Life Science Assessment Probe: Baby Mice Probe 17

Teacher:

Katherine Theobald

Context:

For the first Performance Assessment Task, I decided to again use both of my Biology classes. Classes were beginning a genetics unit.

Background:

Because they have language based disabilities, they often have trouble with vocabulary and overall understanding of concepts. This [assessment] fit in well into my instruction and teaching goals because it allowed me to assess their foundational knowledge of the complex topic of genetics. This probe was done at the start of a unit on genetics.

Task:

Appendix 1 - Probe 17: Baby Mice (Keeley, Volume 2)

Students were provided the “Baby Mice” probe (Keeley, Volume 2).  In this scenario, a child’s pet mouse had babies.  Five of the babies were back and two were white.  They father mouse was black.  The mother mouse was white.  The children gave different explanations for the differences in colors.  Students were asked to explain which child they thought was the ost correct.

Jerome: Baby mice inherit more traits from their fathers than their mothers.

Alexa: The baby mice got half their traits from their father and half from their mother.

June: Male traits are stronger than female traits.

Seif: Black mice have more traits than white mice.

Fiona: The black baby mice are probably male and the white baby mice are probably female.

Lydia: Parent’s traits like fur color don’t matter - nature decides what something will look like.

Billy: Blood type determines what traits babies will have.

Results:

While many of the students held misconceptions and mistaken ideas about genetics and the mechanisms for inheritance, they were able to use the terminology presented in the previous unit on DNA.

Closing the Loop:

Unlike my previous CATs, I have not actually done the closing the loop portion yet.  For the misconceptions based on previous units, I will address those right away to ensure that their foundational knowledge from past material is strong heading into the genetics unit.  As for the other ideas, I plan to address those misconceptions throughout the unit. I will have the seven possible explanations on the board worded as a general statement and not specific to this scenario.  I will also include a few other correct statements and misconceptions that are prominent in a genetics unit.  Then we will address them as they come up in the unit.

Reflection:

The assessment went smoothly and the students all provided thorough explanations for their choices.  This probe will impact my teaching for this unit because I know have information on the misconceptions and preconceptions that my students have going into the unit.  One thing I would change would be to not allow students to choose more than one answer. I will be sure to tailor my instruction to address all of the ideas that they highlighted.

Source:

Keeley, P., F. Eberle, and L. Farrin. Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Volume 2: 25 More Formative Assessment Probes.  Arlington, Virginia NSTA Press. 2007.

Acknowledgement: The author completed this assessment while a student at Montana State University

Directed Paraphrasing Assessment for Osmosis.

Teacher:

Michelle Hammond

Context:

After spending several days reviewing cell structures and functions we began our discussion of diffusion. This is an extended investigation that takes several days of observations

Background:

I chose my second period advanced class for this PA because these concepts tend to be difficult for middle school students and I felt these students would be able to articulate their ideas better during the interview section of the PA. Data were recorded on a data table designed by the students. At this time I discussed the student’s observations with them. What happened to the egg? Did the mass increase or decrease? What about circumference. Where did the foam come from?

Task:

Data were recorded on a data table designed by the students. At this time I discussed the student’s observations with them. What happened to the egg? Did the mass increase or decrease? What about circumference. Where did the foam come from?

I chose to interview 3 students from this class. I asked them the following questions:

1.    What was the purpose of soaking the eggs in the vinegar?

2.    What was holding the egg together after the shell dissolved?

3.    What did you predict was going to happen to the egg soaked in water? In corn syrup?

4.    What did happen?

5.    What did you learn from doing this experiment?

Results:

Students were surprised that the vinegar removed the egg shell leaving the cell membrane intact. The notion that an egg is a large cell was very confusing to them. I had to dispel many misconceptions such as “it’s melting”!  Students learned that materials do move in and out through a cell membrane. They were able to see it and measure it.

Closing the Loop:

I closed the loop in the short term by having the students write a conclusion addressing their observations and data. All of this information was recorded in their lab reports. They also had to address their hypothesis and whether it was correct or incorrect. Later on we compared data between lab groups to see if the measurements were similar and if the same patterns of mass and circumference were observed by the students.

Reflection:

I learned from this PA how important it is to take the time to make sure ALL students understand the concept being taught. When teaching things with paper and pencil only many students get left behind. I am learning how to incorporate these types of assessments into my lesson so I can individualize instruction but keep everyone busy. I am trying to teach my students how to eliminate down time.

Source:

Angelo, T.A. & Cross, P.K. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Acknowledgement: The author completed this assessment while a student at Montana State University

CAT #2  Background Knowledge Probe

Teacher:

Brandon Fritz

Context:

I used this strategy for three sections of an Earth Science class I am teaching for the second time. This class is new as a result of Iowa’s new Model Core Curriculum implementation that requires all schools to teach a year of Earth Science.

Background:

I discovered during my first year of teaching this course that students lacked a good prior knowledge of how fossils form and the various types of fossils. Last year, I made the mistake of diving into a unit where students were examining index fossils representative of different rock layers and students were asked to determine the Geological era and period of the rock layer. However, students had some difficulty using fossil guides and working with fossils. I also discovered this was partly due to the lack of understanding of fossils, how they form and how scientists use them to arrive at geological dates. This year, I started the unit with a couple of simple journal questions that would serve to provide me with an understanding of how much students understood fossil basics. The two questions were:

Task:

a) How do fossils form?

b) How might scientists use fossils?

