Uncovering Student Ideas in Earth and Environmental Science: 32 New Formative Assessment Probes (Uncovering Student Ideas in Science)

If you’re new to formative assessment probes, you’ll love this timely addition to the bestselling Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series. Authors Page Keeley and Laura Tucker give you 32 engaging questions, or probes, that can reveal what your students already know―or think they know―about core Earth and environmental science concepts. Armed with those insights, you can use the probes’ teacher notes to adjust your approach and present the science in grade-appropriate ways so students will learn the content accurately. If you’re among the thousands of educators who love the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series and crave probes specifically about Earth and environmental science, you’re in luck. The probes are organized into four sections: land and water; water cycle, weather, and climate; Earth history, weathering and erosion, and plate tectonics; and natural resources, pollution, and human impact. The 10th book in this wildly popular, award-winning series offers field-tested teacher materials that provide science background and link to national standards, including the Next Generation Science Standards. The new probes are short, ready to reproduce, and easy to use. Why wait? It’s time to help your students demystify why the ocean is salty, how old the Earth is, and which direction water swirls when it goes down the drain.

Page Keeley is an internationally known leader in science education. She is the developer and primary author of the award-winning Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series and the Formative Assessment- Practical Strategies Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning series (the "FACTs books"). Her interest in teaching for conceptual understanding and understanding students’ thinking began in 1992 after reading the seminal article, Teaching for Conceptual Change- Confronting Children's Experience by Bruce Watson and Dick Konicek. Her very first assessment probe, The Mitten Problem, was based on that article. Her assessment probes and FACTs (formative assessment classroom techniques) are widely used by K-12 teachers, university professors, professional developers, and science specialists throughout the U.S. and internationally.