According to national teaching standards, teachers should work with students in ways that encourage scientific thinking and behavior. State standards and tests increasingly expect such outcomes. However, students cannot meet these expectations if they are not given opportunities to practice thinking and writing about science.
By and large, students have a lot of experience with short-answer responses—writing one- or two-word answers on a worksheet or a sentence or two in a notebook. They typically have less experience with writing expository paragraphs of several sentences where they are asked to use higher-order thinking skills to describe, explain, analyze, or make predictions.
However, some kinds of questions on state science tests presume that students have had experience with using higher-order thinking and expository writing as part of their science instruction. Essay questions on these tests typically take the form of open-ended or constructed-response questions. These questions ask students to go beyond simple factual recall—such as writing a definition or generating a list of the planets—and, instead, ask students to describe, explain, organize, analyze, or make predictions.
Many students have difficulty communicating their understanding in a coherent paragraph or two. Without practice writing expository paragraphs in science, their ability to be successful in a testing situation is compromised.
The assessments included in exemplary curricula provide many opportunities for students to integrate writing into their science study and can be used to help students become familiar with items that appear on state and national tests.
The five assessment item examples included below represent the range of the types of written items you might find on state and national assessments. All of the items selected require students to write two or more sentences to explain an idea or make a prediction. The examples are pulled from various state science assessments and include constructed response or essay questions as part of their science assessments.
Analyze Sugar Solubility
Demonstrate Evolutionary Relationships Between Animals
Describe the Effects of Air Pressure on Boiling
Point
Explain Planet Formation
Present and Support Your Knowledge of Ecosystems