Each student was asked to write answers to these questions in his or her lab book. I then had students share ideas with a neighbor before discussing these answers as a whole. I then followed this up with having students examining a cross section of sedimentary rock strata with some patterns of fossils strewn throughout the layers. I asked students what they observed and if any conclusions could be developed.

Results:

Almost all students thought the fossils were still real bone materials in the sedimentary rocks. This was insightful for me because I understood that students did not realize that if this were true, we would not have fossils due to decomposition of organic matter.

My overall conclusion to my data was that students a basic understanding of fossils but lacked a depth of understanding of the processes involved like permineralization.

Closing the Loop:

The next day, I had prepared a power point presentation that explained a dozen different types of fossils with examples. I also included explanations of how scientists use fossils to discover relationships between organisms, evolutionary trends as well as how scientists date rock layers using index fossils. I gave a practice quiz. The results of this practice quiz (and real quiz the next day) indicated the level of understanding students had developed was much better and more in depth than when we started.

Furthermore, I posted six pictures of icons that represented a different decade of time in America (Martin Luther King, Jr., Michael Jordan, Elvis Presley, etc). I asked the students to post these in chronological order. I had groups explain how this could be used to illustrate index fossils. We then discussed the criteria needed for a fossil to be used as an index fossil.

Reflection:

This assessment of probing prior knowledge did go as planned. While I initially was expecting to just give one additional day to develop student understanding of fossils, I ended up spending a total of two and a half days in block scheduling providing students with experiences to develop a good understanding of all the different ways fossils form and how scientists use fossils to understand the past.

Furthermore, I also discovered that this knowledge made the inquiry experience over the three days much more rewarding and successful. Next time, I might start with the diagram first before the two questions.-as homework the night before and give students an open ended question like, “Using the pictures of fossils in the rock layers, how might you explain something you see?” Creating an open ended question may be more revealing about what students already know about fossils. Plus, I have found open ended questions certainly generate more fruitful discussions among students.

Secondly, I would also add the formative assessment of the “exit slip” to see how students’ knowledge or understanding changes at the end of each of the first two days.

Source:

Angelo, T.A. & Cross, P.K. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Acknowledgement: The author completed this assessment while a student at Montana State University

TITLE: The Rusty Nails,

Teacher: Aimee Modic

Context:

Currently I am teaching a unit on chemical reactions including: balancing reactions, identifying the types of reactions and predicting products of selected types of reactions. Given the opportunity to do a formative assessment probe from one of the Keeley, et al volumes in lieu of a performance assessment, I perused them and found a probe that meshed very well with my topic.

Background:

We had been working on predicting products all week and had just finished some notes on predicting the products of double replacement reactions using the solubility rules; having studied decomposition and single replacement reactions earlier in the week. I asked if they would complete the probe for me (again, anonymously) and place it face down in the pile I created. I separated them into three stacks: those that chose A, the mass will increase; those that chose B, the mass will decrease; and those that chose C, the mass will remain the same. After reading through the students’ written responses and listening to the student interview responses there was one decision I was sure about: we need to do this activity

Task:

The students had been given the class period to work on any of three assignments that had upcoming due dates. I asked if they would complete the probe for me (again, anonymously) and place it face down in the pile I created.  This was the only day in a 7 class day period of time that I had enough time in the schedule to allow the students to complete the probe and with three items coming due most of the students seemed to take it seriously, but it would not surprise me if a few of them rushed through it to get to their work that would be graded. I chose three students to interview about the probe during our next available time

Results:

Of the students indicating the mass of the nails would increase due to the rusting process (5 out of 18, 27.7%) most indicated that the oxygen would somehow become bonded or added to the nails somehow … Two of the students (11.1%) said that the mass of the nails would decrease and the remainder of the class (61.1%) said that the mass would stay the same

The remainder, and largest portion of the class, had many variations on the theme of Law of Conservation of Mass

Closing the Loop:

I spoke to my class briefly about the results and indicated that pretty much everyone had something correct in their response, but that there were also a few misconceptions that needed to be cleared up. . I suggested that we set up the Rusty Nails activity when we return from vacation and actually make the measurements and the students indicated that it sounded like a good idea.

Reflection:

I have a very difficult time planning a way to fit them into my schedule. I tend to be a creature of habit and have certain activities that I feel are valuable for the students and like to include into my curriculum;  This probe in particular was an eye-opening experience for me on the misconceptions and seeming lack of preparation that several of the students are bringing to my classroom. I feel as though actually doing the lab will be of great benefit to my students. One of my colleagues and I have previously discussed the idea of using some pre-unit knowledge probes as a way of determining what our students know before we start so we can plan more effectively, and I saw several probes in Keeley’s book that piqued my interest;

Source:

Keeley, P,  Eberle, F. &Tugel, J. (2005). Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, Volume 1: 25 More Formative Assessment Probes. NSTA Press

Acknowledgement:

The author completed this assessment while a student at Montana State University