B.

Making Sense of Focus Students Responses

1. Descriptions of focus students
Pseudonym
David
Kristen
Dylan

Academic Standing
Good standing, A
Average standing, BPoor standing, D

Personal Description
White, male, 13 years old, chatty Kathy
African American, female, 14 years old
Hispanic, male, 14 years old, frequently absent,
Spanish spoken at home

2. Excellent Response or Rubric

My assessment task: 1.A) Using the water displacement method, Johnny found that the volume
of a rock was 8 cm3. He then measured its mass using a triple beam balance and found that it
was 32 grams. What is the density of Johnnys rock? B) Will Johnnys rock float in water?
Explain why.
D=m/v, D=32g/8cm3= 4 g/cm3 Johnnys rock will not float in water, it will sink, because its
density is high than the density of water, which is 1 g/cm3.
The assessment task from my mentor: Suppose you have one cubic centimeter (1 cm3)
of each material listed in the table. Which material would have the greatest mass? Which would
have the least mass?
Material
Density (g/cm3)
Mercury
13.6
Silver
10.5
Water
1.00
Iron
7.86
Gold
19.3
Platinum
21.4
3
Using D=M/V, plugging in 1 cm for the V, you can solve for M. Greatest mass: platinum,
21.4g, least mass: water, 1g.
The assessment task from my content group leader:
Here is a new object what would you need to measure to determine if it would float or sink in
water?
You need to measure the mass using a 3-beam balance (in grams), and find the volume using
either lxwxh, or liquid displacement method (in cm3). Then, use D=M/V to find the density. If
it is less than 1 g/cm3, it will float, if it is greater it will sink.
3. Finding and Explaining Patterns in Student Responses
The first assessment task that was used was the assessment task from my mentor,
students needed to look at a table of densities, and determine which would have the highest mass
if you had a given volume. This task was conceptual, and required no mathematics, just a solid
understanding of what density measures. Overall, this task was not very useful to me in
assessing understanding, due to 2 factors: 1) I didnt say that work should be shown, in the event
of right or wrong answers, I cant see what they are thinking; 2) Most students in the class did
not complete the assignment, and just filled in answers for half credit (the assignment was graded
in class). This assessment task may have been more successful if there had been a visual of what
1 cm3 of a material looks like (or just the same volume of different substances) because the
students could have visualized that he volume is the same, and then deduct the mass. This is an

important building block for identifying minerals (specific gravity), rock identification, and plate
tectonics (less dense continental crust, etc.).
Davids Work

This focus student (high achieving), has the correct answer, however did not show any
work. The question did not specify that showing work was necessary (which is my fault) but
seeing the thought process written out would have been very helpful. This student obviously has
a knowledge of what density measures, and the implications for if you have a set mass/volume.
Kristen & Dylans Work

These focus students (middle and low achieving) did not complete the assignment, and
therefore wrote in the correct answers in red pen. They both wrote in the correct answer, which
doe indicate that they were actively paying attention while the answers were being reviewed. At
a minimum, these students have at least been exposed to the question and seen the answer.
Obviously, it is more desirable for them to have tried the problem, and then seen the correct
answer.
The second assessment task was from the instructor and was an embedded question
within a lab. Students needed to identify what they would need to measure in order to find the
density of an object. This task takes the objective and puts it in reverse, in order to answer the
question; students must know that you need the mass and the volume to calculate the density.
They not only need to know what to measure, but also how to measure it, using what tools, and a
unit would be helpful. These are all skills previously learned, which need to be applied. Students
also need to use their new knowledge to determine if it would float or sink. Floating or sinking
in water is the most applicable part of the task; it helps students to see the real world application
and tie it into the big ideas.
David answered, Measure the mass, measure the volume, and divide the mass by the
volume. If it is greater than 1 it will sink, less than 1 will float. This student did not include
any great detail; he omitted tools used and the units. However, he does have all of the correct
information, he used the density formula correctly, and correctly identified the threshold for
sinking or floating in water. I believe this student exhibits a moderate level of understanding,
which could be enhanced by applying units in order to truly see that density is mass (g) per unit
of volume (cm3).

