C3 Inquiry Studio | Land Use Case

Dimension 1: Developing Questions and Planning Inquiries

Dimension 1 begins an inquiry by turning an important issue into questions worth investigating. Compelling questions invite sustained thinking and disagreement, while supporting questions help students decide what they need to learn next.

1Questions
2Disciplines
3Evidence
4Conclusions
Time15 minutes
StructureHome groups + whole class
PurposeLaunch the shared land-use inquiry
Start of class | Before Dimension 2
Dimension 1 in one sentence: Good inquiries begin with questions that matter, can be investigated, and lead students toward evidence rather than a single quick answer.

Meet the land-use case

A growing community must decide how to use a 20-acre parcel near homes, an elementary school, a creek, roads, and public transportation. Possible uses include housing, a public park and open space, or a mixed-use plan.

Shared compelling question

How should a growing community use a 20-acre parcel of undeveloped land?

Fictional land-use inquiry siteA 20-acre parcel near homes, a school, roads, and a creek. The map is illustrative and not to scale. 20-ACRE PARCELWhat should happen here? School Homes CreekIllustrative map - not to scale
A place. Many possibilities.FICTIONAL PRACTICE SITE
15-minute Home Group Activity

Land-Use Inquiry Challenge

Instead of simply reviewing question types, your home group will make an initial judgment, identify what you do not yet know, and turn those uncertainties into an investigation plan. One recorder enters the group's thinking in the shared session workspace.

1 | Decide

Make a first judgment

Choose an initial land-use option and rate your confidence before investigating.

2 | Question

Find the holes

Identify assumptions and unknowns that could make a quick decision unreliable.

3 | Investigate

Build four supporting questions

Create questions through History, Geography, Economics, and Civics lenses.

4 | Prioritize

Choose what matters first

Select two questions to investigate first and identify information or sources that could help.

Your home group's questions become the reason for the Dimension 2 jigsaw

After this activity, each member moves to an expert group, investigates through one disciplinary lens, and then returns to the home group to teach what that lens reveals.

Open the interactive Home Group Activity

Whole-Class Debrief

Agree on the questions we will investigate

Compelling Question

  • Why is our shared question compelling?
  • What would make it too narrow or too leading?

Supporting Questions

  • Which supporting questions are strongest?
  • Which lens does each question invite?

Planning the Inquiry

  • What information would students need?
  • What kinds of sources might help?

Bridge to Dimension 2

  • How might historians, geographers, economists, and civic thinkers approach the same question differently?
Issue -> Compelling Question -> Supporting Questions -> Investigation