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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Rockefeller This task assesses students’ ability to reason how evidence supports a historical argument. Students must explain how both an excerpt from the influential book of investigative journalist Ida Tarbell critiquing the company practices of Standard Oil Company, as well as a newspaper’s take on the Rockefeller Foundation’s incorporation, both support the conclusion that many Americans were concerned about the growing power of a small number of wealthy businessmen at the dawn of the 20th century. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment with excerpts, as well as the Rubric with benchmark descriptors, and links to the original source materials through the Library of Congress' website. |
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Rocks and Charts In this task, students will create a chart that represents rock classifications. This task includes: |
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Rods and Triangles In this task, students must calculate how many and what kinds of triangles are possible to make out of various sizes of rods. This task includes: |
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Rolling Down Hill In this task, students must record and graph data collected from rolling a marble down a ramp. This task includes: |
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Royal Liver Clock In this task, students must estimate how many people can sit around two clock faces. This task includes: |
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Scale Model of the Solar System In This task (in PALM and in PALS), students must create a scale model of the solar system with the given table of planetary distances. This task includes: |
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Security Camera In this task, students must decide on the most optimum location in a store to put a security camera. This task includes: |
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Seed Growth In this task, students will explore how seed growth is effected by variables. This task includes: |
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Seven Years' War This task assesses whether students can source and contextualize a document. Students must first examine an 1870s image of French General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and then determine which fact can help them evaluate the reliability of the drawing as evidence of what happened at Fort William Henry. Strong students will be able to explain how prevailing attitudes about Native Americans (Fact 1) could affect how an artist depicts the past. 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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Seville Quran This task assesses students' knowledge of the time period of Muslim presence in Europe (1200’s)—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 understanding of the past will explain that the fact the featured source—the Quran—was made in Seville, points to the Islamic presence in the city in 1226. As an Islamic city in Iberia, it was the target of the Reconquista, which was raging at the time this Quran was completed. A strong response to the second question in this task might explain that in the 8th century, the Umayyad Caliphate expanded to Seville and beyond, establishing Islam as the dominant religion in Seville for centuries to come. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment with source materials, as well as the Rubric containing benchmark descriptors. |
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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