A key inquiry question is the question that your research is going to answer. It will guide your research and what topics you cover. To come up with a KIQ, you need to research your topic in depth.

A good key inquiry question should be:

1 - specific

2 - open-ended

3 - focused on a historical issue or problem

A good KIQ stops you from wasting time in your research and provides you with a comprehensive answer.

At the end of the research process on your chosen topic, you will write a one-sentence answer to your key inquiry question, which will become your hypothesis.  

4 - Be very specifc - Limit your topic by mentioning specific historical knowledge like specific people, times, places or concepts. 

This is my example of a key inquiry question for a topic in Ancient Egypt. 

How did Akhenaten change Ancient Egyptian religion during his reign as pharaoh during the eighteenth dynasty?

Sub-questions

1 - Who was Akhenaten and what was he known for?

2 - Why did believe in Atenism over Kemetism?

3 - How did the adoption of Atenism as the official religion of Egypt change Egyptian society?

Now it's your turn. You can access this page now.

Use my structure to write your own key inquiry question on The Black Power. 

Do your research first. Go back and read through our lesson we did on The Black Power and your own notes from previous lessons. 

Be ready to share your answer. You have 7 minutes to complete this task.

1 - Start with an interrogative - an interrogative is a question word.

2 - Don't make it a closed question - a closed question is a question that you can answer in one word.

3 - Base it on historical knowledge and a skill - make your question focus on historical knowledge and one historical skill.

4 - Be very specifc - Limit your topic by mentioning specific historical knowledge like specific people, times, places or concepts. 

After you research your topic, you can come up with a key inquiry question.

You need sub-questions to answer each part of your key inquiry question.

Sub-questions are used to break down and further explore a particular aspect of the KIQ.

This is my example of a key inquiry question for a topic in Ancient Egypt. 

How did Akhenaten change Ancient Egyptian religion during his reign as pharaoh during the eighteenth dynasty?

Sub-questions

1 - Who was Akhenaten and what was he known for?

2 - Why did believe in Atenism over Kemetism?

3 - How did the adoption of Atenism as the official religion of Egypt change Egyptian society?

Now it's your turn.

Using your key inquiry questions from Task 1 and my notes on sub-questions, write three sub-questions based on your key inquiry question.

Be ready to share your answer. You have 7 minutes to complete this task.

Good KIQ's can be broken donw into at least three parts. 

Using knowledge from your research, you can come up with one sub-question based on one part of your KIQ.