THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE STANDARDS:
PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS ON ASSESSMENTS
A Presentation for
BUILDING CAPACITY FOR STATE SCIENCE EDUCATION
(BCSSE)
Rodger W. Bybee
Hilton North Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
February 24-25, 2012
THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE STANDARDS:
PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS ON ASSESSMENTS
•
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
•
A FRAMEWORK FOR K-12 SCIENCE STANDARDS
•
THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE STANDARDS
•
INNOVATIONS, CHALLENGES, AND OPPORTUNITIES
•
CONFRONTING THE CHALLENGES
•
CONCLUSION
SCIENTIFIC AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES
1. Asking questions [for science] and defining problems [for
engineering]
2. Developing and using models
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking
6. Constructing explanations [for science] and designing solutions [for
engineering]
7. Engaging in argument from evidence
8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS
Physical Sciences
PS 1: Matter and its interactions
PS 2: Motion and stability: Forces and interactions
PS 3: Energy
PS 4: Waves and their applications in technologies for information transfer
Life Sciences
LS 1: From molecules to organisms: Structures and processes
LS 2: Ecosystems: Interactions, energy, and dynamics
LS 3: Heredity: Inheritance and variation of traits
LS 4: Biological Evolution: Unity and diversity
Earth and Space Sciences
ESS 1: Earth’s place in the universe
ESS 2: Earth’s systems
ESS 3: Earth and human activity
Engineering, Technology, and the Applications of Science
ETS 1: Engineering design
ETS 2: Links among engineering, technology, science, and society
CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS
1. Patterns
2. Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Explanation
3. Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
4. Systems and System Models
5. Energy and Matter: Focus, Cycles, and Conservation
6. Structure and Function
7. Stability and Change
THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE STANDARDS:
INNOVATIONS
•
Performance Expectations
•
Integrating the Three Dimensions
 Practices
 Core Ideas
 Crosscutting Concepts
AN EXAMPLE OF A STANDARD
Students can:
Illustrate and describe the location of Earth and the Solar System with respect to the sizes and structures of the
Milky Way galaxy and Universe.
Assessment Boundary: Mathematical models are not expected; use AU for Solar System scale; use light years for universal scale
Foundation
Boxes
Developing and Using
Models: Create and interpret
scale drawings, scale
models, or other depictions
of differences in scale.
Practice
ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars: Earth
and its solar system are part of the Milky Way
galaxy, which is one of many galaxies in the
universe.
Disciplinary Core Idea
Scale, Proportion and
Quantity: Different scientific
phenomena correspond to
different powers-of-ten scales.
Crosscutting Concept
This is the
Performance
Expectation
MS.LS-MEE
Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems
a. Developing an explanation for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy on Earth.
Assessment Boundary: Limited to the explanation related to light energy, water, and carbon dioxide being used to produce sugars and release oxygen NOT the
chemical equation for photosynthesis.
b. Developing and using models of the cycling of matter among living and nonliving parts of ecosystems.
c. Using models to explore the transfer of energy into, out of and within the ecosystems.
Assessment Boundary; Only light, chemical, thermal energy need be included at this level, with an emphasis that the total amount of energy does not change.
d. Constructing and communicating models of food webs that demonstrate the transfer of matter and energy among organisms
(producers, consumers, and decomposers) within an ecosystem.
E
Using evidence to explain that matter is conserved as atoms in food are rearranged as they pass through different organisms
a food web.
f.
Using evidence from credible sources to support arguments that changing a component of an ecosystem affects the species in
the ecosystem.
Science and Engineering
Practices
Developing and Using Models
Use models to explore relationships between
variables, especially those representing input
and output. (b),(c),(d)
Use various representations and models
(including computer simulations) to predict,
explain, and test ideas about phenomena in a
natural or designed system. (b),(c),(d)
Modify a model to increase detail or clarity or
to explore what will happen if a component is
changed.
Constructing Explanations and
Designing Solutions
Generate and revise causal explanations from
data (e.g. observations and sources of reliable
information) and relate these explanations to
current knowledge. (a)
Base explanations on evidence and the
assumption that natural laws operate today as
they did in the past and will continue to do so
in the future. (a),(e)
Disciplinary Core Ideas
Crosscutting Concep
LS1.C: Structure and Function
Plants, algae (including phytoplankton), and many microorganisms use the energy from light to
make sugars (food) from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of
photosynthesis, which also releases oxygen. (a)
These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth or later use. (a)
Animals obtain food from eating plants or eating other animals. (d),(e)
Within individual organisms, food moves through a series of chemical reactions in which it is
broken down and rearranged to form new molecules, to support growth or to release energy. (e)
In most animals and plants, oxygen reacts with carbon-containing molecules (sugars) to provide
energy and produce waste carbon-dioxide; anaerobic bacteria achieve their energy needs in other
chemical processes that do not need oxygen. (c)
LS2.B: Cycle of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Food webs are models that demonstrate how matter and energy is transferred between producers
(generally plants and other organisms that engage in photosynthesis), consumers, and
decomposers as the three groups interact—primarily, for food—within an ecosystem. (d)
Transfers of matter into and out of the physical environment occur at every level. For example
when molecules from food react with oxygen captured from the environment, the carbon dioxide
and water thus produced are transferred back to the environment, and ultimately so are waste
products, such as fecal matter. Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead plant or animal matter
back to the soil in terrestrial environments or to the water in aquatic environments. The atoms that
make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving
parts of the ecosystem. (b),(c),(d)
LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any
Systems and System Model
A system can be described in
terms of its components and th
interactions. (b)
Models can be used to represe
systems and their interactions,
such as inputs, processes and
outputs. (b),(c),(d)
Models are limited in that they
only represent certain aspects
the system they are intended t
model.
