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.
| Source | Task |
|---|---|
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Signing of the Mayflower Compact This task measures students’ ability to source a document. When historians interpret a document, they first look to find out who wrote it and when. This information presents important clues about whether the document provides reliable evidence about the past. This assessment gauges whether students understand an important aspect of sourcing: the time elapsed between when a document was produced and the event that it depicts. Students who understand the importance of when a document was produced will see that this painting offers limited evidence to historians who wish to understand the signing of the Mayflower Compact because it was produced over 200 years after the event. The task includes a range of supplementary materials, all accessible and available for download with the creation of a free account through the site:
|
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Singing Grams In this task, students will collaborate on a music greeting to be performed at a local nursery home. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
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:
|
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Smoothie Box In this task, students must design a box able to fit twelve of the bottles shown. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Soap, Wood, and Water This task focuses on the Properties of Matter. Students must decide if two types of soap and wood will float in water by calculating their densities. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Sound Box In this task, students will observe and compare variables of sound boxes. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Speedy Santa In this task, students must calculate the amount of time Santa can spend at each house in order to get to each house in the UK. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Spinner Bingo In this task, students must come up with a winning strategy to filling out their bingo card. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
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. |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Starch and Sugar Testing 2 In this task, students will determine if starch and sugar are present in mixtures. 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.
© Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305