Curious Kids.
Big Questions.
Real Answers.
Helping students explore big questions
Explore Inquessa
Follow your curiosity, investigate big questions, or look something up. Inquessa gives young learners different ways to explore and understand the world around them.
Inquessa Cove
Explore something that interests you.
Discover nonfiction about science, history, geography, global issues, and more, with articles available at different reading levels.
Explore the Cove
Inquessa Quests
Investigate a bigger question.
Follow connected ideas and information through inquiry pathways designed to help students explore a topic more deeply.
Explore Quests
Inquessapedia
Need to look something up?
Find clear, student-friendly explanations of topics and concepts while learning, researching, or following your curiosity.
Explore InquessapediaBig Questions Lead Somewhere
Curiosity often starts with one question. Finding an answer can lead to another question, a surprising connection, or something new to investigate.
Inquessa helps students go beyond simply finding facts. Articles, Quests, and reference tools encourage learners to build knowledge, make connections, consider different perspectives, and keep asking questions.
Because understanding the world isn't just about knowing the "what." It's about wondering how, why, and what else.
Differentiation, built in.
Students don’t all read in the same way or at the same level. Inquessa lets learners explore the same ideas while reading with the level of language, detail, and support that fits them best.
The example below shows the same topic at four reading levels. Use the tabs to compare how the text changes for different readers.
What is a Water Footprint?
The food on your plate needs water long before you eat it. A water footprint is the amount of water used to grow, make, and move the food we eat. Water may be used on a farm, in a factory, while food is moved, or while it is prepared.
Some of this water is easy to see. Farmers water crops, and animals need water to drink. Other water is harder to see. Water may wash food, clean equipment, or help prepare packaging.
A food’s water footprint includes much more than the water we drink with a meal.
What is a Water Footprint?
The food on your plate needs water long before it reaches your kitchen. A water footprint is the amount of water used to grow, make, and transport the food we eat. Water may be used on a farm, in a factory, during transportation, or while food is being prepared.
Some of this water is easy to see. Farmers water crops, and animals need water to drink. Other uses are hidden. Water may be needed to wash ingredients, process food, clean equipment, or prepare packaging.
Looking at water footprints helps us see that food uses much more water than the water we drink with a meal.
What is a Water Footprint?
The food on your plate needs water long before it reaches your kitchen. A water footprint is the total amount of water used to grow, produce, and transport the food we eat. That water may be used on a farm, inside a factory, during transportation, or while food is being prepared.
Some of this water is easy to notice. Farmers water crops, and animals need water to drink. Other uses are less visible. Water may be needed to wash ingredients, process food, clean equipment, or prepare packaging. All of these uses become part of a food’s water footprint.
Looking at water footprints helps us see that the water connected to food includes much more than the water we drink with a meal.
What is a Water Footprint?
The food on your plate depends on water long before it reaches your kitchen. A water footprint is the total amount of water used across the processes of growing, producing, and transporting the food we eat. This water may be used on a farm, inside a factory, during transportation, or while food is being prepared.
Some of this water use is easy to see. Farmers water crops, and animals need water to drink. Other uses are less visible because water may also be needed to wash ingredients, process food, clean equipment, or prepare packaging. Together, these uses contribute to a food’s total water footprint.
Examining water footprints reveals that the water connected to food extends far beyond what we drink with a meal. Much of it has already been used at different stages before the food ever reaches us.
Bring Inquessa Into the Classroom
Inquessa helps teachers bring differentiated nonfiction and inquiry-based learning into upper elementary and middle school classrooms.
Different Readers
Support students with four reading levels.
Bigger Questions
Build inquiry around connected ideas and topics.
Flexible Teaching
Use Inquessa for whole-class, small-group, research, or independent exploration.
Jana Poukka
Educator and Creator of Inquessa
The Inquessa Story
Created for Curious Learners
Inquessa was created by educator Jana Poukka after more than 20 years working with students in international classrooms.
She saw the same challenge again and again: curious students had big questions, but finding age-appropriate information that went beyond simple facts wasn't always easy.
Inquessa grew from the idea that students deserve access to meaningful ideas, opportunities to ask deeper questions, and resources that support them as readers.
Bring Inquessa to Your School
Give students more ways to explore big ideas, build knowledge, and read at a level that works for them.
