Inquiry and Research: Generating Inquiry Questions (TEKS.ELA.8.12.A)
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Texas 8th Grade ELA › Inquiry and Research: Generating Inquiry Questions (TEKS.ELA.8.12.A)
You're preparing a science fair investigation about how sleep relates to academic performance among 8th graders at your school. You can use anonymous surveys and access class grade averages, but you cannot change the school schedule.
Which research question would best guide focused, manageable, and meaningful research with those resources?
How do school start times affect academic performance for students across the United States?
Does sleeping exactly 8 hours per night make 8th graders at our school earn A's in math?
At our school, what is the relationship between average weeknight sleep and first-period grades for 8th graders during the fall semester?
Why do some students feel tired all the time?
Explanation
C balances scope and specificity and can be answered with surveys and available grade data. A is too broad, B is too narrow and assumes a specific causal threshold, and D is vague and unfocused.
For a social studies inquiry, you're examining how a recent drought affected water use in a South Texas city. You have access to city reports showing monthly water use and the dates of watering restrictions, and you can interview a few households.
Which research question is most appropriate for a focused, manageable investigation?
In a South Texas city, how did mandatory watering restrictions during last summer's drought change average household outdoor water use compared with the previous summer?
How will climate change affect Texas water supplies over the next 100 years?
Did one neighborhood reduce water use by exactly 15% on Tuesdays?
Do people care enough about water to save it?
Explanation
A is specific, measurable with available reports, and manageable. B is far too broad and long-term, C is overly narrow and oddly specific, and D is subjective and unfocused.
You're writing a literature analysis essay about a short story your class read. You need a guiding question that helps analyze how the author develops a theme using textual evidence.
Which research question would most effectively guide your analysis?
What is courage?
Is courage the most important theme in all literature?
On the third page, which single word proves the character is brave?
In the short story, which character decisions and their consequences reveal the theme of courage, and how do those moments develop from rising action to climax?
Explanation
D is focused on textual evidence and craft (decisions, consequences, plot structure), supporting a meaningful analysis. A is too broad, B is unanswerable and unfocused, and C is too narrow to yield insight.
For a civics project in your Texas town, you're researching how a proposed hike-and-bike trail might affect nearby small businesses. You can survey shop owners within a half-mile and review data from one similar trail project in another Texas town.
Which research question would be most manageable and meaningful with these resources?
How does urban development affect all businesses in Texas?
For small businesses within a half-mile of the proposed trail, what benefits and concerns do owners expect, and how do those compare with outcomes reported near a similar Texas trail?
Will the trail make everyone in town happy?
Will the new trail increase weekend sales at one specific store by exactly 10%?
Explanation
B is focused, comparable, and researchable with surveys and a case comparison. A is too broad, C is vague and not measurable, and D is too narrow and unrealistically precise.
Your science fair team will study ways to reduce single-use plastic at your school. You have two weeks, access to school library databases, permission to tally items in cafeteria trash and recycling bins, and permission to run a short anonymous student survey approved by your teacher. You cannot leave campus for fieldwork.
Which research question would most effectively guide a focused, manageable, and meaningful inquiry within these parameters?
How has plastic pollution affected oceans worldwide over the last 50 years?
At our middle school, how does offering water-bottle refill stations affect the number of single-use plastic bottles found in cafeteria trash over two weeks?
What is every student's personal opinion about plastic?
Exactly how many plastic bottles will be thrown away on one specific Friday?
Explanation
B is specific to the school, measurable with available methods (tallies and a short survey), and meaningful. A is far too broad, C is unfocused and not tied to an actionable measure, and D is too narrow to yield useful insights.
For a Texas history mini-project, you will explain how a major event changed a community. You have one week, access to the Texas State Historical Association website, digitized newspapers from 1899–1910, museum websites, and library books. Focus on the 1900 Galveston hurricane.
Which research question would most effectively guide a focused, manageable, and meaningful inquiry within the given sources and time?
What causes hurricanes, and how are they named?
Did people in 1900 know a hurricane was coming on the day before landfall down to the exact minute?
How many tourists visit Galveston today?
How did the 1900 Galveston hurricane lead to the construction of the Seawall and the island grade-raising, and what short-term economic effects followed in the next decade?
Explanation
D targets specific, researchable changes (Seawall, grade-raising, short-term economic effects) that can be supported with the listed historical sources. A is off-focus and too broad, B asks for unrealistic precision, and C is unrelated to the historical impact.
In English class, you will write a literary analysis of a contemporary short story about a student adjusting to a new school. You may use the text, your class notes, a recorded author interview, and one database article. Your essay should explain how literary choices develop a theme.
Which research question would most effectively guide a focused, manageable, and meaningful analysis within these resources?
How does the first-person point of view shape the reader's understanding of the narrator's insecurity, and how does that perspective develop the theme of belonging?
Is the story good or bad?
What are all the symbols in the story?
Why did the author choose that exact sweater color in one cafeteria scene?
Explanation
A is focused on an analyzable literary choice (point of view) and ties it to a central theme, using evidence from the text and available sources. B is subjective and unfocused, C is too broad, and D is too narrow to produce a meaningful essay on theme.
For a current events/civics project on water conservation in Texas, your group will focus on the Edwards Aquifer region. You have two weeks, access to local water utility reports and dashboards, recent news articles, and permission to run a brief anonymous family survey. You cannot interview city officials.
Which research question would most effectively guide a focused, manageable, and meaningful inquiry within these constraints?
How can humans stop all droughts forever?
What are the best global solutions for every water shortage worldwide?
In the Edwards Aquifer region, how have stage-2 drought watering rules in the last two years affected average household outdoor water use, based on local utility reports and a brief community survey?
How many gallons of water did my neighbor use last Tuesday?
Explanation
C is specific to the region and timeframe, uses accessible data and a short survey, and can yield meaningful findings. A is impossible to answer, B is far too broad, and D is overly narrow and relies on private data that may not be accessible.