Habitat Change

Lesson Plan | June 2021

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…

Is It a Solid?

Lesson Plan | December 2022

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about solids. The probe is designed to reveal the macroscopic and/or microscopic properties students use to decide whether a material is a solid.

Salt Crystals

Lesson Plan | December 2022

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about crystalline solids. The probe is specifically designed to determine how students think atoms are arranged and move in a crystalline lattice.

Sugar Water

Lesson Plan | December 2022

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about dissolving. The probe is designed to find out what students think happens to sugar when it dissolves in water.

Will It Form a New Substance?

Lesson Plan | June 2021

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…

Burning Paper

Lesson Plan | December 2022

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about conservation of matter during combustion. The probe is designed to find out if students think the mass changes as paper burns inside a closed…

Nails in a Jar

Lesson Plan | December 2022

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about conservation of matter during a chemical change (oxidation). The probe is designed to find out if students think the mass changes as rust forms…

Wet Jeans

Lesson Plan | August 2020

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.

How Do We Get Drinking Water From Fog?

Lesson Plan | September 2020

Why Is the Sea Level Rising?

Lesson Plan | June 2022

Why Does it Sizzle?

Lesson Plan | September 2020

How is energy transferred to the gas particles during ignition?

Lesson Plan | October 2022

How Do Lakes Freeze?

Lesson Plan | July 2020

Essential Ingredients for a Scientific Consensus: Climate Change Edition

Blog Post | October 2022

What Happened to Our Ice?

Lesson Plan | April 2020