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  • What Happens When You Bring a Balloon Near Wall

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about electrical interactions. The probe is designed to find out how students visually represent electrical interactions.

  • Engineering and Nature

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about how engineers use designs from nature. The probe is designed to see if students recognize that designs from nature provide creative ideas for…

  • Where Do You Find Earth’s Plates?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about Earth’s plates. The probe is designed to find out where students think tectonic plates are located.

  • How Do Technologies Change?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about how technologies change. The probe is designed to see if students are aware of the way nearly all technologies change over time.

  • Is Engineering Creative?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about creativity in engineering. The probe is designed to determine the extent to which students think that creativity is an important part of…

  • Plants in the Dark and Light

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about plant growth. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize that plants use their stored food to grow in the absence of light.

  • Is Engineering Experimental?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about using experimentation to solve a problem. The probe is designed to see if students recognize that (1) solving a problem in baking is considered…

  • Habitat Change

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about adaptation. The probe is designed to reveal whether students think individuals intentionally change their physical characteristics or behaviors in…

  • 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…

  • From the Field: Events and Opportunities, August 10, 2021

    Reports Article |

  • Is It Melting?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the physical process of melting. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize melting as a change in state from solid to liquid that…

  • Who Engineers?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about engineers. The probe is designed to reveal how students think about who is an engineer and the kind of work engineers do.

  • Addressing Potential Laboratory Instructional Site Legal Safety Issues

    Blog Post |

  • Service Animals in the Science/STEM Laboratory

    Blog Post |

  • 'Whoosh Bottle' Demonstration: Accident Waiting to Happen (Again)

    Blog Post |

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