Inquiry Planning

Checklist & Guide

Brief Description of Task:

Using what we’ve learned about social media and the positives and negatives it can bring into
our lives design a social media site that protects teens while still providing a safe place for
them to communicate and have fun.

Inquiry Task
● Engaging - task ignites student curiosity, wonderment and invites students to learn
more
● Challenging - to complete the task, students will need to apply standards-driven
knowledge and skills to real-world problems
● Knowledge Construction - during the task, students will construct their own knowledge
● Authentic Product - task completion involves students communicating and
demonstrating their understanding
● Open-ended - students can make the task their own, as the task allows for different
approaches and points of view

Notes:
They are designing a social media website so it allows them to create it however they want
while implementing the digital citizenship lessons we’ve learned about safety on the internet.

It is open ended and challenging. It requires them to think about safety in different contexts
and about how they use social media themselves.

Essential Question
● Question Scope - wide enough that students can approach it from multiple angles and
bring their own experiences and ideas
● Challenging - connects to human efficacy and requires complex thinking
● Deeper Understanding - inquiry about the topic is necessary to answer the question
and provokes the learner to answer beyond an opinion
● Open-ended - no right or wrong answers
● Engaging - meaningful, sparks curiosity and real-world connections

Notes: How can a social media platform provide fun for teens while keeping them safe?

This is definitely open ended as there is no 100% right answer to this problem. They
have the ability to create it however they’d like and possibly develop this for the real
world.

©2019 The Curators of the University of Missouri. http://emints.org emints-info@emints.org

Formulate Questions (Student-Centered)
● Questioning Model or Strategy - introduces students to question development and
provides a structure for developing and refining questions; students pose higher-level
questions to guide their inquiry
● Essential Question - facilitates connections to the big idea and assists in question
development
● Aligned to Expectations - questions generated will connect to the curriculum

Notes:
The questions they’ll be coming up with while they work on this will be targeted
towards how to integrate their knowledge into something usable. They will use a KWL
chart to record their questions and what they learn from research.

How do websites authenticate age?

How are passwords protected and verified?
How do chats work and what can be done to keep them private?
How does encryption work?
What kind of safety measures does Tik Tok use?
What kind of safety measures does Instagram use?
How can we verify that only teens use our social media?
What kind of rules do we set on what can be shared?
How do we stop screenshots from being taken?
Do we stop screenshots from being taken?

Student Questions Drive Inquiry: “What happens next?”

● Cooperative Learning - How can students support each other during the inquiry
process?
● Potential Products - students design or build products that demonstrate and
communicate a fundamental understanding of the topic to prove their learning
● Collecting & Organizing Information - collaboration, process information and drawing
conclusions
● Student Voice & Choice - students decide the next steps and plan what they will do
with their questions
● Open-ended - aligns to task, can be approached from different perspectives,
unique/individualized (students pick the format)

Notes:
While they are working independently students can discuss their different ideas and
brainstorm together. They are in charge of all steps of the process, including how they
will present their ideas. I will show them a variety of ideas on how they can turn in
their projects but they make the decision on what they produce. I would also have
them make a google doc that they share with me where they write down their ideas
and answers to questions so that I can keep better track on who is working.

©2019 The Curators of the University of Missouri. http://emints.org emints-info@emints.org

Besides the google doc students get to decide how they submit. It could be a poster
describing all of the measures they would take and what it would look like. They could
also film a video of themselves pitching it Shark Tank style. They could even develop
the website if they wanted to or create a google site that mimics what they would want
it to look like as long as it describes the safety features they are trying to highlight.

Assessing for Understanding

● Occurs during the learning
● Provides feedback or redirects misconceptions
● Used to make informed instructional decisions
● Ensures students have a clear understanding of expected outcomes
● Allows for opportunities for student self-assessment, peer assessment and
reflection
● Includes informal assessments

Notes:I will be walking around while students work to ensure they’re on task but also
to view what they’re working on and to ask questions about design elements. By
sharing their notes with me I can get a good idea of who thought out their project
instead of just winging it. I also would have students reflect on what they learned,
whether they felt like this was effective.

Their final product would be up to them how they presented it or developed it but there
would require a visual element that described the look, the safety precautions,
security, and the draw to teens that their social media website would have. Whether
they create a poster or record a video pitch they would have to explain or show those
things in some way. There would be a rubric that asked for specific elements of that.

©2019 The Curators of the University of Missouri. http://emints.org emints-info@emints.org