Formative Assessment - The Scientific Method

Students always come in each year with prior knowledge of the Scientific Method. The only problem is that they commonly forget how to apply these steps in an experimental form. Here is a FREE copy of the formative assessment I use to determine how much students know about creating an experiment based on the scientific method. There are two copies per page (to save paper of course!)

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Formative-Assessment-Applying-the-Scientific-Method-to-Experimental-Design-825614


It's a good idea to first have students reflect on their current knowledge of the scientific method. This can be brought about through a class discussion and possibly the class creation of the steps to the scientific method. 

Secondly, students can be given this formative assessment to determine their knowledge of applying their question (given to them) to the scientific method. This handout will show whether the student knows how to create a hypothesis and a solution to test their problem. Depending on the knowledge of the student(s), the teacher can proceed with explaining the experimental processes and continue through the steps of the scientific method.

If time permits, it would be a good idea for each group of students to actually do one of their created experiments so they can come up with their results!