Science Task Prescreen
Task Title: Le Chatelier’s Principle: Engineering Better Chemical Reactions Grade: High School Date: 2024-05-20 SEP: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions DCI: PS1.B: Chemical Reactions; ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution CCC: Stability and Change Task Purpose: To assess students’ ability to apply Le Chatelier’s Principle through the Haber process simulation, balancing equilibrium-driven yield optimization with real-world engineering constraints such as energy cost, reaction rate, and equipment safety.
Instructions
Before you begin, review the full task description and any accompanying materials. Then complete the prescreen checklist below.
- Answer all questions based on the current version of the task, not on how it could be improved.
- Focus on whether a typical student would need to make sense of the scenario and use reasoning with core ideas and practices to complete the task.
- If you mark any 🚩 (red flag) items “Yes,” briefly describe your concern in the Summary section.
- Use the Recommendation section to indicate whether this task should move forward for full review or be set aside.
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
- Warrants further review.
- Should not be used.
Summary
Summarize your evidence and reasoning: The task is anchored in the compelling real-world problem of why the Haber process cannot achieve 100% ammonia yield — a phenomenon students investigate directly using a dynamic simulation. Students cannot rely on rote recall of Le Chatelier’s Principle; they must generate their own evidence by manipulating concentration, temperature, and pressure, then reason from that data to explain equilibrium shifts (DCI: PS1.B). The culminating engineering proposal requires integrating equilibrium concepts with practical constraints such as reaction rate and equipment cost (SEP: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions; DCI: ETS1.C). The three dimensions are assessed together throughout the investigation and synthesis phases. No red flags are present.