New York Social Studies Toolkit Inquiry Tasks
Declaration of Indep.
 Summarize
national
sovereignty and
natural rights
 Rank grievances in
part II
 Rewrite DOI
argument
 Compare DOI
approaches
Grade
5
5
5
5
5
5
Round
Annotated
1
2
3
4
5
Maya, Inca, Aztecs
Write paragraph
describing Mayan
writings and
historians
decoding
 Making benefits
charts of swamp
agriculture
 Make diagram that
illustrates Inca
road systems
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Bananas
Complete a map,
identifying banana
countries in Latin
America
Write a paragraph
using textual
evidence
Create a chart of +
and –s of Fair
Trade bananas
Discuss the issue
of child labor using
evidence
NYS S.S. Toolkit Compelling Questions
How do countries declare independence?
What makes a complex society complex?
What is the real cost of bananas?
How did slavery feed Europe’s greed for sugar?
Did the French lose out in North America?
Should Puerto Rico be a state?
Slavery and Sugar
List conditions that
drove sugar
production and
slavery
 Create diagram
that explains sugar
production
 Write paragraph
describing
conditions on
plantations
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New France
Create a chart of
France explorers
Generate a list of +
and –s of Fur
Trade
Make claim about
the consequences
of the French and
Indian War
(all TIA parts
embedded)
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5.4
5.5
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.6
5.7
Puerto Rico
Write paragraph
describing how
Puerto Rico
became territory
Make timeline of
events in Puerto
Rican history
related to efforts to
obtain statehood
Debate issue of
statehood for
Puerto Rico
Continue debate
Suggested Order
Geography of Western Hemisphere
Comparative Cultures
Early People of the Americas
Complex Societies and Civilization
European Exploration and Effects
Government
Economics
Grade 5: Suggested Compelling Questions from 2014 S.S. Framework Workshop
What would the language, technology and
How does our environment shape our culture?
How did the interactions of the first humans in
government of the Aztec, Maya and Incas differ
the Western Hemisphere with their
even though they existed at different times?
environments lead to the development of their
unique cultures?
Were the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilized?
How are the civilizations developed in the
What impact did European exploration have on
Western Hemisphere alike and different?
Native Americans?
How did colonization of the Western
How did sugar and spice cause so much death
How has the diverse geography of the WH
Hemisphere by the Europeans lead to the trans- and destruction?
influenced human culture and settlement?
Atlantic slave trade?
How have human communities in the WH
What are some of the same concerns and
Where is the best place to live?
modified the physical environment?
issues shared by countries in the WH?
How are the political systems in the WH
Why are rules/laws necessary?
different?