Capstone is an inquiry-based research project. A capstone, in the dictionary, is a sort of milestone/crowning achievement, and for us it is the biggest milestone of our six elementary school years. We have to come up with a research topic and a main inquiry question. We will be researching the main inquiry question, which is why it’s important that the question is not too broad, too closed, or too complicated/opinionated. My question is “What were the most important Soviet Union spy missions during the Cold War and how did they impact the outcome?” My topic is Cold War espionage. Other than our main inquiry questions, we also have 5-6 sub-questions, which are more closed than our main ones. I don’t exactly enjoy having to research and take notes, but it is very exciting to have a new unit that is the “crowning achievement” of our time here at Heathcote Elementary.

I had gone to Washington D.C. over Spring Break, and we went to the Spy Museum. There, I had learned a lot about espionage and different spy devices, missions, and Cold War spies. So, when we had to fill out the organizer, under Events that Interest You I put Cold War espionage. My interest was also sparked from a book my dad had in the car called Cold War and wanting to learn more about atomic bombs and such. I chose this topic because I didn’t think it would be very interesting to do something on cats or anything else. I did consider Sculpting, as I could research important sculptors like Michelangelo, but Cold War espionage proved to be more interesting.

My main inquiry question, as stated in the introduction, is “What were the most important Soviet Union spy missions during the Cold War and how did they impact the outcome?” I wasn’t sure, at first, what to write for my question. I had three at first, one about comparing and contrasting important spies, one about stealing secrets about bombs, and the base for my current main inquiry question, something about spy missions. Mrs. Roberts changed my question into the one I have now. Something challenging was trying to come up with a question that fitted into the 4 star question category – I wanted to create one that convinced someone to do something or create something. Unfortunately, my main inquiry question doesn’t do that.

Two of my sub-questions are “How was the end of the Cold War affected by the success of spy missions?” and “Whose job is it to coordinate spy missions? Whose job is it to stop them?” I wasn’t sure, at first, what to write for my questions. I had eight at first, but three of them didn’t completely work. Mrs. Roberts changed my questions into the ones I have now. Something challenging was trying to come up with the questions that would be easy to research. It’s still difficult to take notes.

I like my topic and questions, and am excited to share this crowning achievement. Still, it requires lots of hard work and perseverance, which are sometimes hard to come by. While that’s true, I’m sure that we’ll ultimately figure this out and be proud about this when we look back at our past.