I've Got the Social Studies Inquiry Unit Blues

I'm so frustrated! My 5th grade class is working on collaborative inquiry projects about culture. The four groups they've formed are answering the following questions:

• How do sports affect culture in Canada, the United States, and Mexico?
• How do games develop in urban cultures? (Double-dutch, stickball, etc.)
• How has yodeling affected the US culture?
• How did the mass-produced automobile affect the culture in the United States?

So far, so good...but how can I get them making connections between facts and culture? I'm totally stuck. They're researching topics and I want them to think bigger. Are 5th graders able to do this? We have conversations like, "Can I explain the rules of basketball?" "How does that relate to culture?" "Can I write about the best football players?" "How does that relate to culture?" They can't seem to make the application.

I'm using Comprehension and Collaboration as a resource, which is a great book, but I can't seem to get them beyond report mode and into thinking mode.