Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: New Haven Apizza Thermodynamics
Grade: High School
Date: 2024-04-24
SEP: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
DCI: PS3.B: Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer; PS3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes
CCC: Systems and System Models
Task Purpose: Assess students’ ability to plan an investigation and analyze data regarding thermal energy transfer from a hot object (oven components) to a cold object (pizza) resulting in uniform energy distribution.
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 uses a compelling real-world phenomenon (baking New Haven apizza) to drive the investigation of thermal energy transfer. Students must actively use the interactive simulation to plan an investigation, gather evidence on temperature changes, and reason with concepts like the Second Law of Thermodynamics and specific heat capacity. The task inherently links the SEP (Planning/Investigating), DCI (Energy Transfer), and CCC (Systems/Models), requiring multi-dimensional sensemaking rather than rote memorization. Therefore, it passes the pre-screener and is recommended for further review and use.