Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: Cellular Respiration: The Energy Release in Every Cell
Grade: High School (9-12)
Date: 2026-05-17
SEP: Developing and Using Models
DCI: LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
CCC: Energy and Matter
Task Purpose: To assess students’ ability to use a model of cellular respiration to explain how matter is rearranged and energy is transferred during aerobic and anaerobic respiration in a real-world context (breathing rate and muscle burn during exercise).
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 is anchored in the universally relatable phenomenon of increased breathing and muscle burn during exercise, which provides a clear “need to know” context for investigating cellular respiration. Completing the task requires students to actively manipulate the simulation sliders (Glucose, O2, Lactic Acid toggle) to generate data across four investigations (baseline aerobic, varying glucose, varying oxygen, and anaerobic). Students then use this data to construct a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning explanation. The task avoids rote recall, instead requiring students to track atoms and ATP yields to make sense of matter rearrangement and energy transfer. It integrates Developing and Using Models (SEP), LS1.C (DCI), and Energy and Matter (CCC) by asking students to use the simulation as a model to explain how matter is conserved but energy is transferred during both aerobic and anaerobic pathways.