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  • Spaceships

    Lesson Plan |

    This probe is designed to elicit students’ ideas about changing the direction of motion in the absence of air. Many students will have seen movies or television shows in which spaceships turn by banking or using wing…

  • Force and Motion Ideas

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to comprehensively elicit students’ ideas about the relationship between force and motion. The list of possible answers includes several distracters that are based on learning…

  • Is It Made of Parts?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit children’s developing ideas about structure in living systems. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that living things are made up of parts.

  • 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.

  • Digestive System

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the digestive system. The probe is designed to find out whether students realize a main function of the digestive system is to break food down into…

  • Global Warming

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about global warming. The probe is designed to find out what students think contributes to global warming.

  • 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…

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • Rotting Apple

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about decay and decomposers. The probe can be used to determine whether students recognize the need for a biological agent to break down once-living…

  • Mark Earth Day and Arbor Day With Fresh Lessons

    Blog Post |

  • Chemical Bonds

    Lesson Plan |

  • Is It “Fitter”?

    Lesson Plan |

    The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about natural selection. The probe is designed to find out how students interpret the commonly used phrase “survival of the fittest.”

  • From the Field: Events and Opportunities, December 15, 2020

    Reports Article |

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