Energy and Matter in system
Within a natural or designed
system, the flow of energy driv
the cycling of matter. (a),(c),(d
Energy can take different form
it flows through a designed or
natural system, but the total
amount of energy does not
change. (d)
Stability and Change
EVIDENCE OF COMMON ANCESTRY AND DIVERSITY
Students can:
Analyze and interpret patterns of changes in fossils over time that provides evidence of the history of life on Earth.
Performance
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Recognize patterns in data that suggest
relationships worth investigating further.
DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS
LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
• Fossils are mineral replacements, preserved remains, or
traces of organisms that lived in the past. Thousands of
layers of sedimentary rock not only provide evidence of
the history of the Earth itself but also of changes in
organisms whose fossil remains have been found in
those layers.
CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS
Patterns
• Patterns can be the basis for models and
explanations in natural and designed
systems.
Stability and Change of Systems
• Patterns of change (e.g. cyclic,
evolutionary, or random) occur over time
in natural or designed systems.
• Systems change over varying time scales
from fractions of a second to billions of
years.
SOME ISSUES TO DISCUSS
• The performance expectation is clear and the practice, idea, and concepts are
described.
WHAT IS A POSSIBLE INSTRUCTIONAL SEQUENCE?
EVIDENCE OF COMMON ANCESTRY AND DIVERSITY
Students can:
Analyze and interpret patterns of changes in fossils over time that provides evidence of the history of life on Earth.
Performance
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES
Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Recognize patterns in data that suggest
relationships worth investigating further.
DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS
LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
• Fossils are mineral replacements, preserved remains, or
traces of organisms that lived in the past. Thousands of
layers of sedimentary rock not only provide evidence of
the history of the Earth itself but also of changes in
organisms whose fossil remains have been found in
those layers.
CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS
Patterns
• Patterns can be the basis for models and
explanations in natural and designed
systems.
Stability and Change of Systems
• Patterns of change (e.g. cyclic,
evolutionary, or random) occur over time
in natural or designed systems.
• Systems change over varying time scales
from fractions of a second to billions of
years.
SOME ISSUES TO DISCUSS
• The performance expectation is clear and the practice, idea, and concepts are
described.
WHAT IS THE ASSESSMENT?
ASSESSING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE STANDARDS
Do the assessments represent the whole standard? Is the
whole greater than the sum of the parts?
• Standard vs. Statements of Performance Expectations
• Science and Engineering Practices
• Disciplinary Core Ideas
• Crosscutting Concepts
TIME TO BE CREATIVE
EXPAND YOUR VISION BY THINKING OF INNOVATIVE WAYS TO
ASSESS THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENCE STANDARDS
End-of-Course Assessments
Practical Tests
Observations
Performance Investigations
Presentations
PISA-type Units
Fieldwork
Selected Response
Computer Simulations/Modeling
Open Response
Portfolios
Interpreting Graphs, Tables,
Figures
Concept Mapping
Video
DESIGNING AN ASSESSMENT FOR A STANDARD
Matter and Energy in Ecosystems
Stem
Students can:
PEs
a. Evaluate the interdependence of organisms in a variety of ecosystems to analyze the relationships among the organisms.
b. Evaluate the claim that a stable ecosystem is one in which multiple species of different types are each able to meet their
needs and construct an argument that the introduction of new species can damage the balance of an ecosystem.
c. Obtain and communicate information to support the claim that plants acquire the material they need to grow from air and
water, using energy from the sun. [Assessment Boundary: Details of photosynthesis are not included]
d. Use the particle model of matter to explain how matter in one organism becomes matter in another organism in a food web
and how matter cycles between organisms and the environment. [Assessment Boundary: The chemistry of metabolism is not
included]
e. Use models to represent the boundaries that define a particular ecosystem, inputs to and outputs from that ecosystem.
f. Plan and carry out investigations collaboratively to determine the role of light in plant growth and the production of
food [Assessment Boundary: Details of photosynthesis are not included]
g. Construct a model that tracks energy flow through an ecosystem as energy enters, is used in the production of food and
fuel, including fossil fuels, and is released as food is digested and fuel is burned.
Describe the assessment(s):
Grade Level of Administration: Middle School, High School
Type of Context(s): Comprehensive, End-of-Course, Other
Scoring and Reporting: Machine, Individual, Combination
Unit of Report: State, District, School, Student
CONCLUSION
THANK YOU