Evaluating possible inquiries for whole-class Reading/Writing units

 The holy grail of inquiries for whole-class Reading/Writing units:

• controversial - inquiry with no right/wrong answer that sparks emotional engagement
• relevant - requires a decision that is relevant to students' lives and social contexts
• limited - can be investigated to reach an evidence-based conclusion in 3 weeks
• builds GED content knowledge - especially life science or government

I'm working on two inquiry units for Spring term, timed to coincide with teachers in other classrooms, with the first one grounded in Social Studies and the second in Science.

Looking for relevant controversies related to Social Studies I've been searching Oregon ballot initiatives, since during Spring term there will be a May vote-by-mail election, including voting on ballot initiatives. Past Oregon Voter's pamphlets describing ballot measures with descriptions of the controversies surrounding the measures are available online, along with the election history. The pamphlets provide an authentic and meaningful reading challenge. (Unfortunately the current pamphlet won't be published until midway through the term, or in the final days of this unit.)

I'm leery of investigating this spring's hottest ballot controversies (legalization of marijuana and gay marriage). Students need practice investigating questions to arrive at conclusions based on textual evidence. I assume that this is more difficult when students start the investigation with a ready and deeply-held emotional answer, which makes the spring controversies a bad match for me as a beginning inquiry leader. 

Another one predicted to show up on this Spring's ballot: Should Oregon require food to carry labels if the food contains genetically modified organisms? This would involve study of both social studies and science, but I'm pondering whether students will find this relevant and engaging.

Some older controversies from election history looked appealing at first:

• Should Oregon repeal Measure 57 (providing longer sentences for certain crimes)?
• Should Oregon repeal Measure 11 (providing mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes)?
• Should the federal government eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes?

These could be relevant and engaging, because of the connection between mandatory minimums and long sentences with high incarceration rates and especially the disparate incarceration of minorities (which has been called the "new Jim Crow.") However, in Oregon the Legislature took reform action last summer, so this is a controversy that is no longer as open-ended and polarized.

Another incarceration-related controversy is voting rights of ex-felons, but it looks like Oregon is not one of the offending states, so this is a national issue - a little less relevant to Oregon residents.