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5th: MATH Essential Questions

Where are numbers to a billion found and how they affect our daily lives?
How can expanded notation of numbers help explain a number's value?
How does estimation, rounding, comparing, ordering/operations of whole numbers, and decimals aid problem solving?
What are prime and composite numbers?
How are factors and multiples beneficial in math?
When are fractions and whole numbers used together in real life?
What is the relationship between fractions and decimals?
What is the benefit of charts, tables, and graphs in our daily lives?
How can writing algebraic formulas help solve problems with one variable?
What is the relationship among area, perimeter and volume in regular and irregular shapes?
Where can geometric shapes be found in our surroundings?
What is it easier to use a geometric formula to solve real-world problems?
How can you visualize the differences between two and three-dimensional figures?
What types of instruments do you use to determine length, width, and volume?
How do you use information gained to solve problems?
How is probability used to predict outcomes in problem-solving?

 5th: LANGUAGE ARTS Essential Questions

How will I effectively use the parts of speech in my every day life?
Why is punctuation important?
Why should I be able to identify different genre in literature?
How do events in realistic fiction relate to the events in "real world"?
What are the elements of effective writing? (The Writing Process)
What are components of a well structured sentence?
Why do we read information/reference materials?
How can I develop an appreciation of poetry?
How do events in historical fiction relate to actual history?
What is expository writing?
How can I use a variety of writing styles?
How can writing help me communicate my feelings and express my creativity?
Can I hyphenate words correctly?
Can I recognize prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections?
Do I use prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections correctly?
How can I apply comprehension strategies to my reading?
What is the impact of other people's lives on our culture? (autobiographies and biographies)
How can I make my writing more interesting?
How can I use information in books and other sources to write reports?
What is an expository writing?
Can I write an expository paper from a prompt?
How do I use editing skills to improve my writing?

5th: SCIENCE Essential Questions

How would I develop an experiment using the Scientific Method?
What are the physical properties to be observed?
What makes up an atom?
How do atoms combine to form molecules and compounds?
How have microscopes aided in the study of atoms?
What is the purpose of the periodic table of elements?
How are solutions and suspensions different?
How do insulators protect you in your life?
How is energy used to cook food?
What happens when matter is heated and cooled?
How does energy change forms?
How is electric energy formed?
What is force?
How is force measured?
How do machines make our lives easier?
What would your life be like without plants?
How do you compare differences in plants?
How do plants eat?
What determines if something is alive or not?
How are plant cells different from animal cells?
How do plants and animals interact with nonliving things to form an ecosystem?
How do changes in the environment affect all organisms?
How do plants and animals adapt to their habitats?
How and why do scientists classify living things?
How do the systems of my body benefit me?
What is my body's communication system?
What makes me healthy?

5th: SOCIAL STUDIES Essential Questions

How do I use historical and relief maps?
How have the contributions of early civilizations affected my life?
Who were the first Americans?
Why is it important for me to develop an appreciation of other cultures?
How does our environment affect your lifestyle?
How have early people developed unique ways of adapting to their environments to solve their basic needs?
How were the Indians affected when the Europeans came to America?
How did early sailors navigate without compasses?
Why did Europeans begin exploration?
What were the problems as a result of explorations?
What were the reasons for settling the colonies?
What problems did early colonists have?
How did slavery impact the life in the colonies?
What is the structure and purpose of structure?
What are some contributions of past and present African Americans?
What events led to the American Revolution being fought?
What factors helped the colonies win the war?
How was each colony affected by the war?
What happened to the colonies after the war?
Why did people begin to go West?
What natural boundaries kept people from settling in the West?
What problems did pioneers face?
Discuss the need for westward expansion from the Appalachians to the Mississippi.
Using a map, discover natural boundaries including rivers, lakes, and mountains for westward expansion.
Determine the hardships faced by pioneers including the isolation of cultures.
 
