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  • 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…

  • Watersheds, Communities, and Collaboration

    Journal Article |

  • Seeing The Light

    Journal Article |

  • Active Learning Classrooms

    Journal Article |

    Active learning classrooms (ALCs) are designed to support collaborative learning in large class sections that are often taught with a lecture format. Studies on ALCs indicate that they have positive influences on…

  • 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…

  • Garden Variety

    Journal Article |

  • What Are Clouds Made Of?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about an everyday object in the sky: clouds. The probe is designed to determine whether students recognize that clouds are made up of tiny droplets of…

  • Renewable or Nonrenewable?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about Earth’s natural resources. The probe is designed to find out if students can distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable natural resources.

  • The Sun's Energy

    Journal Article |

  • 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…

  • Emphasizing Physics Concepts With Cartoons, Part II

    Journal Article |

  • 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…

  • Designing Wildlife Crossings

    Journal Article |

  • Advancing Alloys

    Journal Article |

    The manufacture of metal alloys is ubiquitous, yet infrequently discussed in high school coursework as concepts related to them are often too complex or abstract for beginning science students. However, earlier…

  • Wet Jeans

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the water cycle. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that water goes into the air around us after it evaporates.

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