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Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about living things. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize that seeds are living when they are in a dormant state. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about “plant food.” The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that plants use the sugars they make as their food. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the flow of energy in a trophic relationship that children are most familiar with—food chains. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that most of the energ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the transfer of matter and energy in ecosystems. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that only matter is cycled through an ecosystem. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about adaptation. The probe is designed to reveal whether students hold Lamarckian ideas about individual organisms adapting to changes in the environment. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about sexual reproduction. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that multicellular organisms develop from a fertilized egg. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about life cycles. The probe is designed to see if students recognize that the pupal stage of a life cycle is a living organism. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about structures they encounter when they learn about heredity. The probe is designed to reveal students’ ideas about the “parts and wholes” relationship between DNA, genes, an...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit ideas about genetic traits. The probe is designed to see if students recognize that some traits, such as eye color, are complex and cannot be predicted solely by the result of one gene. ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the cellular makeup of the human body. The probe is designed to see if students recognize that the body is an organized collection of cells and not a structure or “outline...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about a scientific word they frequently encounter in middle and high school science, chlorophyll. The probe is designed to reveal whether students know that chlorophyll is more th...
Journal Article
A Watery Whodunit: The Case of the Missing Zooxanthellae
Understanding coral reefs and the threats they face is an essential precondition in preserving them. This activity helps to educate middle school students about coral biology and the problem of coral bleaching. It will inspire students to participat...