Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: Connecticut Coastal Erosion & Sea-Level Rise Simulator Task
Grade: High School
Date: 2023-10-27
SEP: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
DCI: ESS3.D: Global Climate Change
CCC: Stability and Change
Task Purpose: Assess student ability to analyze and interpret computational model data regarding the effects of sea-level rise and the effectiveness of coastal mitigation strategies, in order to construct an evidence-based argument for coastal resilience.
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):
- [x] Warrants further review.
- [ ] Should not be used.
Summary
Summarize your evidence and reasoning:
The task successfully uses an anchoring phenomenon (Connecticut coastal erosion) to drive a three-dimensional learning experience. Students must use the computational simulator to collect data and reason through the effects of different emissions scenarios and mitigation strategies. Rote memorization is insufficient to answer the prompts, and the dimensions (Analyzing Data, ESS3.D, Stability and Change) are integrated into a cohesive argumentation and modeling evaluation.