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All Assessment resources

Lesson Plan

Rotting Apple

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 material as it uses it for energy...

By Page Keeley, Francis Eberle and Chad Dorsey

Assessment Life Science

Lesson Plan

Digestive System

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 molecules that can be used b...

By Page Keeley and Joyce Tugel

Middle School Assessment Life Science

Lesson Plan

Mountaintop Fossil

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 over a long period of time a...

By Page Keeley

Assessment Earth & Space Science

Lesson Plan

Adaptation

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. ...

By Page Keeley and Joyce Tugel

Middle School High School Assessment Life Science

Lesson Plan

Ecosystem Cycles

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the transfer of matter and energy in ecosystems. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that only matter is cycled through an ecosystem. ...

By Page Keeley

Middle School High School Assessment Life Science

Lesson Plan

Habitat Change

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 response to an environmental ...

By Page Keeley

Middle School Assessment Life Science

Lesson Plan

Is It Made of Parts?

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. ...

By Page Keeley

Assessment Life Science

Lesson Plan

Plants in the Dark and Light

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. ...

By Page Keeley

High School Assessment Life Science

Lesson Plan

Needs of Seeds

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about seeds. The probe is designed to find out what students think most seeds need to germinate. ...

By Page Keeley

Elementary Assessment Life Science

NSTA Press Book

Instructional Sequence Matters, Grades 9–12: Explore-Before-Explain in Physical Science

Instructional Sequence Matters, Grades 9–12 is the one-stop resource that will inspire you to reimagine your approach to high school physical science. The book discusses the 5E (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) as a specific pathw...

By Patrick Brown

High School Physical Science 5E Assessment Crosscutting Concepts Curriculum Disciplinary Core Ideas Instructional Materials Inquiry Learning Progression Lesson Plans NGSS Pedagogy Performance Expectations Science and Engineering Practices Teaching Strategies Three-Dimensional Learning New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Professional Learning old Research Teacher Preparation

Journal Article

Starting at the Beginning

This study examines what prior knowledge and misconceptions about evolutionary theory students bring with them into an introductory biological anthropology course. One hundred and fifty-three students completed short, anonymous surveys about evolutio...

By Kathryn King

Assessment Evolution Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

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