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  • Needs of Seeds

    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.

  • Beach Sand

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about beach formation. It is designed to reveal whether students use concepts of weathering, erosion, and deposition to explain how a beach made up of…

  • 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.

  • Is It Made of Cells?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about cells. The probe is designed to find out how students think about matter composed of cells.

  • Lemonade

    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 think matter is conserved when a substance is dissolved in a liquid.

  • Functions of Living Things

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about life processes. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that plants and animals share several life functions, even though they are…

  • Mountain Age

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about processes that affect the shape of mountains. The probe is designed to reveal whether students understand the role of weathering in shaping…

  • Turning Tests Into Tasks

    Journal Article |

    Learn how to build a summative performance assessment from a standardized test question.

  • Q: What Is Energy?

    Journal Article |

  • Doing Science Online

    Journal Article |

  • The 2023 and 2024 Solar Eclipse Double-Header

    Journal Article |

  • Apple in the Dark

    Lesson Plan |

    Imagine you are sitting at a table with a red apple in front of you. Your friend closes the door and turns off all the lights. It is totally dark in the room. There are no windows in the room or cracks around the door.…

  • Birthday Candles

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about how we see objects. The probe is designed to find out if students know that light must be reflected from an object and enter the eye in order to…

  • 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.

  • Gazing at the Moon

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the Earth-Sun-Moon system. The probe is designed to uncover students’ ideas about Moon phases and whether they think the phase of the Moon changes…

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