Science
Science tests inquiry, life science, physical science, earth and space science, engineering design, and safety for PreK–2. Items emphasize scientific practices and children’s misconceptions, not isolated facts.
Core rules
- Scientific practices: ask questions, plan and conduct investigations, collect and record data, analyze evidence, construct explanations, communicate.
- Inquiry is hands-on and minds-on: children predict, test, observe, and revise ideas.
- Life science: needs of organisms, life cycles, observable structures, habitats.
- Physical science: properties of matter, pushes and pulls, motion, light and sound, sinking and floating-investigated, not lectured.
- Earth science: weather, seasons, rocks, soil, water, day and night, caring for the environment.
- Engineering design: define a problem, plan, build, test, improve. Failure is data.
- Safety: supervise tools, avoid unsafe materials, model handwashing, check allergies, use non-glass containers.
- Assessment: use drawings, interviews, and observation, not only written tests.
Worked example
Children predict whether objects sink or float, then test them. One child says the big rock sinks because it is heavy, and the big boat floats, so big means sink. Reasoning: the child is forming a rule from limited evidence. The teacher records predictions, tests a small heavy object and a large hollow object, and asks children to revise the rule: material and shape matter, not size alone.
Traps
- Treating a demo as inquiry when children do not predict or explain.
- Confirming the right answer instead of using evidence.
- Ignoring misconceptions; they persist unless confronted.
- Using unsafe or allergy-triggering materials.