Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: Conservation of Mass: The Balancing Act Grade: 11th Grade Chemistry Date: 2024-05-24 SEP: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking DCI: PS1.B: Chemical Reactions CCC: Energy and Matter Task Purpose: To assess students’ ability to use mathematical representations (atom counts and mass calculations) to support the claim that mass is conserved during chemical reactions.
Instructions
- Before you begin: Complete the task as a student would. Then, consider any support materials provided to teachers or students, such as contextual information about the task and answer keys/rubrics.
- Prescreen: Answer the following high-level questions to identify any major red flags (🚩) in your task. If you find one or more red flags, consider the purpose of the task and the evidence gathered to determine whether the task warrants a deeper dive.
Prescreen Questionnaire
| Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Is there a phenomenon or problem driving the task? | [x] | [ ] 🚩 |
| 2. Can the majority of the task be answered without using information provided by the task scenario? | [ ] 🚩 | [x] |
| 3. Can significant portions of the task be answered successfully by using rote knowledge (e.g., definitions, prescriptive or memorized procedure)? | [ ] 🚩 | [x] |
| 4. Does the majority of the task require students to use reasoning to successfully complete the task? | [x] | [ ] 🚩 |
| 5. Does the task require students to use some understanding of disciplinary core ideas to successfully complete the task? | [x] | [ ] 🚩 |
| 6. Do students have to use at least one science and engineering practice to successfully complete the task? | [x] | [ ] 🚩 |
| 7. Are the dimensions assessed separately in the majority of the task? | [ ] 🚩 | [x] |
| 8. Is the task coherent and comprehensible from the student perspective? | [x] | [ ] 🚩 |
Recommendation
- Warrants further review.
- Should not be used.
Summary
Summarize your evidence and reasoning: The task effectively uses a simulation as a driving phenomenon to explore chemical reactions. It avoids rote memorization by requiring students to interact with the model, balance equations dynamically, and extract data to form mathematical proofs. Students must integrate the SEP (using mathematical representations) with the DCI (chemical reactions and atom conservation) and the CCC (energy and matter conservation) simultaneously to complete Part 3. The task is coherent and directly aligned with HS-PS1-7.