Science Assessments
Ms. Julia Adamski and Dr. Kitty Rutherford
February 14, 2022
Today…
The Science Standards
DoDEA’s CCRS for Science
CCRSS consists of four parts:
Slide 4
CCRSS: Three-Dimensional Learning
Science and Engineering Practices
Crosscutting Concepts
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Performance Expectation Example
Develop a model of waves to describe patterns in terms of amplitude and wavelength and that waves can cause objects to move.
An Analogy Between CCRSS and Cooking
Kitchen Tools & Techniques�(Science & Engineering Practices)
Basic Ingredients
(Disciplinary Core Ideas)
Herbs, Spices, & Seasonings
(Crosscutting Concepts)
Preparing a Meal
(Performance Expectation)
Every grade level plays a critical role in developing students’ college and career readiness in science
Slide 8
Science Notebooks
Sense-Making Discussion
Science Vocabulary
9
What questions do you have about
Science Standards?
Unmute
& Share
Type in the chat box
FOSS I-Check Assessments
Slide 11
Investigation
Motion and Matter:
Twirly Bird Construction
Physical Science
Twirly Bird Construction
Making a standard twirly bird:
What did you notice?
Standard vs. Variable
You will investigate a new system—a twirly bird.
Everyone will start with a standard twirly bird. You will compare the standard to other systems when you change different variables.
A variable is anything we can change in the system that might affect the outcome (how the twirly bird flies).
What are some variables we could change in the twirly bird system?
Twirly Bird Variables
What happens if we change a variable on the twirly bird?
Build another twirly bird based on the variable you are assigned.
Compare its flight to your standard twirly bird.
Make sure you release both twirly birds from the same height at the same time.
Record in your notebook:
affect the twirly bird;
Cut off about
2 centimeters (cm)
Or add a second
paper clip
Sense-Making Discussion
Listening and checking for understandings and misunderstandings of concept.
Forces at Work
What forces cause the twirly bird's motion?
What did you notice?
What happens if we change a variable on the twirly bird?
Forces at Work
Newton’s first law of motion states that objects at rest stay at rest, and objects in motion stay in uniform motion unless they are acted on by another force.
The force of gravity was the pull on the twirly bird. Gravity pulls everything toward the center of Earth. Things will move toward the center of Earth until they meet up with a force that opposes the force of gravity and prevents any further movement.
Air is matter. It is one of the forces acting on the twirly bird. The twirly bird wings are being pushed by the air (air resistance) to make it rotate.
Forces at Work
What other evidence do we have that air can push with a force?
What is the effect when the wings are shorter?
What is the effect when extra weight it added?
Vocabulary Review
Revisit Twirly Bird Focus Question
What happens if we change a variable on the twirly bird?
Thinking about the sense-making discussion,
using the science vocabulary
revisit the answer to the focus question.
Cut off about
2 centimeters (cm)
Or add a second
paper clip
What do you wonder?
What questions do you have?
Meaningful application of literacy and math skills
Concepts not taught in isolation but used to make sense of the world around them.
CCRS for Science
3 Dimensions (K-12)
Science and Engineering Practices
Crosscutting Concepts
Disciplinary Core Ideas
FOSS Assessment (application of learned concept)
1. Maple trees have seeds that spin when they fall, a lot like the twirly birds you investigated in class. In the fall, the seeds fall to the ground. Not all of the seeds are the same size. Below are two seeds that fell to the ground.
Explain the forces at work on the maple seed while it is still on the tree. Are the forces balanced or unbalanced?
If both seeds fell off the tree at exactly the same time, which would hit the ground first?
❍ A The smaller seed
❍ B The larger seed
❍ C They will hit the ground at the same time.
❍ D There is not enough information to predict.
Explain the forces at work when the seed is falling.
Formative Assessment
1. Maple trees have seeds that spin when they fall, a lot like the twirly birds you investigated in class. In the fall, the seeds fall to the ground. Not all of the seeds are the same size. Below are two seeds that fell to the ground.
Explain the forces at work on the maple seed while it is still on the tree. Are the forces balanced or unbalanced?
If both seeds fell off the tree at exactly the same time, which would hit the ground first?
❍ A The smaller seed
❍ B The larger seed
❍ C They will hit the ground at the same time.
❍ D There is not enough information to predict.
Explain the forces at work when the seed is falling.
The forces are balanced. Gravity is pulling down and the tree pulls with equal force.
Forces are unbalanced, gravity pulls down. Air resistance from the wings cause it to spin and slows its fall to the ground.
Assessment
2. Some scientists want to take photographs of the walls of a deep canyon. They decide to jump from an airplane using a parachute to slow their fall. They want as much time as possible to take as many pictures as they can before reaching the canyon floor. They need to decide which parachute design would be best. What is the criterion for success?
Assessment
2. Some scientists want to take photographs of the walls of a deep canyon. They decide to jump from an airplane using a parachute to slow their fall. They want as much time as possible to take as many pictures as they can before reaching the canyon floor. They need to decide which parachute design would be best. What is the criterion for success?
