The Science Unit

Curriculum Directorate
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/secondary/science/index.htm

Using ESSA and ICT in

the
7 - 10 Science classroom

 Curriculum
Directorate
The Science Unit
supports the teaching and
learning of science
provides advice to assist
schools with syllabus
implementation

EMSAD
(Educational
Measurement and
School Assessment
Directorate)
Developing and managing
state wide literacy,
numeracy and computer
skills assessments, and
meaningfully reporting
results
Establishing rigorous,
progressive self-evaluation
processes consistent with
the school accountability
and improvement model

What is the ESSA test?

a diagnostic tool
administered in Year 8
based on syllabus outcomes
a pen and paper test for the 2005 and 2006
pilot tests
takes about 75 minutes

The ESSA test

Two extended answer tasks, each requiring

about a paragraph of writing

75 multiple choice and short answer tasks,

which draw on contexts and some content in a
stimulus magazine

Questions over a range of performance levels

Every question linked to a syllabus outcome and

content statement

Each question linked to an ESSA strand and

performance level

ESSAs scope
The focus of assessment will be the outcomes

and their associated essential content as

described in the BOS Science Years 710
Syllabus.

A range of outcomes from the Prescribed Focus

Areas and the Domain will be assessed.

Questions will give students the opportunity to
demonstrate their understandings of both local
and global levels. The practical component will
assess the skills employed in performing firsthand investigations.

Resources from ESSA

rich data about student performance in
science through the SMART package and
reports to parents
assessment items and teaching strategies
available to teachers

The ESSA strands

Knowing and understanding
Planning and conducting
investigations
Communicating
Critical thinking

Focusing on a concept helps

Each ESSA test will collect information about
how students develop understanding of
scientific concepts.
As teachers, getting a better understanding
of how students develop scientific concepts
will help us to provide opportunities for them
to increase their knowledge and
understanding of those concepts.

Structure of an item

Stem
Options

Distracters

Key

Terminology for items

Stem

either a question or an
incomplete statement
presenting the problem for
which a response is required

Options

all the choices in an item

Key

the correct answer

Distracters

the incorrect options

Question 7 : Sun, Earth and Moon

The diagram below shows the relative
movements of Earth and the Moon around the
Sun. It is not drawn to scale.

QUESTION 7
How long does it take for the Moon to go once around the
Sun?
%
response

Option 1 1 day
Option 2 1 week
Option 3 1 month
Option 4 1 year

24.2%

Distracter Analysis
This response may be based on a students
common experience of when the moon is
visible or when the sun would appear

4.0%

This response may indicate a student having

a poor recollection of the movements of the
moon around the Earth

13.9%

This response may be based on a students

knowledge or recollection of the movements
of the moon around Earth.

56.2%

This response would suggest an accurate

knowledge of the movement of the moon
and Earth around the sun.

 The major idea or science concept

That objects in the universe exert a force of gravity on
one another
That the moon orbits the earth and together they
revolve around the sun

Possible misconceptions
That the sun rises each day on the moon as it does
on Earth and that this must mean that it takes one
day to travel around the sun
That the moon travels around the sun in the same
time that it takes to travel around the earth
That the moon rises each night just as the Sun rises
each day

Learning Federation Object

Night and Day

Moon Phase

QUESTION 51 - Fly Bait Investigation

Two Year 8 students were
conducting an investigation to
find out which bait attracted
the most flies.
They constructed fly traps
from old PET drink containers
to catch flies.
Q Why was it necessary to
control the amount of light
received by the traps?

QUESTION 51
Why was it necessary to control the amount of light
received by the traps?
%
response

Option 1 Sunlight is
essential to attract flies
Option 2 This was a
mistake. It should have
been different

41.1%

This response suggests a poor understanding of

control of a variable in relation to a fair test or
what a variable is.

3.5%

This response suggests a poor understanding of

a fair test.

Option 3 The amount of

sunlight has no influence 18.9%
on the result
Option 4 If this were
changed then the cause
of the result would not
be known

Distracter Analysis

34.9%

This response suggests a poor understanding

that a fair test should ensure the control of
variables.
This response suggests a good understanding
that to produce a valid and reliable result a fair
test should ensure the control of variables.

Le@rning Federation Objects

Fair Test

QUESTION 16
The students observed that the object labelled X jumps up and sticks to the soft
iron rod whenever the lamp glows.
Object X does this because it is made of
%
response

Option 1

iron

63.7%

Option 2

wood

1.2%

Option 3

plastic

2.2%

Option 4

aluminium 32.3%

Distracter Analysis
This response would suggest a correct
understanding that the force of a magnetic field
will attract some metals such as iron.
This response may indicate a poor
understanding of the effect of the forces of a
magnetic field.
This response may indicate a poor
understanding of the effect of the forces of a
magnetic field.
This response would suggest a possible
misunderstanding that magnets attract all
metals or students have incorrectly
remembered a practical where they tested
various materials for the ability to conduct
electricity that used similar equipment.

QUESTION 18
The lamps main job in the circuit is to
%
response

Option 1
provide a connection

Option 2
produce heat and light

Option 3
use up electrical energy
Option 4
show that the circuit is
working

Distracter Analysis

16.2%

The lamp is essential to the circuit. If students

incorrectly interpreted this experiment as testing
conductivity then this response is reasonable.

