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 |
Muffin Drop The Muffin Drop task allows students to investigate gravity and air resistance. In this task students will think about and experiment with how things fall through the air. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include two small muffin cases, four large muffin cases, and orange and green A4 sheets of paper. This task is a part of the Physical World 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 |
Munchies The Munchies task allows students to investigate adaption by observing skulls. Students will be shown the skull and teeth of a rabbit and cat. They will be told that rabbits eat plants and cats eat meat. Students will then look at dinosaur skulls and will be asked if the dinosaurs ate plants or animals and how they can tell. Students will complete this task in stations. Resources required for this task include pictures of a rabbit, cat, and dinosaurs skulls. The Munchies 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 |
Mystery Card The Mystery Card task allows students to explore closed and open circuits. Students will use an electic circuit to determine where the electricity goes between the circles on their mystery card. They will then answer five follow up questions. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include a circuit with a light bulb, a battery, a mystery card, a recording notebook, and a pencil. This task is a part of the Physical 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 |
Mystery Magnets The Mystery Magnets task allows students to investigate magnetism. In this task students will learn about how magnets can attract and repel through experimentation. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include two magnets with poles marked, a mystery magnet box, two flat cardboard “magnets” with poles marked, a sticker, and a recording book. This task is a part of the Physical World 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 |
Mystery Wires The Mystery Wires task allows students to use a continuity tester (linked battery and bulb) to test and decide which of six wires are connected. Students will complete this task working in stations. Resources required for this task include a continuity tester (linked battery and bulb with alligator clips), cardboard with six wires sticking out (blue and grey wires connected internally, red, cream and yellow wires all connected internally). This task is a part of the Physical 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 |
Natural Disasters The Natural Disasters task allows students to demonstrate their knowledge in recognizing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions and explaining the likely causes. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include a video showing an earthquake and a volcanic eruption and a device to play the video on. This task is a part of the Planet Earth and Beyond task series from 1999 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Night Sky The Night Sky task allows students to identify ways in which the moon and stars have and do help people, and affect animal and plant life. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. The resource required for this task is a picture of the night sky. This task is a part of the Planet Earth and Beyond task series from 1999 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Night and Day The Night and Day task allows students to demonstrate and describe what causes night and day. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include a flashlight, a world globe, and a polystyrene ball on a stand. This task is a part of the Planet Earth and Beyond task series from 1995 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Ocean Journey The Ocean Journey task allows students to learn about navigation methods using observations of the sun, moon, stars, wind patterns, ocean currents, etc. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include two pictures. This task is a part of the Planet Earth and Beyond task series from 2003 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Our Solar System The Our Solar System task allows students to learn about the solar system and answer questions about the moon, sun, Earth, and Mars. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include four pictures (the moon, sun, Earth, and Mars). 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. |
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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