Kristen answered, Measure mass and volume, divide. If more than 1 sink, less than 1
float. This student did not give a specific description of the density formula, she identified the
correct things to measure (void of tools and units) but she did not specify which would divide by
which. This could indicate one of two things, either the student does not have a full
understanding of the formula, or she chose not to describe it in detail to avoid being wrong. She
did describe the correct relationship regarding floating or sinking in water, but without any units.
Students tend to think that units are unnecessary and just an inconvenience, however, in a case
like this, the units can tell you a lot. g/cm3 indicates that grams are divided by cubic centimeters,
which therefore means that the mass is divided by the volume, aka, the density formula.
Dylan answered, Measure mass, and measure the volume, and then multiply. This
student identified the correct measurements to make, however identified the incorrect operation.
This indicates to me that this student has little to no understanding of what density is, and how to
calculate it. He omitted the floating/sinking portion, due to either a lack of knowledge, or he just
didnt answer. This student has an absence problem, and I believe that his lack of
knowledge/understanding comes from his lack of attendance. Students who arent present cant
be taught the same way as students that are in class.
The third assessment task was developed by myself; it was embedded in the unit 1 test. It
involved having to plug in numbers to the density formula, and then determining if the object
would sink or float in water. This is a task that requires the students to know the formula for
density, plug in the correct numbers, perform the correct mathematical operation, use correct
units, and then correctly identify if it will float or sink in water, and why.
Davids work

This student got the correct mathematical answer, has the correct units, correctly identified that
the object would float, and correctly identified why. This student has a good understanding of
how to calculate density, what the units are, and what densities implications are. Understanding
whether something will float or sink is basically the gold nugget of the entire question;
knowing if an object will float or sink is applicable to many other Earth science concepts.
Kristens work

This student has the correct density, with units, has indicated that the rock will not float, has
explained correctly, with omission of units. In this case, units are very important, just having the
work one does not indicate what you are talking about. It could be one foot of water, or one
liter of water, there is no indication that we are talking about the density of the water. This
student understands the formula for density, and how to accurately plug in numbers and use the
correct operation to determine the density. Using the correct units indicates that she understands
that it is mass per unit volume, and this can be helpful in remembering the formula. The lack of
units on the last question indicates that this student does not think of units has a helpful reminder
of what you are measuring.
Dylan was absent the day the test was given, and has been absent ever since (as of
10/16/14).

C. Improvements Parts I-IV

The first improvement I would make would be to have more formative assessment built
in to the lesson. Anything that was done and turned in was graded, entered in the grade book,
and was used in more of a summative way. Having lower stakes, formative assessment helps me
to know where the students are at, and also helps the students to know what they are struggling
with. Even if it is just asking for them to give me a thumbs up, sideways, or down, would have
given me a little bit more feedback and I would have had a better idea of their understanding.
The second thing I would want to improve upon would be the focus objective. As the
objective reads now, most students were able to remember the formula and then plug in numbers
successfully, however, I think adding in a more application based objective would have been
helpful. It isnt a very higher order thinking process to plug and chug an equation, but applying
that information to real world scenarios (sinking/floating in water) promotes higher order
thinking. I believe this type of thinking did occur with some of the assessment tasks, but could
have happened more often if that was the goal (objective).
The third improvement that I would make would be to spend more time taking the mass
and volume of objects, and then calculating the density. It was only done in one large lab
activity, and I feel that the density portion ended up getting glossed over. The students were so
focused on measuring the mass and volume of objects, that they just did the math for the density
and that was it. I was asked many times if their numbers looked right, instead of asking me
that, I wish that they could have had the time to think about it. Does it make sense that a
Kleenex box has a very low density? Well, yes it does, because Kleenexes don't have a very

large mass, but they take up a lot of space! Possibly have a separate density lab, instead of an
entire metric system lab, would have been more beneficial.

D. Improvements in Your Understanding of Science Teaching

The most important thing that I learned from teaching this sequence was to be open to
change, be flexible. Working with a mentor, field instructor, and content group leader, leads to a
lot of different opinions and ideas, so it was important for me to be able to take them all in,
assess them in comparison with my own thoughts and ideas, and make/amend my plan.
Another important thing is, I know have a much better understanding of what
exactly an activity sequence is, and what the different options allow you to do. In the past, I
knew all of this at a surface level, but I now feel that I have a much deeper understanding of how
to build an activity sequence. I think this comes from having a larger working knowledge of
different types of instruction/activities, and now I can apply that knowledge and build successful
sequences.