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 |
Birds The Birds task allows students to recognize from prior knowledge a selection of birds, define the term "native bird," and identify those that fit in this category. Students will complete this task working in stations. Resources required for this task are eight pictures of birds. This task is a part of the Living World task series from 1999 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Blackberry The Blackberry task focuses on the form and function of a blackberry. Students will look at a picture of a blackberry plant and answer five questions about the various parts of the plant. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task are a picture of a blackberry bush. This task is a part of the Living World task series from 2003 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Blow it! The Blow It! task allows students to investigate how the length of musical instruments relates to its pitch. Students will look a picture of three instruments of different lengths and make a prediction about their pitch in relation to each other. Then they will experiment by blowing over the top of straws of different lengths. This task includes seven questions. Students will complete this task working in stations. Resources required for this task include a picture and three straws of different lengths. 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 |
Bottle and Balloon The Bottle and Balloon task allows students to watch a video showing what happen to a limp balloon attached to the mouth of a bottle when the bottle is placed in hot water. Students will complete this task working in stations. The resource required for this task is a video. This task is a part of the Material World task series from 1995 by NEMP. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Bubbles The Bubbles task allows students to generate and classify questions. While blowing bubbles in this task, students will discuss and record questions they have about the bubbles. They will then decided which questions they could answer with experiments and which they would need to ask a scientist. Students will complete this task in teams. Resources required for this task include a bubble mixture, straws, paper towels, two notepads, a cue card, four jars, red and blue stickers, and an answer sheet. This task is a part of the Material 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 |
Bug Sort The Bug Sort task focuses on the classification of bugs. In this task students will sort sixteen pictures of bugs into four groups by their similar features. Students must give each group a name and describe three features that are special to the bugs in each group. Students will complete this task working teams. Resources required for this task are two sets of sixteen pictures, two instruction cards, and an answer sheet. This task is a part of the Living 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 |
Bush The Bush task allows students to look at a picture of the bush and think about how plants and animals live together in the bush and why plants are important to people. Students can click on different parts of the bush picture to see some of the animals and plants. This task includes three follow up questions. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include a computer program on a laptop computer. The Bush 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 |
Candle in a Jar The Candle in a Jar task allows students to observe chemical changes through an experiment. Students will observe how a candle burning in a cup surrounded by baking soda is put out when the baking soda reacts with vinegar. They will then answer six question about the experiment. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include plastic glass, a birthday candle, a teaspoon, baking soda, vinegar, long matches, and blu tack. This task is a part of the Material 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 |
Candles in Jars The Candles in Jars task allows students to predict and explain the effect on burning of different environmental conditions. Students will complete this task working one on one with a teacher-administrator. Resources required for this task include a video and a picture of a candle in a jar. This task is a part of the Material 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 |
Changes The Changes task allows students to developing and present explanations for two temperature related phenomena: the changes in the state of water and the rate of diffusion of dye in water. Students will complete this task working in teams. Resources required for this task include a video showing ice turning to steam and red dye diffusing in hot and cold water and two team instruction cards. This task is a part of the Material World task series from 1999 by NEMP. |
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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