JoinAll Assessment resources
NSTA Press Book
Designing Effective Science Instruction: What Works in Science Classrooms
Science teachers, like all teachers, start each school year with high hopes and expectations for students to succeed. They plan their lessons, scramble to get the necessary equipment, and work hard to engage their students. However, despite good inte...
By Anne Tweed
NSTA Press Book
The Big Ideas of Nanoscale Science and Engineering: A Guidebook for Secondary Teachers
Given the ability of nanoscience and nanotechnology to exploit the unique properties that matter exhibits at the nanoscale, the research resulting from these emerging fields is poised to dramatically affect everyday life....
By Shawn Y. Stevens, LeeAnn M. Sutherland, Joseph S. Krajcik
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the nature of science. It is designed to find out if students distinguish scientific theories from the common use of the word theory and if they understand how theories differ ...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about respiration. It is designed to find out whether students recognize respiration as a process that all living things use in order to obtain energy or whether they have a restrict...
NSTA Press Book
Activities Linking Science With Math, K-4
Science does not exist in a vacuum and, therefore, shouldn’t be taught that way. In that spirit, Activities Linking Science With Math, K-4, is a hands-on guide for preservice and inservice elementary school teachers who want to connect science inst...
By John Eichinger
NSTA Press Book
Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 4: 25 New Formative Assessment Probes
Wouldn't it be helpful to know what your students' ideas are about a science concept before launching into a new lesson or unit? Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 4, offers 25 more formative assessment probes to help reveal students' precon...
By Joyce Tugel, Page Keeley
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about magnetism. The probe is specifically designed to determine whether students believe air is necessary for magnets to work....
Book Chapter
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....
NSTA Press Book
Extreme Science: From Nano to Galactic
Whether we are imagining microbes or mammoths, dinosaurs or diatoms, molecules or stars, people of all ages are fascinated with the very large and the very small. New technologies have enabled scientists to investigate extremes of science previously ...
By M. Gail Jones, Amy R. Taylor, Michael R. Falvo
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about temperature in the context of phases of matter. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that the temperature of a substance does not change when two phases are pr...
Book Chapter
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students' ideas about eclipses. The probe is designed to find out what students think causes a lunar eclipse....