Skip to main content
  • Cultivating Curiosity About Creatures

    Journal Article |

  • Is It a Rock? (Version 1)

    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…

  • Ice-Cold Lemonade

    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.

  • Darkness at Night

    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…

  • Mountaintop Fossil

    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…

  • Ice-Cold Lemonade

    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.

  • Emmy’s Moon and Stars

    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…

  • Baby Mice

    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.

  • The Mitten Problem

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about energy. The probe is designed to find out whether students think “warm clothes,” like a mitten, produce their own energy, manifested as heat.

  • What’s in the Bubbles?

    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…

  • Freebies for Science Teachers, August 31, 2021

    Reports Article |

  • Going Through a Phase

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about Moon phases. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize the role of light reflection and the positional relationship between the Earth…

Asset 2