1. Teacher Guide
This lesson is designed to teach kids to ask a critical thinking question that you can’t just put into a search box to solve. To do that, we encourage them with smaller questions that search can help them answer. Make sure that you read the notes for each slide: they not only give you teaching tips but also provide answers and hints so you can help the kids if they are having trouble.
Remember, you can always send feedback to the Bing in the Classroom team at You can learn more about the program at bing.com/classroom and follow the daily lessons on our Partners In Learning site.
Want to extend today’s lesson? Consider using Skype in the Classroom to arrange for your class to chat with another class in today’s location. And if you are using Windows 8, you can also use the Bing apps to learn more about this location and topic; the Travel and News apps in particular make great teaching tools.
Nell Bang-Jensen is a teacher and theater artist living in Philadelphia, PA. Her passion for arts education has led her to a variety of roles including developing curriculum for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and teaching at numerous theaters and schools around the city. She works with playwrights from ages four to ninety on developing new work and is especially interested in alternative literacies and theater for social change. A graduate of Swarthmore College, she currently works in the Artistic Department of the Wilma Theater and, in addition to teaching, is a freelance actor and dramaturg. In 2011, Nell was named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow and spent her fellowship year traveling to seven countries studying how people get their names.
This lesson is designed to teach the Common Core State Standard: Reading Informational Text
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.9 Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5 Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.6 Distinguish their own point of view from that of the author of a text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.5 Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently.

2. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides?
(© Steven Kazlowski/SuperStock)
Having this up as kids come in is a great settle down activity. You can start class by asking them for thoughts about the picture or about ideas on how they could solve the question of the day.

3. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides?
Springtime at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in the northern reaches of Alaska brings melting ice, allowing polar bear cubs to polish their swimming skills. The ANWR is the largest refuge in the United States, roughly the size of South Carolina. In order to maintain its wild nature, there are no roads built in the refuge. So, any human visitors can expect to do a lot of hiking.
Depending on time, you can either have students read this silently to themselves, have one of them read out loud, or read it out loud yourself.

4. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides? 1
Map Search
Where is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? 2
Web Search
What is the ongoing political controversy surrounding the land that the ANWR is on? 3
What do we use oil for? Why is it helpful to have? 4
What is the purpose of ANWR? Why is it helpful to have? 5
Thinking
Since 977, there has been ongoing political controversy about the land that the ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides?
There are a couple of ways to use this slide, depending on how much technology you have in your classroom. You can have students find answers on their own, divide them into teams to have them do all the questions competitively, or have each team find the answer to a different question and then come back together. If you’re doing teams, it is often wise to assign them roles (one person typing, one person who is in charge of sharing back the answer, etc.)

5. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides? 5
Minutes
You can adjust this based on how much time you want to give kids. If a group isn’t able to answer in 5 minutes, you can give them the opportunity to update at the end of class or extend time.

6. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides? 1
Map Search
Where is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? 2
Web Search
What is the ongoing political controversy surrounding the land that the ANWR is on? 3
What do we use oil for? Why is it helpful to have? 4
What is the purpose of ANWR? Why is it helpful to have? 5
Thinking
Since 977, there has been ongoing political controversy about the land that the ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides?
You can ask the students verbally or let one of them come up and insert the answer or show how they got it. This way, you also have a record that you can keep as a class and share with parents, others.

7. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides? 1
Map Search
Where is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?
(Possible queries: "Bing/Maps: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge", "Bing/Images: Map of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge")
Example can be found here:

8. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides? 2
Web Search
What is the ongoing political controversy surrounding the land that the ANWR is on?
(Possible queries: “political controversy ANWR", "1977 controversy ANWR")
According to Artic Refuge Drilling Controversy article on Wikipedia (
The question of whether to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has been an ongoing political controversy in the United States since 1977.
ANWR comprises 19,000,000 acres of the north Alaskan coast. The land is situated between Beaufort Sea to the north, Brooks Range to the south, and Prudhoe Bay to the west. It is the largest protected wilderness in the United States and was created by Congress under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of Section 1002 of that act deferred a decision on the management of oil and gas exploration and development of 1,500,000 acres in the coastal plain, known as the "1002 area". The controversy surrounds drilling for oil in this subsection of ANWR.

9. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides? 3
Web Search
What do we use oil for? Why is it helpful to have?
(Possible queries: "why drill for oil?", "uses of oil", "how do we use oil?")
According to an eHow article on Industrial Uses of Oil ( The largest industrial use of oil is standard gasoline and diesel. It is also present in essentially every other industrial sector; factories need gasoline to transport their goods, shipping companies need gasoline to power their ships and any industry that needs to move something from one place to another uses gasoline to do so.
Besides industrial uses, a list of other applications (including cooking, cosmetics, heat, and paint) can be found here,
An interactive graphic about uses of oil can be found here,

10. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides? 4
Web Search
What is the purpose of ANWR? Why is it helpful to have?
(Possible queries: "ANWR purpose", "why was the ANWR created?")
The original 'Arctic National Wildlife Range' was created in 1960 by Public Land Order 2214 "For the purpose of preserving unique wildlife, wilderness and recreational values..." In 1980 the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) re-designated the Range as part of the larger Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and identified four new purposes.
The ANILCA purposes are:
(i) to conserve fish and wildlife populations and habitats in their natural diversity including, but not limited to, the Porcupine caribou herd (including participation in coordinated ecological studies and management of this herd and the Western Arctic caribou herd), polar bears, grizzly bears, muskox, Dall sheep, wolves, wolverines, snow geese, peregrine falcons and other migratory birds and Arctic char [note that those residing in Alaska's North Slope rivers and lagoons are now classified as Dolly Varden] and grayling;
(ii) to fulfill the international fish and wildlife treaty obligations of the United States;
(iii) to provide the opportunity for continued subsistence uses by local residents; and
(iv) to ensure water quality and necessary water quantity within the refuge.

11. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides? 5
Thinking
Since 977, there has been ongoing political controversy about the land that the ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides?
Having gathered information from both sides, students should think about what some of the arguments for and against drilling for oil in the ANWR are. They might mention, for example, that drilling for oil is a good idea because we use it in our everyday lives (for fuel, for cooking, etc...) but also that drilling for oil would not be a good idea because it would disrupt the fish and wildlife populations that are protected in the ANWR (like the caribou, bears, sheep, wolves, birds, etc...). This is an opportunity for students to empathize with multiple positions and recognize that there are, most likely, advantages and disadvantages to any side of any argument.

12. Since 1977 there has been an ongoing political controversy about the land that ANWR is currently on. Put yourself in the position of two people on opposite sides of this issue: what are the arguments on both sides?
This slide is a chance to summarize the information from the previous slides to build your final answer to the question.