Grade 7 · Texas History · §113.19 · Problem-Based Learning
One Star or Many? 1845 — Should Texas Join the United States?
A Problem-Based Learning unit. Students step into the Republic of Texas in 1845, take on a stakeholder's point of view, and work a real, ill-structured question — building from surface to deep to transfer learning. The teacher is a guide, not the answer key.
Driving question: It is 1845. The Republic of Texas has been independent for nine years — but it is deep in debt, threatened by conflict with Mexico, and unsure of its future. The United States has offered to annex Texas and make it a state. Texans are divided: some want to join the U.S. for security and money, some want to stay an independent republic, and annexation could mean war and would carry the question of slavery. Should the Republic of Texas join the United States?
The three-phase path (do them in order)
Problem-solving is a transfer move — it only works once students have knowledge to reason with. So the problem in Phase 3 is deliberately gated behind Phases 1 and 2.
⛔ Gate: don't open the Phase 3 problem until students have finished the surface and deep activities. Meeting the problem too early turns inquiry into guessing.
Big idea & objectives
Big idea: Annexation was a hard choice weighing security, debt, independence, and slavery — a decision that reshaped Texas and pushed the United States toward war with Mexico and sectional crisis.
Know: why the Republic of Texas struggled with debt and defense, what annexation and statehood meant, and how Texas's economy was tied to the United States.
Understand: the same 1845 decision looked different from each stakeholder's point of view — and every option carried real costs.
Do: run the problem-solving process end to end — define a problem, gather information, weigh options, choose and defend a solution, and evaluate it (§113.19(c)(23)(B)).
Standards this unit is aligned to (§113.19)
TEKS SE
Where it lives in the unit
(c)(3) · (c)(4)
How individuals, events, and issues shaped the Republic of Texas and its annexation — Surface jigsaw, Deep & Transfer
(c)(11)(A–C)
The Texas economy over time — debt, trade, and a changing economy — Surface data read, Deep concept map
(c)(12)
Interdependence of the Texas economy with the United States — Deep concept map, Transfer inquiry
(c)(13) · (c)(14)
Principles and structure of Texas government — Surface facts, Transfer roles
(c)(16) · (c)(17)
Importance of different points of view; effective leadership — Deep sources, Transfer roles
(c)(20) · (c)(22)
Analyze sources & points of view, claim + evidence; communicate conclusions — Deep & Transfer
(c)(23)(B)
The problem-solving process — the entire Transfer phase
Teacher prep & materials
Print the facilitator guide (teacher moves, map of possibilities, role cards, debrief prompts) and the assessment pack (rubric + individual-in-group).
Chart paper or a projected space for three shared columns: Hunches · Know · Need-to-Know (the KWHL chart).
Vetted sources for investigation (district-approved). Suggested public-domain and Texas .gov / .org sources are listed in the facilitator guide.
No logins, no accounts — every page runs in the browser. Student writing and products live on paper or in tools your district already vets.
Aligned to (not reproduced from) 19 TAC Ch.113 §113.19; effect sizes from Visible Learning MetaX. This scenario dramatizes the real debate over Texas annexation in 1845.