North Lawndale College Prep Charter HS
Interdisciplinary Projects: 100 Sample World Language-based Driving Questions
2012-2013
Good Driving Questions
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are provocative;
are open-ended, not close-ended;
lead to argumentative claims/essays/presentations;
are challenging; and
are more specific than they are vague.
Sample Driving Questions:
1. Should Puerto Rico be an independent country?
2. Is the Dream Act fair?
3. Should foreign language instruction be mandatory?
4. Should the United States remove its embargo against Cuba?
5. Are undocumented workers essential to the United States economy?
6. Should children have the same immigration status as their parents?
7. What makes a United States citizen?
8. Should English be the official language of the United States?
9. Is the United States obligated to send foreign aid?
10. Should United States continue its involvement with Latino America politics?
11. Should Green Peace continue monitoring United States companies using Latino America as a place to
dispose their chemical waste and America’s regular garbage waste?
12. Should United States’ companies continue destroying Latino American rain forests by allowing them
to cut down trees and not planting new ones?
13. Should the United States continue sending marked guns to Latino America to trace big drug dealers?
14. Is socialism working in Latino America?
15. Why is United States against socialism in Latino America?
16. Child labor is common in Latino America. Should “Americans” quit buying products where child
labor was used to produce those products?
17. Understanding Political Representation of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas
18. Hundreds of birds and insects migrate from Latino America to United States and are dying out due to
the United States destruction of natural habitats in the United States. Should environmentalist be
more proactive trying to convince local governments to think twice before building over natural
habitats?
19. Should NLCP teach more about contemporary Latin America Indigenous Cultures?
Latin America Indigenous Cultures Racism vs Minority groups in United States: Are they similar or
different? Is there a solution?
20. What are the urban problems that today’s youth are facing every day in Latin American cities and
Chicago? Are there solutions?
21. Is Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, the “father of the Modern Novel”?
22. Is Spain the country that settled the “New World?”
23. Why is Spanish the official language of so many countries in the Americas?
24. Portugal is failing as a member of the European Union. Why?
25. Why are there so many words that Spanish and English share? To what extent do words cross cultures
and why?
26. Is bullfighting an art or inhumane cruelty?
27. Is ethnically based bias or prejudice sometimes warranted?
28. What is the Spanish Inquisition and why did it occur?
29. Should immigration be permitted to all who desire entry to the United States?
30. Is the monarchy is an antiquated idea and should it be abolished for a modern democracy in Spain?
31. How can the illegal drug trade and violence along the Mexican-United States border be eliminated?
32. Has the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) ruined/improved the relationship between
the United States and Latin America?
33. Should the United States have given up control of the Panama Canal to Panama in 1999?
34. Should or should not second or Foreign Languages be required for American students?
35. Did the year 1492 change or ruin the world forever?
36. Americans of Central and South American descent: Why are they the new Latinos?
37. In what ways is the Census problematic when it comes to counting Latinos?
38. Why has there been such a panic over the term “Hispanic”?
39. Why do more Latinos than Anglos have African roots?
40. Chicano Mural Painting: When is art on a wall not graffiti? Can graffiti be art?
41. How did the Zoot Suit Riots influence society?
42. Puerto Rico, Commonwealth vs. Statehood? What’s the difference?
43. Why did it take Cubans so long to gain its independence from Spain, and how was slavery a key
factor?
44. What is Guantanamo Bay? Did Guantanamo Bay make United States safer?
45. Who was Rafael Trujillo and what were his passions? What is Trujillo famous for?
46. Who where the Butterflies from the Dominican Republic?
47. How did the drug trade engulf Colombia? Is Colombia more than drugs?
48. Is Mexican American activism an effective part of the United States civil rights movement?
49. To what extent does music describe culture?
50. To what extent does modern media like MTV, Tr3s, and Latina, magazine accurately reflect Latino
culture?
51. McDonalds in Mexico: What does food say about history and development?
52. Do Latina women have power?
53. What is the best way to learn a second language?
54. Are Latinos a minority in the U.S.?
55. Is Chicago a city of cultural conflict or cultural cooperation?
56. Is the “Secure Communities Program” fair?
57. Do laws in California and Arizona affect the rest of the country concerning immigration and illegal
aliens?
58. Should governments negotiate with gangs?
59. Do Latinos have political power?
60. Is the Catholic Church a constructive or destructive entity in Latin America?
61. Why do people rebel against their governments and are those rebellions effective?
62. Does slavery still exist in Latin America?
63. Is Fair Trade fair?
64. What lessons can be learned about Latinos in Chicago from the latest U.S. Census data?
65. Many have projected that Hispanics will be the largest minority group in the U.S. by 2025, will this
affect African Americans in Chicago?
66. If you were the president of the U.S., what would you do about illegal immigration?
67. If you were the president of the U.S., what would you do about migrant workers?
68. If you were the president of the U.S., what would you do about improving relations between Latinos
and African Americans?
69. If you were the president of the U.S., what would you do about increasing access to higher education
for Latinos?
70. If you were the president of the U.S., what would you do about teaching bilingual education?
71. If you were the president of the U.S., what would you do about securing the U.S. borders?
72. Can learning a second language better prepare students at North Lawndale College Prep to compete
for jobs in the current global economy?
73. What benefits can be drawn from visiting a foreign country?
74. What can you do to bridge the cultural gap between the Lawndale Community and the Pilsen
community?
75. The Illinois Board of Education requires two years of world language education at the high school
level. Should this be an elective or should it be mandatory? Defend your answer.
76. If you had the opportunity to serve as an ambassador of any Latin American country, which one
would you choose and why?
77. Are trade agreements like NAFTA exploiting developing countries?
78. If the United States legalized drugs, would the drug war end?
79. What drugs hurt the United States the most?
80. How do American gangs compare to Latin American gangs?
81. How do you decide where to live?
82. Should Latin American countries create a union like the European Union?
83. Should all countries have an official language?
84. Should the Basque part of Spain secede?
85. Do we need countries in this global community?
86. What education do students need to become positive members of society?
87. Is it a country’s duty to help its people after a natural disaster?
88. Is the Virgin of Guadalupe story true?
89. Should all countries have separate church and state?
90. How have Latin rhythms influenced modern music?
91. How has Latin American cooking influenced the U.S dinner table?
92. How important is U.S trade policy within the American continent?
93. How many wars has the U.S been in on the American continent and what was the cause of these wars?
94. During the depression the federal government enacted strong deportation policy towards
undocumented worker. Should this policy be reenacted?
95. Does education change the person, and if so how much does learning a second language change
students?
96. What are the benefits of living in a bilingual society, similar to Canada can this happen in the U.S?
97. In 1914 U.S companies began the construction of the Panama Canal many African Americans were
hired to work on the Canal project. However, many of these workers were also left be in Panama.
What became of the lives of these workers?
98. The Tuskegee airmen were not allowed to work for U.S airline companies, many of these black pilots
worked for Latin American companies. What became of lives of these pilots?
99. How have other countries treated race in the workplace?
100. How is identity defined in Latin America?