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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Singing Grams In this task, students will collaborate on a music greeting to be performed at a local nursery home. This task includes: |
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Slave Quarters This task reveals students' ability to source a document, in order to see both its values and limitations. Students will be able to explain how a photograph of former slave quarters provides some evidence of the living conditions of slaves. They will also observe how the fact that the photograph was taken decades after the abolition of slavery limits its usefulness as evidence of antebellum living conditions. The task includes a range of supplementary materials, many available for download with the creation of a free account:
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Standard Oil Company This task assesses students' ability to evaluate the relevance of contextual information for determining the motivations of an author. Students must select two facts from a cartoon made by Udo Keppler in 1904, and explain how they shed light on his depiction of Standard Oil. Students with a strong understanding of contextualization will be able to explain how the company's growing control over the oil industry, and Tarbell's muckraking reports on Standard Oil, may have influenced Keppler's depiction. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment as well as the Rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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Steamboats on Kootenay Lake In this task, students will explore the context of people living around Kootenay Lake, among other communities around surrounding bodies of water. This task includes: |
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Stomp Out Second-Hand Smoke In Stomp Out Second-Hand Smoke students will use reliable sources to describe negative health effects of second-hand smoke and the regions of the body effected. This task includes:
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Tennis Court Oath This task assesses students' knowledge of the past—but rather than measure rote recall of decontextualized facts, this assessment requires students to make connections across time and construct an argument about how events are connected. Students with a strong sense of the past will explain that the representatives depicted signed the Tennis Court Oath, which rejected the doctrine of divine right and pronounced that political power came from the people and their representatives. A strong response to the second question may explain that the huge cost of the Seven Years’ War contributed to a financial crisis in France. This resulted in higher taxes and anger among the public, creating popular discontent. The Tennis Court Oath was a product of this discontent. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment with source materials, as well as the Rubric containing benchmark descriptors. |
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The Case of the Clock This task assesses students' ability to evaluate the relevance of contextual information for determining the motivations of an author. Students must select one fact, and explain how it sheds light on why Edward Curtis altered a photograph of Native Americans before publishing it. Students with a strong understanding of contextualization will be able to explain how the popular belief that Indians did not understand modern technology might have influenced Curtis's decision to alter the photograph. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment as well as the Rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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The Changing Faces of Tourism in Canada In this task, students will examine photographs and brochures to determine the continuity and change in tourism throughout British Columbia. This task includes: |
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The Evolution of Perception: Attitudes Regarding French Language and Culture Within Canada as Turning Points In this task, students will explore whether or not there has been changes throughout history in in French and Quebec culture in Canada. This task includes: |
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The FLQ - Was the Wars Measure Act a Necessity or an Over-reaction? In this task, students will develop a historical argument on whether or not they believe the invocation of the War Measures Act was just or not. This task includes: |
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