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Research Questions Sentence Starters

National History Day in Minnesota

Name: ______________________________________________________ Class Period:____________

The sentence starters below can help you write your own questions to guide your research. Pick the questions that fit your topic and edit them to make them specific to your topic. It’s okay to start with only a few of the questions in each box. As you research, look for new questions you can ask to help you dig deeper. Add those new questions on this worksheet, too.

Pre-Research Questions: Use these to learn more about the five “W’s” of your topic.

When did my topic happen?
Where did my topic happen?
What is the “main event” of my topic? What happened in my topic?
Who was involved in my topic? (Think of those both directly and indirectly involved)
Why did my topic happen? Who/What caused it?

Theme Questions: Think about the theme early in your History Day journey. It will help guide your research and make a strong connection between your topic and “Rights and Responsibilities in History.”

How does my topic connect to the theme?

What rights are a part of your topic? How are rights involved?
What responsibilities are a part of your topic?
How are the rights and responsibilities connected in my topic?

What different perspectives does my topic have?

Are the rights and responsibilities different for different groups of people?
What groups of people were not “seen or heard” when thinking about the theme?

What are the impacts of my topic?

What impact did my topic have on local, regional, or world history?
What intended and unintended consequences happened as a result?
What impact did decisions have on groups that were excluded from the process?

Research Questions: These questions help you dig deeper into a specific part of your topic. Research questions will be more in-depth and focus on a specific issue or idea, usually involving a historical concept, like cause and effect, comparison and contrast, change over time, or connections to larger issues or trends in history. Visit our website for more help!

National History Day in Minnesota, 2026 Teacher Framework