Essential Question:
How do we respond to nature?

enduring understanding:
people can learn enormous amounts from their observations of the natural world.

Essential Question:
How do we reveal ourselves to others?

Enduring Understanding:
characters - like people - reveal a lot about themselves through what they say and do.

Essential Question:
How can government influence the way we live?

Enduring Understanding:
Governments provide services that affect everyone's daily life.

Essential Question:
What do we learn when we look at the world through the eyes of others?

Enduring Understanding:
Every story is narrated from a distinctive point of view.

Essential Question:
What value does technology bring to people's lives?

Enduring understanding:
technology is continually reshaping and reinvigoraing society.

Essential question:
How do we overcome obstacles?

Enduring Understanding:
Analyzing how characters confront challenges helps reveal a story's theme.

Essential question:
How do communities evolve?

enduring understanding:
many factors, including natural disasters and technological advances, have profoundly shaped our nation and its communities .

Essential question:
How do Earth's natural processes impact our lives?

Enduring understanding:
Studying the forces that cause Earth's changes results in a better understanding of the effects of these changes.

Essential question:
How does access to resources influence people's lives?

Enduring Understanding:
We need resources to survive, so having access to them is important.