Science Task Prescreen

Task Title: Gas Laws: Ideal Gas Law Phenomenon

Grade: High School

Date: March 2024

SEP: Developing and Using Models

DCI: PS3.A: Definitions of Energy

CCC: Cause and Effect

Task Purpose: Determining whether students can apply what they have learned to a similar but new context

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 strong interactive simulation to drive student learning and assessment. Students must actively use the model to generate data, identify patterns (Cause and Effect), and explain the macroscopic observations using their understanding of microscopic particle behavior (PS3.A). The task cannot be completed through rote memorization, as students must analyze specific graphical and numerical outputs from their unique manipulations of the model. Therefore, it warrants further review using the full Task Screener.