Maximum Score - 6 Points

Point Criteria: Yellow dot, Green dot, and Black dot

• 1 point for each reasonable description of movement or change in color.

  Acceptable descriptors:

  climbed up moved smudged touched the top color went up

  absorbed to the top spread out ran raised reached the top

  smeared moved upward got bigger blurred moved off the circle

Acceptable descriptors for color change:

changed color fades

list of colors formed gets higher

color thins out

***No credit is given if the student only states the dot changed.***

Criteria: Red dot

• 1 point for each reasonable description.

  Acceptable descriptors:

  didn't move didn't blur stayed as a dot nothing

  stayed the same didn't wear out didn't come out it got wet

  didn't come off didn't spread out it got soaked it didn't change

2. Reasons why red dot acted differently	1 points total

Standard: The student explains why the red dot acted differently.

Point Criteria: Yellow dot and Red dot

• 1 point for reasonable comparison of the red dot and the other dots on the paper.

  Acceptable descriptors of comparison:

• One dot used permanent ink and the other didn't.
• They were different solutions.
• One dot is water color and the other isn't.
• They were different markers or inks.
• They are made of different stuff.
• One is washable and the other isn't.

  UNacceptable answers:

• They were different.
• One moved and one didn't.

***No credit is given if the student only states the dot changed or didn't change***

3. Reasons why black dot acted the way it did	1 points total

Standard: The student explains why the black dot acted the way it did.

Point Criteria:

• 1 point if the student explains that black is a mixture of many colors or water will separate them.

  Acceptable answers:

• Black is a mixture (made up) of many colors.
• The black marker was washable (water soluble).
• All colors are part of black.
• Water separates the colors in black.
• Water makes the colors in black run

***No credit is given if the student only restates the observations made in question 1. ***

NYS Alternative Assessment in Science Project
NSF Grant #MDR-9154506
Copyright, April, 1996
The State University of New York
The State Education Department
Albany, New York 12234