Which term is described as being synonymous with supporting questions that help focus the compelling question and can be answered using disciplinary concepts?

• A. Investigative questions
• B. Judicial Branch
• C. Landforms
• D. Interdependence

Answer: (D)

Understanding how people, places, and environments rely on and influence one another helps students see why supporting questions are used. These supporting questions sharpen the compelling question by focusing on aspects of a big idea and are answered using disciplinary concepts from social studies—economics, geography, history, civics. When the big idea is interdependence, the supporting questions guide inquiry into how connections like trade, resource flows, and cultural exchange link different regions. For example, exploring how a drought in one area affects markets elsewhere uses economic and geographic ideas to explain the link, illustrating interdependence. Investigative questions are part of the process, but they describe how we study the topic, not the overarching idea itself; landforms and the Judicial Branch are specific content areas, not the connecting concept.