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 |
Finger Games The Finger Games task allows students to interpret how their finger responds to heat and cold, and relate this to the use of a thermometer for more objective data . Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include four cups labelled A, B, C and D, cold water and hot water, and a thermometer. This task is a part of the Living World task series from 1999. This task is classified as a trend task by NEMP. Trend tasks are used to examine trends in student performance: whether they have improved, stayed constant or declined over the four-year period since the previous assessments. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Float or Sink The Float or Sink task allows students to experiment and determine which materials float and which sink. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include three equally sized cubes (softwood, hardwood, aluminum), three equally weighted cuboids (brass, hardwood, aluminum), a laminated card labelled "sink" and "float", plasticine, water in a container, and paper towels. This task is a part of the Material World task series from 1995 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Flounder The Flounder task allows students to observe a flounder and identify its features with adaptive significance to its habitat on the sandy bottom of the ocean. Students will watch a short video about a flounder and will then describe features that help the flounder live in its environment. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task are a videoclip of a flounder in its habitat and a device to play the video on. This task is a part of the Living World task series from 1999 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Flowing Electricity The Flowing Electricity task allows students to explore what materials electricity can and cannot flow through. Students will complete this task working in stations. Resources required for this task include a battery and bulb board (continuity tester) and one square each of the following: aluminum, brass, plastic, wood, and cardboard. This task is a part of the Physical World task series from 1995 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Flowing Electricity The Flowing Electricity task allows students to explore knowledge about the electrical conductivity of different materials, and skills in using a simple electrical circuit to check conductivity. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include a conductivity checker (a circuit board, a bulb, a battery, and cords), a spoon, a key, an ice block stick, a foil muffin dish, a foil paper, a plastic car, and a plastic ruler. This task is a part of the Physical World task series from 1999 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Food Web The Food Web task allows students to understand food web dynamics. Students will look at a food web that shows what animals on the rocky shore eat. The task includes five questions for students to discuss about the food web. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include food web pictures. The Food Web task is a part of the Living World task series from 2007. This task is classified as a trend task by NEMP. Trend tasks are used to examine trends in student performance: whether they have improved, stayed constant or declined over the four-year period since the previous assessments. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Garden Grubs In the Garden Grubs task, students will construct a food web. The computer program will present students with the start of a garden food web and the students will grab and drop animals into their correct place. Students will complete this task working in stations. Resources required for this task include a computer program on a laptop computer. The Garden Grubs task is a part of the Living World task series from 2007. This task is classified as a trend task by NEMP. Trend tasks are used to examine trends in student performance: whether they have improved, stayed constant or declined over the four-year period since the previous assessments. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Greenhouse Problem The Greenhouse Problem task allows students to think about climate influences that are leading to global warming. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. The resource required for this task is a picture. This task is a part of the Planet Earth and Beyond task series from 2003. This task is classified as a trend task by NEMP. Trend tasks are used to examine trends in student performance: whether they have improved, stayed constant or declined over the four-year period since the previous assessments. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Growing in the Mighty Forest The Growing in the Mighty Forest task allows students to gain an understanding the life cycle functions and parts of a forest tree (roots, leaves, trunk and bark). In this task students will look at three pictures depicting different phases or parts of a tree and answer seven questions about them. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task are three pictures: a young tree in the native bush, a mature tree, and a transverse slice of tree trunk. This task is a part of the Living World task series from 1999 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Guess What! The Guess What! task encourages students to ask good questions. Students will be given a chart with pictures of various animals and objects on it. The teacher will have 3 cards that each depict an animal or object on the chart. Students will try to determine which things are on the teacher's cards using as few yes and no questions as possible. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include a chart, rules card, 3 cards, question counter with clothes pegs, and counters. The Guess What! task is a part of the Living World task series from 2007. This task is classified as a trend task by NEMP. Trend tasks are used to examine trends in student performance: whether they have improved, stayed constant or declined over the four-year period since the previous assessments. |
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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