Students will launch the investigation by connecting local headlines to daily life, hearing community perspectives, and identifying an issue they want to study. They will practice turning reactions into focused inquiry questions, begin tracking whose voices are present or missing, and complete an early checkpoint that sets up later research, source evaluation, and evidence collection.

Students will investigate local issue headlines and community impacts, turn personal curiosity into focused inquiry questions, test whether those questions are researchable, and draft an initial hypothesis. They will study how to choose workable methods, plan what evidence to gather, and document how their question, method, and early reasoning change through feedback and revision before moving into source collection.

Students will evaluate and organize credible sources about a local issue, trace how policies and stakeholders shape daily life, and build a checkable first outline for their research board through guided practice, peer critique, revision, and a quality checkpoint.

Students will gather and organize evidence from credible sources, records, and community stories; test whether their evidence actually answers their question; and revise their research board, notes, and data-collection plan through midpoint feedback before moving into full analysis.

Students will analyze patterns in their collected evidence, test whether their hypothesis is supported, partly supported, or contradicted, and turn their findings into a clear public message. They will revise research boards and audio pieces through critique cycles, strengthen conclusions with limitations and missing voices, and prepare exhibit-ready materials for the community gallery walk.

Students will present their completed Our Stories, Our City exhibit to an authentic audience, gather and use final feedback, and complete a student-led reflection on how their research, communication choices, and advocacy message developed across the project.