JoinAll Archived Conference Sessions
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about falling objects. The probe is designed to find out if students think the weight or mass of an object affects how fast it falls. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about circular motion. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize that an object will move in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about forces. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize that balanced forces act on a stationary object. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about complete circuits involving lightbulbs. The probe reveals whether students recognize the pathway of electricity in a complete circuit, including its path through a lightbulb, i...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about reflection of light. The probe can be used to examine how students use ideas about light to explain how we see objects in a mirror. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about conservation of matter. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that the mass of a warm gas in a closed system is the same after it has been cooled, even tho...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the mass of a gas. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that an uninflated balloon will increase in mass when inflated with a gas, even though the balloon...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about thermal expansion. The probe is designed to find out whether students attribute expansion of the space between molecules to the rise of the liquid in a thermometer. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about solids. The probe is designed to reveal the macroscopic and/or microscopic properties students use to decide whether a material is a solid. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the properties of atoms. The probe is designed to determine whether students can distinguish between the microscopic properties of an atom and the macroscopic properties of a s...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about when objects can be seen in the sky. The probe is designed to reveal whether students consider light and distance in determining what they can see in the sky at different times...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the relative position of common objects seen in the night sky. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize how far away the stars are in relation to Earth and the M...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the day/night cycle. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize that Earth’s rotation explains why it is dark at night and light during the day. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about mountain formation. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize that some mountains are formed from the uplift of Earth’s crust over a long period of time a...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about an Earth material, rocks. The probe is designed to determine whether students can distinguish between humanmade, “rocklike” materials and geologically formed rock materials...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about rocks. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize that rock is not a term for size and that rocks can come in many sizes and shapes. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about adaptation. The probe is designed to reveal whether students think individuals intentionally change their physical characteristics or behaviors in response to an environmental ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about cell size. The probe is designed to reveal whether students think animal cell size is determined by the size of the animal. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about heredity. The probe is designed to reveal how students think organisms inherit observable traits. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the transformation of matter. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that most of the matter that makes up the wood of a tree can be traced back to carbon d...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about plant growth. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize that plants use their stored food to grow in the absence of light. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about seeds. The probe is designed to find out what students think most seeds need to germinate. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the concept of a plant. The probe is designed to find out how students determine whether a living thing is considered to be a plant. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about temperature change in a system. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize that heat moves from the warm water to the cool water until they both reach the sam...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about transfer of energy. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize that heat flows from warmer objects or areas to cooler ones. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about chemical bonds. The probe is designed to find out how students interpret molecular models. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about particles during a phase change. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that the bubbles formed when water boils are the result of liquid water changing into w...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about freezing point. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that the temperature at which water freezes is independent of the volume. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the boiling point of a pure substance. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize that the boiling point of a pure substance stays constant no matter how long...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about a physical property of matter. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that under the same conditions, boiling point remains the same. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the density of a solid object. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize that in this phenomenon, air is not displaced, such as when there is a hole in a boa...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about density and buoyancy. The probe is designed to find out how students think an object can be changed to make it float differently. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about floating and sinking. The probe is designed to find out if students think changing the size of an object affects how it floats. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about properties of matter. The probe is designed to find out which properties students think will change if the size of an object made from the same material changes. ...
By Page Keeley
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the particle model of matter. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that air is made up of particles that are widely spaced with empty space between the parti...
By Page Keeley and Susan Cooper
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about global warming. The probe is designed to find out what students think contributes to global warming. ...
By Page Keeley and Joyce Tugel
Lesson Plan
What’s Inside Our Solar System?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the solar system. The probe is designed to find out if students can distinguish between objects in the solar system and objects outside of the solar system and recognize that t...
By Page Keeley and Cary Sneider
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the greenhouse effect. The probe is designed to reveal whether students confuse the greenhouse effect with other environmental concerns or lump the concerns together. ...
By Page Keeley and Laura Tucker
Lesson Plan
Where Do You Find Earth’s Plates?
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about Earth’s plates. The probe is designed to find out where students think tectonic plates are located. ...
By Page Keeley and Laura Tucker
Lesson Plan
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the formation of the Grand Canyon. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize the role of rivers and flowing water and connect them to the processes of weathering ...
By Page Keeley and Laura Tucker