MTTC #124 (3-6 Science and Social
Studies)
Third-grade students observe a video of people participating in a tug-of-war contest. The video shows an
example of when the rope does not move in either direction. The video also shows another example
where the one side is stronger than the other, causing the rope to move. This scientific phenomenon
allows for the students to make sense of the core idea of:
A. predicting future motion.
B. generating solutions to a problem.
C. identifying failure points in a model.
D. investigating balanced and unbalanced forces. - Answer -A. This video shows what has happened
rather than asking the students to predict what will happen.
B. Watching this video does not present a clear problem for students to solve, so they cannot generate
solutions.
C. The scenario shown in this video does not have a failure point to identify.
D. Correct. By observing the tug-of-war scenarios, students have been shown a phenomenon around
which to investigate balanced and unbalanced forces.
2. Which of the following scenarios features students engaging in practices done by engineers, rather
than scientists, as part of a sixth-grade unit about forces and interactions?
A. Students present the findings from their investigations of whether forces can exist between objects
that are not touching one another.
B. Students analyze a set of data collected from a student investigation to uncover factors that affect the
strength of refrigerator magnets.
, C. Students determine ways to minimize how much a sphere of modeling clay changes shape when toy
cars collide with it.
D. Students use spring scales to test the weights of objects of different sizes but the same mass. -
Answer -A. Both engineers and scientists routinely communicate the findings from their investigations to
others, and in this example the investigation is more about explaining phenomena than designing
solutions.
B. This is an analysis of data collected by others to answer questions, which both engineers and
scientists conduct routinely; however, since students are working to uncover factors affecting the
strength of the magnets, the activity leads more to explaining a phenomenon.
C. Correct. Engineers design solutions to problems or challenges, whereas scientists work to generate
explanations that are supported by data.
D. Empirical investigations such as this are something that both engineers and scientists conduct
routinely, but the purpose of this investigation would more likely be to understand the concept of
density than to lead to an engineering design.
3. The upper elementary science standards require students to examine matter based on its properties.
According to these standards, the teacher should ask which of the following questions in a fifth-grade
classroom?
A. How do the atoms of a salt solution arrange themselves on the atomic scale?
B. How might we identify the differences among these materials?
C. Do these two substances create a chemical reaction?
D. Do phase changes alter the density of water? - Answer -A. The arrangement of atoms on an atomic
scale is not fifth-grade appropriate content.
B. Correct. Asking this open-ended question promotes scientific investigation and sense-making.
C. Explaining the process of the chemical reaction is not an open-ended question and will not lead to
sensemaking.
D. While changes in phase are a property of matter, questioning the behavior of water in terms of
cohesion, adhesion, density, etc., is not fifth-grade appropriate.
4. A sixth-grade teacher develops an assessment on how geoscience processes change Earth's surface.
The assessment includes two figures. The first figure is a map showing a cluster of islands and identified
volcanoes within the islands. The second figure is a data table showing the ages and distances of the
island volcanoes. Students will predict where they think the next volcano may form using evidence from
the two figures. Which of the following crosscutting concepts should the students use to make their
claim?
Studies)
Third-grade students observe a video of people participating in a tug-of-war contest. The video shows an
example of when the rope does not move in either direction. The video also shows another example
where the one side is stronger than the other, causing the rope to move. This scientific phenomenon
allows for the students to make sense of the core idea of:
A. predicting future motion.
B. generating solutions to a problem.
C. identifying failure points in a model.
D. investigating balanced and unbalanced forces. - Answer -A. This video shows what has happened
rather than asking the students to predict what will happen.
B. Watching this video does not present a clear problem for students to solve, so they cannot generate
solutions.
C. The scenario shown in this video does not have a failure point to identify.
D. Correct. By observing the tug-of-war scenarios, students have been shown a phenomenon around
which to investigate balanced and unbalanced forces.
2. Which of the following scenarios features students engaging in practices done by engineers, rather
than scientists, as part of a sixth-grade unit about forces and interactions?
A. Students present the findings from their investigations of whether forces can exist between objects
that are not touching one another.
B. Students analyze a set of data collected from a student investigation to uncover factors that affect the
strength of refrigerator magnets.
, C. Students determine ways to minimize how much a sphere of modeling clay changes shape when toy
cars collide with it.
D. Students use spring scales to test the weights of objects of different sizes but the same mass. -
Answer -A. Both engineers and scientists routinely communicate the findings from their investigations to
others, and in this example the investigation is more about explaining phenomena than designing
solutions.
B. This is an analysis of data collected by others to answer questions, which both engineers and
scientists conduct routinely; however, since students are working to uncover factors affecting the
strength of the magnets, the activity leads more to explaining a phenomenon.
C. Correct. Engineers design solutions to problems or challenges, whereas scientists work to generate
explanations that are supported by data.
D. Empirical investigations such as this are something that both engineers and scientists conduct
routinely, but the purpose of this investigation would more likely be to understand the concept of
density than to lead to an engineering design.
3. The upper elementary science standards require students to examine matter based on its properties.
According to these standards, the teacher should ask which of the following questions in a fifth-grade
classroom?
A. How do the atoms of a salt solution arrange themselves on the atomic scale?
B. How might we identify the differences among these materials?
C. Do these two substances create a chemical reaction?
D. Do phase changes alter the density of water? - Answer -A. The arrangement of atoms on an atomic
scale is not fifth-grade appropriate content.
B. Correct. Asking this open-ended question promotes scientific investigation and sense-making.
C. Explaining the process of the chemical reaction is not an open-ended question and will not lead to
sensemaking.
D. While changes in phase are a property of matter, questioning the behavior of water in terms of
cohesion, adhesion, density, etc., is not fifth-grade appropriate.
4. A sixth-grade teacher develops an assessment on how geoscience processes change Earth's surface.
The assessment includes two figures. The first figure is a map showing a cluster of islands and identified
volcanoes within the islands. The second figure is a data table showing the ages and distances of the
island volcanoes. Students will predict where they think the next volcano may form using evidence from
the two figures. Which of the following crosscutting concepts should the students use to make their
claim?
