Document-Based Questions (DBQ)

1. Document-Based Questions (DBQ) Presented by Karen Miller, PBC Curriculum Content Specialist Math/Science

2. What is a DBQ question? The DBQ will consist of two parts: • In the first part, students will be required to answer a key question(s) on each document. This generally involves interpreting the main idea or point of view expressed in the document. This section will be "scaffolded" to the second part in which the student will write an essay using the documents to respond to a specific question. • In this second part, students are asked to utilize all the sources, plus their understanding of science to respond to a question. This second part will require them to move beyond simply quoting all the documents. They will need to use the documents as evidence in support of a thesis that responds to the assigned (part two) question. The student will be required to use all documents and incorporate outside information.

3. DBQ questions are composed of two sections. In Part A, documents are provided for students to read, analyze, and then answer questions about each one. In Part B, students are provided with a specific task which must be addressed in an essay response. The essay response can be organized into three sections: the introduction, body, and conclusion. How do I answer a DBQ question?

4. Sample Documents

5. Snow Depth from January 26th-31st January 26th January 31st

6. Document 3 Mealworm Fried Rice Ingredients: 1 egg, beaten 1 tsp. oil 3/4 c. water 1/4 c. chopped onions 4 tsp. soy sauce 1/8 tsp. garlic powder 1 c. minute rice 1 c. cooked mealworms Directions: Scramble egg in a saucepan, stirring to break egg into pieces. Add water, soy sauce, garlic and onions. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice. Cover; remove from heat and let stand five minutes. Serves 4 people. Document 3 Mealworm Fried Rice To double the recipe, how many onions would you need? From the recipe, how long does the rice need to cook? Mealworms are invertebrates, animals without backbones. Name 2 invertebrates that you may have eaten? Describe how they tasted.

7. Document 2 Notice how solid water molecules are bunched together and how far apart the gas molecules are. From the diagram above, explain what causes solid water molecules to bunch together and gas molecules to move more freely. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Beside water, give an example of a solid, liquid and gas. 1. 2. 3.

8. Document 3 Photosynthesis and transpiration (made easy) Photosynthesis is the way a plant makes food for itself. Chlorophyll in the "green" part of the leaves captures energy from the sun and this powers the building of food from very simple ingredients - carbon dioxide and water. Oxygen is released as a by-product of photosynthesis. Trees "breathe in" carbon dioxide and "breathe out" oxygen. They breathe through tiny holes in their leaves called stomata; they also lose water through the stomata. The tree draws up water through its roots and the water is then drawn up through the tree and comes out through the stomata in its leaves. The whole process of sucking up water and losing it again is called transpiration. It's simple really, they just use long complicated words to describe it! 1. What is photosynthesis? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What “ingredients” are needed for plants to make their own food? ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ 3. Trees “breathe in” carbon dioxide and “breathe out” oxygen through tiny holes in their leaves called ___________________________________. 4. Plants transpire. How are humans similar to plants? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Document-based Essay Question (DBQ) SKILLS NEEDED: • Read, interpret, analyze, synthesize, comprehension, observe, prior knowledge • Read and interpret and analyze different types of documents (posters, newspaper articles, letters, advertisements, flyers, graphs, diagrams) • Write an essay with topic sentence, supporting details, conclusion based on documents and notes • Reading and Writing Skills - essay, note taking, outlining, webbing, editing, and final copy work • Vocabulary • Critical Thinking • Scientific Knowledge base • Inquiry –Based Skills • Listening and following directions • Finding main ideas and giving examples to support your main idea conclusions • Organize their response in a logical way • Recognize and relate to different perspective • Read and discuss content material, and formulate pertinent questions • Read a timeline, chart, map, or caption to illustration • Reading skills i.e. decoding, literal and inferential details/comprehension, cause/effect • Locate relevant information (key words) , analyze and interpret data with or without scaffolding, identify and apply problem solving strategies • Compare/contrast data • Math skills e.g. number value, greater than/less than, equal, percentage, estimation • Summarizing

10. Raising standards with DBQs At Pieter B., as early as third grade, students are tested on their ability to analyze a collection of documents, tap their own knowledge and come up with reasoned answers to complex questions on multi-faceted topics. It's a real-world skill they'll use all their lives. Unfortunately, kids fall short on DBQs - and other tests, for that matter - because they don't focus on the details or the directions. Through DBQ assessments we are developing their powers of observation.