Short Performance Assessments
Classroom or external assessments (20-40 minutes)
Short Performance Assessments (SPAs) are designed to be taken individually at the end of a lesson sequence that addresses the NGSS Performance Expectation (PE). The SPAs provide information about students' progress with integrating the three dimensions of a single PE.
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This task was adapted from an assessment designed by San Diego Unified School District teachers using the SNAP online courses and feedback from SCALE. See SNAP Course 4 for training in using the SNAP Multidimensional Rubrics to embed assessments into instruction.
Earth Science (2nd Grade)
PE: Compare multiple solutions designed to slow or prevent wind or water from changing the shape of the land (2-ESS2-1).

Physical Science & Engineering (3rd grade)
PE: Ask questions to determine cause and effect relationships of electric or magnetic interactions between two objects not in contact with each other. (3-PS2-3)

Life Science & Engineering (3rd grade)
PEs:
- Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.* (3-LS4-4)
- Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem. (3-5-ETS1-2)

Life Science (5th grade)
PE: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment. (5-LS2-1)

This task was adapted from an assessment designed by San Diego Unified School District teachers using the SNAP online courses and feedback from SCALE. See SNAP Course 4 for training in using the SNAP Multidimensional Rubrics to embed assessments into instruction.
Earth Science (5th Grade)
PE: Develop a model using an example to describe ways the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere interact (5-ESS2-1).

Earth Science (5th grade)
PE: Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the earth’s resources and environment. (5-ESS3-1)

Earth Science (MS)
PE: Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects. (MS-ESS3-2)

Earth Science (MS)
PE: Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that drives this process. (MS-ESS2-1)

Life Science (MS)
PE: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem (LS2-1)

Physical Science (MS)
PE: Use mathematical representations to describe a simple model for waves that includes how the amplitude of a wave is related to the energy in a wave. (MS-PS4-1)

This task was adapted from an assessment designed by San Francisco Unified School District teachers using the SNAP online courses and feedback from SCALE. See SNAP Course 4 for training in using the SNAP Multidimensional Rubrics to embed assessments into instruction.
Physical Science (MS)
PE: Apply Newton's Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects (MS-PS2-1).

This task was adapted from an assessment designed by San Francisco Unified School District teachers using the SNAP online courses and feedback from SCALE. See SNAP Course 4 for training in using the SNAP Multidimensional Rubrics to embed assessments into instruction.
Physical Science (MS)
PE: Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object (MS-PS3-5).

This task was adapted from an assessment designed by San Francisco Unified School District teachers using the SNAP online courses and feedback from SCALE. See SNAP Course 4 for training in using the SNAP Multidimensional Rubrics to embed assessments into instruction.
Physical Science (HS)
PE: Create a computational model to calculate the change in the energy of one component in a system when the change in energy of the other component(s) and energy flows in and out of the system are known (HS-PS3-1).

This task was adapted from an assessment designed by San Francisco Unified School District teachers using the SNAP online courses and feedback from SCALE. See SNAP Course 4 for training in using the SNAP Multidimensional Rubrics to embed assessments into instruction.
Life Science (HS)
PE: Evaluate claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem (HS-LS2-6).