Learning Progression Developed to Support Students in Building a Particle Model of Matter

The particle nature of matter is a core idea of science that serves as the building block for understanding states of matter phase changes and properties of substances. Science educators have started to explore learning progressions as a means for understanding how students develop their knowledge of complex science content over time. The development and application of progress variables is one method that has been suggested as a means for tracking students’ knowledge. The How can I smell things from a distance? sixth grade (ages 11–12) chemistry unit takes the approach of building students’ ideas through students’ development of particle model of matter. The empirically validated particle model of matter progress variable was used to track 122 students’ development toward a particle model of matter. Results show that well-aligned curriculum and assessment can help students to develop a particle model of matter.

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