Skip to main content
  • Solids and Holes

    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…

  • Refine By Design

    Journal Article |

  • Mystery Critters

    Journal Article |

  • Using Growth Rings on Wooden Blocks and Plywood to Enhance Students’ Spatial Reasoning Skills

    Journal Article |

    Spatial reasoning is one of the most challenging skills to master in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This article reports the results of a teaching intervention that involved using…

  • Mass, Volume, and Density

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about density. The probe is designed to find out whether students have commonly held ideas about mass, volume, shape, and other properties that interfere…

  • Colorful Creations

    Journal Article |

    This column includes activities inspired by children’s literature.

  • 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.

  • Professional Learning in Science Education

    Position Statement |

  • Effect of Exam Wrappers on Student Achievement in Multiple, Large STEM Courses

    Journal Article |

    Metacognition, the ability to think about and regulate one’s thinking, is an important factor in effective student learning. One intervention to promote student metacognition is the exam wrapper—a reflection students…

  • Turning the Dial

    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…

  • Shadow Size

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit children’s ideas about how light interacts with an object to form a shadow. The probe is designed to reveal children’s ideas about the size of a shadow in relation to…

  • Archaeology-in-a-Box

    Journal Article |

    Applying geology concepts to an investigation into human behavior

  • Engaging Students at All Academic Levels in an Inquiry-Based Paleoecologic Learning Activity—Even When You Don’t Have the Rocks

    Journal Article |

    Inquiry-based learning is an educational strategy that emphasizes the student’s role in the learning process by having them propose and test hypotheses through experimentation and/or the collection of observational data…

  • Freezing Ice

    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.

  • Whale and Shrew

    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.

Asset 2