Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: Greenhouse Effect: Modeling Earth’s Energy Budget
Grade: High School
Date: 2024-05-20
SEP: Developing and Using Models
DCI: ESS2.A (Earth Materials and Systems); ESS2.D (Weather and Climate)
CCC: Cause and Effect
Task Purpose: To assess students’ ability to develop and use a model to describe how variations in energy flow into and out of Earth’s systems result in changes in climate, using the greenhouse effect simulation to investigate the causal relationships between atmospheric composition, albedo, solar intensity, cloud cover, and global temperature.
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:
This task is anchored in the compelling real-world phenomenon of Venus (462°C) vs. Earth (15°C) — two similar-sized planets at comparable distances from the Sun with dramatically different surface temperatures due to atmospheric CO₂ concentration (96,500 ppm vs. ~420 ppm). Students must use the interactive Greenhouse Effect simulation to investigate how four variables (GHG concentration, albedo, solar intensity, cloud cover) affect Earth’s energy budget and temperature. They then construct a visual model and CER argument that provides a mechanistic account of cause-effect relationships between energy flow and climate change. The three dimensions are tightly integrated: students develop and use models (SEP) to analyze cause and effect (CCC) within the context of Earth’s atmospheric and climate systems (DCI: ESS2.A, ESS2.D).