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 involves an interaction between energy and one substance or if they confuse it with other physical changes, such as dissolving.

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 whether students can transfer ideas about conservation of matter to a life science context and whether they recognize that within a closed system, no new matter is added or taken away.

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about conservation of matter. The probe is designed to reveal whether students think weight is conserved when a whole object is broken up into small pieces.

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about conservation of matter. The probe is designed to reveal whether students think matter is conserved when a substance is dissolved in a liquid.

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about conservation of matter (or mass). The probe is designed to reveal whether students think matter (or mass) is conserved during a change in state.

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 see an object.

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. No light can enter the room.

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about reflection. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that all objects we can see reflect some light.

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the product of photosynthesis. The probe is designed to reveal (1) whether students recognize that the food a plant makes is the food it uses and (2) whether students have a biological concept of food.

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about different ways to optimize a design that has been successful in the past, but that still needs improvement. The probe is designed to see if students recognize that there are multiple pathways to iterating and optimizing a design.