4th Grade Performance Task
Contributed by: Kentucky Department of Education (KDE)
1993-94 Administration
Description:
Students explore the characteristics of different environments and
the ways people and animals live in those environments. They then
apply their understanding to an additional situation.
The task assesses students' abilities to make simple observations,
collect data, make generalized inferences from their observations,
and apply their understanding to an additional situation.
This task is designed to take students approximately 45 minutes
to complete.
Overall Task Content Area:
- Life Science
Specific Knowledge Areas:
-
Performance Expectations:
- conducting investigations
- using equipment
- gathering, organizing, and representing data
- formulating conclusions from investigational data
- applying scientific principles to develop explanations and solve
new problems
National Science Education Standards:
4 A SI 1: Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry:
Grades K-4
1.5 Communicate investigations and explanations. Students should
begin developing the abilities to communicate, critique, and analyze
their work and the work of other students. This communication might
be spoken or drawn as well as written.
4 C PS 3: Organisms and their environment: Grades K-4
3.2 An organism's patterns of behavior are related to the
nature of that organism's environment, including the kinds and numbers
of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources,
and the physical characteristics of the environment. When the environment
changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce, and others
die or move to new locations.
3.4 Humans depend on their natural and constructed environments.
Humans change environments in ways that can be either beneficial
or detrimental for themselves and other organisms.
(Use the "hot" link on the PALS home page
to check the full text of related National Science Education Standards,
if desired.)
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics:
DAP1: Formulate questions that can
be addressed with data and collect, organize, and display relevant
data to answer them:
Grades pre K-5 a. pose questions and gather
data about themselves and their surroundings
PS2: Solve problems that arise in mathematics and in
other contexts:
Grades pre K-5
General Instructions to the Teacher:
This task is designed to take students approximately 45 minutes to
complete.
Students will be working in groups of 3-4 during the first portion
of this exercise. The second portion will be completed individually.
Students should be ready to work as soon as the period begins.
The materials should be set out at each lab station, if possible.
A central supply area, if needed, should be easily accessible. All
supplies should be clearly labeled.
Materials for "People Interacting with the Environment":
At this station students should have:
- three weights
- three wires
- a bar
- one information sheet- "How to use the pendulum"
- access to a clock with a second hand
- sharpened pencils
Timing
- The total time for this task is 45 minutes. Students work together
for up to 30 minutes. They are instructed to notify you when finished
with the work group, and then to go on to the individual work.
If students are still working together 30 minutes after the testing
begins, instruct them to cease their group work and begin individual
work. At this point they may no longer talk. Whether or not they
are just beginning their individual work, remind students that
they now have 15 minutes to complete the individual activity.
Additional Instructions:
- If the clock with the second hand is on the wall, the students
will have to be placed near it. Check that the long wire with
the heavy weight does not touch the floor. If it does, the students
will need a thick book or other object to raise the bar. Set up
the pendulum for the students using one wire and one weight.
Safety:
- Be careful.
- Teachers and students should always exercise appropriate safety
precautions and utilize appropriate laboratory safety procedures
and equipment when working on science performance tasks.
Extensions/modifications:
- Task does not easily lend itself to including mathematical
criteria in the rubric.
Advanced Preparation Set Up:
Students need directions and a pencil for this task.
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