Assessments

Progress Builds

Each Amplify Science unit is designed around a unit-specific learning progression called a Progress Build. Progress Builds define levels in the increasingly complex explanation of a unit’s anchoring phenomenon that students should be constructing over the course of the unit. Each Progress Build level integrates and builds upon the knowledge and skills from lower levels. In this way, the unit’s Progress Build provides teachers and students with a clear roadmap for how understanding of the unit’s anchor phenomenon is expected to deepen and develop over the course of the unit’s learning experiences. For example, for a given unit, it might take six lessons for a student to be able to demonstrate understanding of Progress Build Level 1. Then, it may take another five lessons for students to build on that knowledge, go deeper, learn new concepts, synthesize new information, and be able to demonstrate understanding of Progress Build Level 2, et cetera.

Because Progress Builds carefully consider not only the knowledge students are likely to have at the beginning of a sequence of instruction, but also how those learning experiences will position students for success with future learning opportunities, Progress Builds support a consistent and coherent approach to a single unit of instruction by aligning instruction and assessment around focused, meaningful, standards-based learning goals, and clearly showing how the learning experiences in the unit deepen with each successive chapter and lesson. Further, by aligning instruction and assessment to the Progress Build, assessment information about how student understanding is developing may be used in an informed way to modify instruction and support student learning.

For middle school, an example of Progress Builds include the following (note how each description expands on the one that came before it to include deeper, more sophisticated concepts):

Progress Build: Metabolism

Cells in the body need molecules from outside to function.

The body can function when the cells of the body are getting and using molecules that come from outside the body — from the food we eat and the air we breathe. Oxygen, glucose, and amino acids are molecules the cells need that come from outside the body.

Systems in the body work together to take in, break down, and deliver needed molecules to the cells.

The body can function when the cells of the body are getting and using molecules that come from outside the body — from the food we eat and the air we breathe. Oxygen, glucose, and amino acids are molecules the cells need that come from outside the body. The digestive system breaks down starch and protein molecules from food into glucose and amino acids, and then the circulatory system transports these molecules to the cells. Also, the respiratory system takes in oxygen molecules from the air, and the circulatory system transports those molecules unchanged to the cells because oxygen molecules are already small enough to fit into cells.

Cells can use these molecules to release energy for the body to function.

The body can function when the cells of the body are getting and using molecules that come from outside the body - from the food we eat and the air we breathe. Oxygen, glucose, and amino acids are molecules the cells need that come from outside the body. The digestive system breaks down starch and protein molecules from food into glucose and amino acids, and then the circulatory system transports these molecules to the cells. Also, the respiratory system takes in oxygen molecules from the air, and the circulatory system transports those molecules unchanged to the cells because oxygen molecules are already small enough to fit into cells.

When glucose and oxygen molecules are both in a cell, they undergo a chemical reaction, called cellular respiration, that releases energy. Cells use the energy released in cellular respiration to function, which allows the whole body to function.