Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: Ideal Gas Law: Modeling Energy at Macroscopic and Molecular Scales
Grade: High School
Date: 2024-05-20
SEP: Developing and Using Models
DCI: PS3.A (Definitions of Energy)
CCC: Energy and Matter
Task Purpose: Provide an inquiry-based investigation where students collect pressure-temperature-volume-moles data using an interactive gas simulation and develop a multi-scale model connecting macroscopic gas behavior to particle-level energy transfers, aligned to HS-PS3-2.
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 effectively uses a compelling anchoring phenomenon (a hot air balloon rising when the air inside is heated) to drive an inquiry into the relationships between pressure, volume, temperature, and moles of gas. Students must actively engage with the simulation to generate their own data across three experimental conditions and develop a multi-scale model connecting macroscopic gas behavior to particle-level energy transfers, rather than relying on rote recall. The three dimensions are tightly integrated throughout: students develop and use models (SEP) to trace energy and matter (CCC) in order to demonstrate that macroscopic pressure and volume changes result from particle-level kinetic energy and that thermal energy from the burner increases particle KE, leading to expansion and buoyancy (DCI).