Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: Puerto Rico Resilient Microgrid Simulation Task
Grade: High School
Date: 2024-05-20
SEP: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
DCI: ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
CCC: Systems and System Models
Task Purpose: Formative assessment of students’ ability to use a computer simulation to model and evaluate solutions for a community microgrid facing a hurricane outage (HS-ETS1-4).
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 task uses a compelling, real-world anchoring phenomenon (power outages in Puerto Rico during hurricanes) to drive learning. Students cannot complete the task by relying on rote memorization; they must actively interact with the microgrid simulation to generate data. They must use reasoning to interpret how changing variables (solar size, battery capacity, load shedding) impacts the survival of the microgrid (blackout hours). The task explicitly integrates the targeted dimensions: using computational models (SEP) to test solutions for a real-world problem (DCI) while analyzing the interactions and boundaries of the energy system (CCC). The flow is coherent from the student’s perspective, moving logically from exploration to explanation to evaluation. There are no red flags, and it warrants further review using the full screener.