Please note that many tasks were constructed prior to Common Core and the task alignments to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were not identified in the task materials. To search for the performance tasks explicitly aligned to the CCSS, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), or College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, please go to CCSS, NGSS, and C3 tabs.
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Fishkill This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on The Living Environment. Students must analyze and graph a data table about the relationship between temperature and dissolved oxygen in order to determine the effects of thermal pollution on fish. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Floating Pencil This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on the knowledge of Matter and Its Tranformations. Students must record the length of the pencil suspended in both fresh water and salt water that is unsubmerged, and determine if the unmarked sample is salt water or fresh water. Lastly, students will predict the outcome of adding salt to the salt water sample. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Heat Retention This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on the knowledge of Heat Transfer. Students must test, measure, and graph their findings to determine which of four substances would be the best as a heat mass. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Height of Bounce This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on the knowledge of Motions and Forces. Students must determine a relationship between the height at which a ping pong ball bounces and the height from which it was dropped. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
How Effective is Perspiration at Cooling? This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on Regulation and Behavior. Students must emulate human perspiration by wrapping water filled test tubes in both wet and dry newspapers, and then collect data on the cooling water to discover trends and make predictions. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Human Inheritance This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on Genetics and Molecular Biology and Patterns of Inheritance. Students must use their knowledge of Madelian genetics to answer questions about the occurance of a trait on a family tree. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Identifying Creatures This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on the Understandings of Scientific Inquiry. Students must use a classification key about facial properties to identify three creatures. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Keep Cool This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on the Properties of Objects and Materials. Students must test cups of various materials to determine which would be best suited to keep a cold drink cool on a hot day. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Peat Pots This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on the knowledge of the Earth System. Students must observe and calculate the capillarity of soil by observing a peat pot in water. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Predator/Prey Relationship This task (in PALM and in PALS) focuses on the Populations of Ecosystems. Students must analyze given population data and write a paragraph demonstrating their underatandings, and then write a proposal to reduce one animal's population. This task includes: |
If you would like to recommend additional open-sourced performance task banks to be included in the database, or if you would like to report a broken link, please email Pai-rou Chen.
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