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6th: MATH Essential Questions

How do we order numbers?
What are the different ways to write numbers?
How do we use estimation?
Why is problem solving useful?
How do we compute decimals?
How do we use patterns to understand fractions?
How do we use fractions in our daily life?
How do we compute fractions?
How do we compute mixed numbers?
Why is it necessary to rename fractions and mixed numbers to solve addition and subtraction problems?
What are the various forms of measurement and how can they be applied in daily life?
How is geometry part of the world?
How do we solve geometric problems?
How do we organize data so that it is useful?
How are graphs used?
What are inverse operations?
How do we compare numbers?
How do we use formulas?
How do we calculate different forms of measurement?
How do we convert different units of measurement?
In which careers would calculating measurements be used?

 

6th: LANGUAGE ARTS Essential Questions

What are the characteristics of contemporary fiction?
In what way do I identify with these characteristics?
What is the impact of this story on me?
What is the point of view in reading/writing?
How can I use different types of sentences to improve my writing?
What are the parts of speech?
Why are these necessary in oral/written language?
How can I create correctly written sentences?
How do I recognize different types of poetry?
What are different types of figurative language?
What value does poetry have in developing thoughts and feelings?
How do I recognize subject/predicate in a sentence?
How can I express my thoughts and feelings in poetry? (written and oral)
What makes a story a myth or folk tale?
What role do they play in all cultures?
What conclusions can I draw from myths and folk tales?
How do I develop a myth or folk tale?
How can the use of adjectives and adverbs improve my writing and speaking?
How does using a Thesaurus improve my writing and speaking?
Why are reference materials important?
Where do I go to get information?
What is the best way to organize information?
Which information do I use in my paper?
How do I produce a finished product?
What are the characteristics of historical fiction?
What skills and background knowledge are needed to analyze historical fiction?
What are the parts of a business letter?
Why should I write a business letter?
How do I write an expository essay?
Why do people write biographies/autobiographies?
What questions need to be answered in this genre of literature?
How do I conduct an interview?
What information should I include in writing a biography/autobiography?
Can telling oral stories assist me in my writing?

 
6th: SCIENCE Essential Questions

How would I develop an experiment using the Scientific Method?
Why does the earth move?
What causes natural disasters?
Could an earthquake or volcano occur here?
How does the ocean affect my life?
Why is the ocean important?
What can I do to protect the ocean?
How does the ocean affect weather?
What do I do that harms the environment?
How can I describe matter?
How can matter be classified?
Can the laws of motion save my life?
Why do I look the way I do?
How does the past affect me today?
Why are there different animals in different locations?
What is reproduction?
How do I grow and develop?
Is my family healthy?
How do I stay healthy?

 
6th: SOCIAL STUDIES Essential Questions

What geography terms do I need to know to describe and identify the feature of an area?
Why do I need laws?
What do archaeologists contribute to the study of history?
What are primary and secondary sources?
How did written language develop?
Why did societies develop structure?
Was religion important in the development of cultures?
What do Jews believe?
How has our life improved because of contributions of ancient civilizations?
How did the development of trade impact cultures?
How can I use a variety of maps to gain information?
How did this civilization develop?
What contribution did this culture make to world history?
What is a democracy and what is my role as a citizen in a democracy?
How did the development of trade impact cultures?
What are the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?
How did this civilization develop?
What contribution did this culture make to world history?
What do Christians believe?
What is a republic?
How did this civilization develop?
What contributions did this culture make to world history?
What are the religious beliefs of the people of China?
How does the population of a country affect other societies?
How are dynasties created and do they still exist?
How did this civilization develop?
What contributions did this civilization make to world history?
What are the beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism?
How does poverty affect the growth of a civilization?
What is feudalism?
What contributions did the Middle Ages/Renaissance make to world history?
How did the societal structure develop?
How does a religious group impact a society?
How does a major disease such as Black Death affect a society?
What laws do we have which came from the Magna Carta?
What is Islam and how did this civilization develop?
What contributions did this civilization make to world history?
Why is a belief system important?
How do people decide what to believe?