In this section, you can find assessment descriptions of various ways in which you can assess your students' learning, skills, prior knowledge and attitudes. We have descriptions of and examples for pre-assessments, projects, portfolios, student interviews, and teaching assessments.
The following questions are to guide you in reflecting upon and improving your science teaching. You might find them useful at the end of each lesson or after teaching a unit.
How did it go?
How well did the lesson/unit meet your expectations in terms of student engagement?
If the lesson/unit fell short of your expectations, what will you do to increase your students' participation next time?
Student interviews are discussions with students about their understanding of scientific concepts and phenomena. You can do these with individual students or small groups, while the rest of the class is doing independent work. You can also do interviews if you have a team-teaching arrangement.
Portfolios, in assessment terms, are collections of students' work that demonstrate what they have learned and are able to do over a period of time. Portfolios can be kept in folders, binders, large envelopes, boxes or any other containers that allow students to organize their collections and show a diverse collection of work.
Pre-assessment tasks help you to find out what knowledge, experiences, skills and attitudes your students have before you begin any science instruction. In some instances, you might find it useful to have students write their responses to a short set of simple questions on the topic. Examples might be: What is air? Where do clouds come from? What are rocks made out of? What is a fossil?
At the upper elementary grades, concept maps and webs are good ways of seeing what your students know and how they connect their ideas.
Earth science is about active exploration! Here you'll find everything you need to set learning in motion in your classroom.
Because reading skills are crucial for your students, you'll want to look over the Literacy Strategies section. Your students can learn more about geoscience through classroom investigations -- hands-on activities that meet national science standards -- or through "citizen geoscience" activities that your students can do at home.
Method 1: Making a Hypothesis and Defining Variables and Controls.
Students will need an explanation of variables and control groups. Go over these concepts with your students before they try to form their hypotheses. See the Variables Lesson for ideas.