3. The scientists test more than one parachute. Which sentence best describes how they know which parachute best meets their design criterion for success? (Mark the one best answer.)
❍ A. They look at the size of the parachute.
❍ B. They look at the shape of the parachute.
❍ C. They time how long the scientist stays in the air.
❍ D. They count how many photographs the scientist takes.
Assessment
3. The scientists test more than one parachute. Which sentence best describes how they know which parachute best meets their design criterion for success? (Mark the one best answer.)
❍ A. They look at the size of the parachute.
❍ B. They look at the shape of the parachute.
❍ C. They time how long the scientist stays in the air.
❍ D. They count how many photographs the scientist takes.
Assessment
Assessment
4. Put a next to the sentences that correctly describes the force involved.
_____ a. The parachute is pushing down on the scientist.
_____ b. The parachute is pulling up on the scientist.
_____ c. Air resistance is pulling down on the parachute.
_____ d. Air resistance is pushing up on the parachute.
_____ e. Gravity is pulling down on the scientist-parachute system.
_____ f. Gravity is pushing up on the scientist-parachute system.
Assessment
4. Put a next to the sentences that correctly describes the force involved.
_____ a. The parachute is pushing down on the scientist.
_____ b. The parachute is pulling up on the scientist.
_____ c. Air resistance is pulling down on the parachute.
_____ d. Air resistance is pushing up on the parachute.
_____ e. Gravity is pulling down on the scientist-parachute system.
_____ f. Gravity is pushing up on the scientist-parachute system.
What questions do you have about
assessments items?
Unmute
& Share
Type in the chat box
How to access and use the assessment data
How do I access the data?
Slide 35
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
If you follow these steps,
you will be able to access important data viewing options.
Reports - Code Frequency Chart
Slide 36
The Code Frequency Chart tell you at a glance which items were problems for the class. The red-bar & blank items are the ones you want to take back to students for self-assessment activities.
Reports - Class by Level
Slide 37
Strategic Level: A+
Conceptual Level: A
Recognition Level: B
Notions Level: C
Julia
Kitty
Hollie
Frank
Foss deems the…
The Class by Level Report groups students into the four progress levels: notions, recognition, conceptual, and strategic.
These groups are based mathematically both on item difficulty as well as a students’ overall performance.
Reports - Class by Item
Slide 38
The Class by Item Report shows the detail of each item and students’ responses. You can go directly to the problem items (indicated by the Max Code Frequency chart) to get more information and plan next steps. This report displays students’ names for each response, with a brief description of what each code means in terms of full or partial credit.
Kitty, Julia, Henry
Frank, Tommy, Sarah, Patti
Joy, Hollie
Reports - Student by Item
Slide 39
The Student by Item Report lists all the items on a test and shows how the student responded to each item. It provides the max code, code the student received, and a description of what the student knows or needs to work on, based on the evidence inferred from the item.
This is a great report to send home to parents.
Class Diagnostics - By Standards & Questions
Class Diagnostic Reports, by standard or by question (item), provide the NGSS performance expectations, the number of questions that relate to that standard, and a percentage.
The “by questions” view is extremely useful when you want to view who struggled on a particular question.
By Standards
By Questions
A list of names for who missed 4a populates here.
Using the Data with Self-Assessments
Slide 41
Using the Data with future lessons
This is an actual test question I
needed to revisit after the I-Check.
Slide 42
Using the Data with future lessons
Struggling with time?
Slide 43
What questions do you have about
accessing and using the data to guide instruction?
Unmute
& Share
Type in the chat box
Science Expectations
Online Assessments:
FOSSmap Grades 3-5
Please encourage the use of FOSS Assessments
Supporting Teachers
Europe East
K-5 Science Program Evaluation
What do you notice?
Instructional Design Element | % Rate of Observation Europe East District | % Rate of Observation DoDEA |
Active Investigation | 76% | 71% |
Science Notebooks | 61% | 64% |
Sense-Making Discussions | 24% | 50% |
Word Wall with Science Words | 13% | 42% |
Science Standards� 3 Dimensions
How can we support teachers science?
Science Notebooks
A Scientist's notebook is a detailed record of his or her engagement with a natural phenomena. It is a personal representation of experiences, observations, and thinking – an integral part of the process of doing scientific work. A scientist’s notebook is a continuously updated history of the development of scientific knowledge and reasoning. FOSS
How can we get teachers to effectively use science notebooks?
Word Walls
Foss provides printable vocabulary words for your word wall. I find it easier to write the words in index cards and place them on the wall.
Multiple times throughout the investigation, the words should be referenced. Students should be encouraged to use the words when answering the focus questions in their science journal. Having students underline or highlight the words in their answer is also helpful.
Bringing these words back into sense-making discussions is POWERFUL!
Sense-Making Discussions…
How can we get teachers to effectively use sense-making discussions as part of their science instruction?
Are teachers aware of the FOSS sense-making examples and templates?
Scheduling Guidelines
Europe East Elementary Science Site
Recap of Today's Session…
What questions do you have?
What are your next steps?
Excellence in education for every student, every day, everywhere.