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  • From the Field: Events and Opportunities, July 13, 2021

    Reports Article |

  • 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.

  • 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…

  • Freebies for Science Teachers, August 31, 2021

    Reports Article |

  • Is It Rocket Science?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the importance of both engineering and science for creating technology. The probe is designed to determine if students recognize that working in…

  • What Is a Product’s Life Cycle?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the life cycle of a product. The probe is designed to see how students apply the concept of life cycle analysis to determine the impact of a…

  • Equal and Opposite

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about pairs of forces that fit Newton’s third law. The probe is specifically designed to reveal whether students can identify third law force pairs as…

  • Apple in a Plane

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about force related to the interaction between inanimate objects. The probe is designed to determine which forces students think act on an object at rest…

  • From the Field: Events and Opportunities, February 9, 2021

    Reports Article |

  • 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.

  • What’s Inside Our Solar System?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the solar system. The probe is designed to find out if students can distinguish between objects in the solar system and objects outside of the…

  • Adaptation

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about biological adaptation. The probe is designed to find out if students think animals intentionally adapt to a change in their environment.

  • 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…

  • 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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