Skip to main content
  • Testing for Success

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ initial ideas and attitudes about the procedure that should be followed when testing models to determine if a design solves the problem. The probe is designed…

  • Working Together to Save Lives

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the role of different professions in contributing to the solution of a problem that benefits society, such as the development of a lifesaving…

  • NSTA Announces Sale of Headquarters Building

    Blog Post |

  • Seedlings in a Jar

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about conservation of matter in a closed system after a transformation of matter from seed to seedling has taken place. The probe is designed to reveal…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Brainstorming

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about brainstorming. The probe is designed to determine the extent to which students understand the norms of good teamwork during the brainstorming…

  • Is It Matter?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about matter. The probe is designed to reveal the characteristics students use to describe and define matter.

  • The Rusty Nails

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about a common phenomenon—rusting. The probe is designed to find out what students think happens to the mass of iron nails after a chemical change.

  • Objects and Temperature

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about temperature. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize that non–heat-producing objects exposed to the same ambient conditions…

  • Will It Form a New Substance?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about chemical change. The probe is designed to find out how students determine whether a new substance with a different chemical makeup is formed when…

  • 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…

  • Making Sound

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about sound. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that sound is produced by vibrating matter.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Asset 2