Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: Photosynthesis: Capturing Light as Chemical Energy
Grade: High School
Date: 2024-05-20
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 develop and use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy, tracing the flow of matter and energy from the environment into organic molecules, aligned to HS-LS1-5.
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 a compelling real-world phenomenon (the mystery of where a tree’s mass comes from — famously puzzling to scientists until Van Helmont’s experiments in the 17th century). Students must actively engage with the Photosynthesis simulation to generate their own data on photosynthetic rate under varying conditions of light intensity, temperature, CO₂ concentration, and light wavelength. They then develop a visual model that traces the flow of matter and energy from the environment into sugar molecules, supported by a CER argument. The three dimensions are tightly integrated: students develop and use models (SEP) to trace energy and matter flows (CCC) and apply understanding of photosynthesis as an energy-conversion process (DCI: LS1.C).