page says the city was raised seventeen feet everywhere, which confirms the NOAA figure.

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In Week 3 (Text 6, paragraph 1), Leila broadens her question. What causes the change?

    AMr. Okafor tells her the paper is too short and must cover more than one city. BTwo sources show that buildings and higher ground were part of the protection too. CMs. Varga asks her to add an engineering comparison of the two plans for Rook Harbor. DHer short project shows that the death toll is unknown, so she drops the seawall entirely.

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    In Week 4 (Text 6, paragraph 3), why does Leila narrow the Rook Harbor half of her project?

    AThe council asked her not to write about the vote before it takes place next year. BGalveston's sources say nothing that could apply to any other town. CHer grandmother decided to move out of South Flats, so the problem no longer affects her. DShe cannot judge an engineering study, and six weeks is not enough to research a second city.

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which claim do Leila's sources support about the 1915 storm (Text 6, paragraph 4)?

    AThe seawall alone reduced deaths from at least 6,000 to 12, which proves beyond doubt that seawalls work. BThe 1915 storm was weaker than the 1900 storm, so the comparison tells us nothing. CThe protections were followed by far fewer deaths, but the wall alone may not be the cause. DNo one died in the city in 1915, because the seawall held back all of the water.

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A student researching a local bridge finds its opening year given as 1883 on a city website and 1884 on a museum page. What should the student do first?

    AUse the city's date, because government websites are always more accurate than museums. BFind out what each source means by "opening" and look for a record from that time. CLeave the date out of the report entirely, since the sources disagree. DReport 1883.5 as the average of the two dates.

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Leila expected her short project to "take ten minutes" (Text 1). Explain what the short project found and how it shaped the sustained project. Cite Text 2.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Synthesize Texts 3 and 4 with Text 5: in two or three sentences, compare the two 1900 proposals and explain how each relates to what Galveston built.

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17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Leila's short project uses Isaac Cline's 1900 report and a 2015 NOAA blog post (Text 2), and she returns to both later (Texts 5 and 6). Explain one strength and one limitation of each as evidence for her question.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Identify one place where Leila broadened her inquiry and one where she narrowed it. For each, name the evidence or advice that prompted it and explain why the change was appropriate.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write one sentence that Leila's sources would let her say to Rook Harbor's council, and one sentence they would not. Explain the difference.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    How does Text 7 demonstrate that Leila understands her subject, not just that she collected sources? Give two pieces of evidence.

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These standards connect to W.11-12.7: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.