Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: Mitosis and Cellular Differentiation Model (HS-LS1-4)
Grade: High School
Date: 2026-04-26
SEP: Developing and Using Models
DCI: LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
CCC: Systems and System Models
Task Purpose: To evaluate students’ ability to use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.
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 requires students to engage with an interactive model of an organism developing from a zygote, observing both organism-level changes and cellular-level mitosis. Students must synthesize their observations to explain how genetically identical cells differentiate into specialized tissues to build a complex organism. It is grounded in a strong anchoring phenomenon, explicitly addresses HS-LS1-4, and integrates SEP, DCI, and CCC dimensions. Therefore, it passes the pre-screening criteria and warrants further review using the full Task Screener.