Science Task Prescreen

Task Title: Finch Beak Adaptation & Form

Grade: High School

Date: [Current Date]

SEP: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

DCI: LS4.C: Adaptation

CCC: Cause and Effect

Task Purpose: Evaluate the alignment and quality of the Finch Beak task.

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

Based on your assessment needs and the task purpose recorded above, make a recommendation about this task moving forward (choose one):

Warrants further review.
Should not be used.

Summary

Summarize your evidence and reasoning:

The activity requires students to interact with a simulation, gather specific data across different environmental conditions, and use that evidence to make sense of the phenomenon of adaptation. The analysis section asks them to construct an explanation based on the principles of natural selection, moving beyond simple recall of definitions to active sensemaking. The task seamlessly integrates the three dimensions by having students use the SEP to explain the DCI through the lens of the CCC. Therefore, the task passes the PreScreener with no red flags and is appropriate for further development.