20.8%

Indicates knowledge of the functions of a

lamp but has not recognised its application to
this problem. If experiment interpreted as
testing conductivity then this response is
reasonable.

8.4%

53.7%

This response may indicate the correct

knowledge of a property of lamps but is not
relevant to this question.
Suggest knowledge that a lamp produces
light and the recognition that this function
can be used to indicate when the circuit is
complete.

QUESTION 22
The piece of granite has a mass of 30 g. Use the diagram to find its volume.
What is the density of the granite?

Option 1
0.3 g/cm3

Option 2
3 g/cm3
Option 3
10 g/cm3

Option 4
30 g/cm3

%
response

Distracter Analysis

8.9%

This response suggests that the student

has used the correct formula but
performed incorrectly the calculation of
3010

28.2%

This response suggests the use of the

correct formula and the correct
performance of the calculation.

38.2%

This response suggests correct

measurement of the value for volume and
then its use as the value for the density.

23.2%

This response suggests the use of the

mass of the granite as the value for
density.

QUESTION 65
Which of the following represents a simple food chain for the Round Island
ecosystem?
% res

Option 1
insect --> skink --> gecko --> boa

Distracter Analysis

This response suggests a lack of the

29.3% conventional understanding that a food chain
begins with a producer.
Suggests an understanding that organisms are
related but a poor understanding that a food
chain represents a flow of energy

Option 2
boa --> gecko --> insect --> palm

22.1%

Option 3
palm --> insect --> skink --> boa

This response suggests an understanding of

36.6% the relationship between organisms in a food
chain and the flow of energy in one direction.

Option 4
palm --> boa --> gecko --> insect

8.9%

Suggests an understanding that a food chain

begins with a plant/producer but a poor
understanding of the flow of energy in a food
chain.

QUESTION 41
Some scientists believe that water once flowed on the surface of Mars.
What evidence of the water flow would scientists be looking for?
%
response

Option 1
patterns of erosion

Option 2
weathering of rocks

49.7%

30.4%

Distracter Analysis
This response suggests an understanding
that the flow of water creates particular
distribution patterns of erosion.
This response suggests a poor
understanding that weathering does not
necessarily indicate the flow of water.

Option 3
6.8%
metamorphism of rocks

This response suggests a poor

understanding of metamorphism of
rocks.

Option 4
a thick and heavy
atmosphere

This response may be based on

experience of water in the atmosphere
but is not related to water flow.

11.6%

Extended answer tasks - Heating ice

A science class was doing

an experiment to observe
temperature changes when
heating ice.
Each group started the
experiment with four cubes
of ice and a small amount of
water in a beaker.
They heated the beaker,
with constant stirring, over a
low Bunsen burner flame as
shown in the diagram below.
They measured the
temperature every minute
and recorded the results in a
table.

One group of students obtained the following results

a)

b)

Using the information from the result table, describe

what was happening in the first 9 minutes of the
experiment.
Using your knowledge of the particle theory, explain
why this happens.

THE PARTICLE THEORY OF MATTER

ALIAS
THE KINETIC MOLECULAR THEORY
These theories are essentially the same.
The Kinetic Molecular Theory emphasizes the movement of
the particles.
1. All matter consists of extremely small particles. (A drop
of water is made up of 30 billion billion (3 x 1019 )
particles of water.).
2. All particles of one substance are identical.
3. The spaces between particles are very large compared
to the size of the particles themselves.
4. The particles in matter attract one another.
5. All particles of matter are constantly in motion.

Heat, Temperature, and the

Particle Theory
What actually is the difference between
water at 20C and water at 50C?
What is the difference between heat and
temperature?
How are these questions related?
Can any one hypothesis answer both
questions?

Heat and Temperature

So what is the difference between heat
and temperature?
According to the particle theory, heat is
energy, and it is transferred from hotter
substances to colder ones.
Temperature is a measure of the average
energy level of the particles in a
substance.

Solids, liquids and gases

In solids the
particles

In liquids the
particles

In gases the
particles

are held tightly and

packed fairly close
together - they are
strongly attracted to
each other

are fairly close together

with some attraction
between them

have little attraction

between them

are in fixed positions but

they do vibrate

are able to move around

in all directions but
movement is limited by
attractions between
particles

are free to move in all

directions and collide
with each other and with
the walls of a container
and are widely spaced
out

The properties of matter

Solids

Liquids

Gases

have a definite shape

do not have a definite

shape

do not have a definite

shape

maintain that shape

flow and fill the bottom

of a container. They
maintain the same
volume unless the
temperature changes

expand to fill any

container

are difficult to compress

as the particles are
already packed closely
together

are difficult to compress

because there are quite
a lot of particles in a
small volume

are easily compressed

because there are only a
few particles in a large
volume

are often dense as there

are many particles
packed closely together

are often dense because

there are quite a lot of
particles in a small
volume

are often low density as

there are not many
particles in a large space

The Science Unit

Curriculum Directorate
http://www.curriculumsupport.education
.nsw.gov.au/secondary/science/index.ht
m
Ric Morante:
richard.morante@det.nsw.edu.au
Glen Sawle:
glen.sawle@det.nsw.edu.au