The task
Students were instructed to complete a laboratory activity in which they adjusted the mass and/or the volume of an object so that the object would not float on top of water or sink…it would “flink.”

The task calls for the student to explore the range of available floating and sinking objects. In order to accomplish the task, it is necessary to combine floating and sinking objects to construct one of the correct density.

Circumstances of performance
This sample of student work was produced under the following conditions:
alone in a group
in class as homework
with teacher feedback with peer feedback
timed opportunity for revision

This work sample illustrates a standard-setting performance for the following part of the standards:
a Physical Sciences Concepts: Properties of objects and materials.



What the work shows
a Physical Sciences Concepts: The student produces evidence that demonstrates understanding of properties of objects and materials, such as similarities and differences in the size, weight, and color of objects....
The drawings provide evidence of sorting objects by observable properties and representing the findings.
The students sorted common objects into those that floated and those that sank and recorded their findings.
They used trial and error to find combinations that were neutrally buoyant (that “flinked”) and drew the results.

The written summary provides evidence of conceptual understanding of density, an observable and measurable property of objects and materials.


The statement, “To make something flink, the mass and volume had to equal one,” is acceptable for the elementary school level. At the middle school level, one would expect the student to discuss density in terms of a ratio; for example, “To make something flink, the ratio of the mass and the volume had to equal one,” or “To make something flink, the mass divided by the volume had to equal one.” Further, and although this is perhaps taken for granted, an adequate middle school response would make explicit the density of water, which equals one.
Additional evidence of understanding the concept of density is provided in this sentence which says that the addition of mass changes the buoyancy of the object.

The final sentence completes the summary with reference
to observable properties.

This work is an unrevised piece of homework. There are three spelling errors ("prosess," "absorbe," and "determination") and a missing apostrophe ("partners").