Subconcept 3: Living Things Are Interdependent - A Child's Place in ...

TO THE TEACHER
A CHILD’S PLACE IN THE ENVIRONMENT
Introduction to the Assessment Questions for Subconcepts 3 and 4
Unit 1: Respecting Living Things
A variety of assessments can be used as informational tools to help a teacher determine whether
instruction should be adjusted for students to achieve specific content standards or to show
progress towards certain learning goals.
This multiple choice assessment will provide some information to the teacher concerning
students’ understandings of the third and fourth subconcepts and the content addressed in the
lessons from Unit 1: Respecting Living Things (A Child’s Place in the Environment series) as
well as the corresponding content standards in science.
The questions in this assessment focus on the seven lessons that support Subconcept 3: Living
Things Are Interdependent; and Subconcept 4: People Can Choose to Care About and Protect
Living Things.
• Lesson 12: What Is a Food Chain?
• Lesson 13: What Is a Food Web?
• Lesson 14: What Jobs Are Important in an Environment?
• Lesson 15: What Can Be Observed in a Natural Community?
• Lesson 16: How Do People Care About and Protect Living Things and Their
Environment?
• Lesson 17: How Can We Show We Care About Living Things?
• Lesson 18: What Class Project Can Be Completed to Show Respect for Living Things?
After students have completed this assessment, the teacher can identify what additional
instruction might be necessary for students to master the required concepts and content. To
acquire more reliable data concerning what students are actually learning, a variety of
assessments should be used on a regular basis. Information on other types of assessments is
provided at the end of this document.
Instructions for the Test
Teach students how to select an answer and fill in the bubble to indicate their answer by
completing the practice questions 1, 2, and 3 as a class. Then read each question to students as
they look at their copies of the questions and ask them to fill in the bubble for the answer they
think is correct.
Some teachers ask students to first place their fingers on a specific question as the teacher reads
it. Next, students are asked to point to each answer as it is being read. Then the teacher re-reads
the four answers, as students fill in the bubble in front of the answer they think is correct. If
students are having trouble filling in a bubble, they can circle the answer they think is correct.
An answer key is provided for the teacher.

Correlations to Standards
The Science Content Standards for California Public Schools listed below have been edited to
save space. For the full description of each standard visit: http://www.cde.ca.gov/standards/ or
www.cde.ca.gov/cdepress/downloads.html
Lessons 12 through 18 in Respecting Living Things address the following science content
standards for California schools for grade one:
2b – Plants, animals need water; plants also need light.
2c – Animals eat plants, other animals for food.
4a – Draw features of thing described.
4e – Make new observations if discrepancies exist.
Other Types of Assessments
This assessment should not be viewed as the only way to assess students. Using the constructive
response method that has students write explanations, rationale, predictions, and experimental
design is an effective way to determine what students are learning. Not only should questions be
used to prompt learners to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding, but also a variety of
tasks could show what skills students have learned. For example, performance-based tasks allow
students to show what they understand by applying their knowledge to various situations. For
information on various types of assessments, guidelines for using assessments, etc. visit the
following websites:
• “Assessment for Learning” from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in London
(“Assessment for Learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by
learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need
to go and how best to get there.”)
http://www.qca.org.uk/ca/5-14/afl/
• “Assessment for Learning: 10 Principles” from The Assessment Reform Group Institute of
Education University of London (“The aim of the Assessment Reform Group is to ensure
that public policy at all levels takes account of relevant research in assessment practice.”)
http://www.assessment-reform-group.org.uk/principles.html
• “Assessment” from WestEd in San Francisco (“Specialists at WestEd create resource
materials in assessment design and provide services in the development, implementation,
and evaluation of state and local assessments — tests that measure the performance of
teachers as well as students.”)
http://www.wested.org/

A Child’s Place in the Environment
ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS FOR UNIT 1:
Respecting Living Things
GRADE ONE
Subconcept 3: Living Things Have Needs (Lessons 12 to 15)
Subconcept 4: People Can Choose to Care About and Protect Living Things (Lessons 16 to 18)
Name: _____________________________________ Date:___________________
Complete the following three practice questions as a class:
1. This is a picture of a:
! A. cat.
! B. mouse.
! C. dog.
! D. bird.
2. Which of the following is a living thing?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
Jay and Amy went on a field trip to a park.
3. What living things might they find at the park?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
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BEGIN TEST
Questions for Lesson 12
1. Which set of pictures below shows a food chain? (Each arrow points
toward the thing that eats it.)
! A. ____________________________________________________
! B. ____________________________________________________
! C. ____________________________________________________
! D. ____________________________________________________
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Complete the food chain.
Grass is eaten by ? which is eaten by a person
2. What is missing from the food chain above?
! A. Moth ! B. Cow ! C. Frog ! D. Spider
Complete the food chain.
? is eaten by a grasshopper, which is eaten by a frog
3. What is missing from the above food chain?
! A. Grass ! B. Moth ! C. Cow ! D. Fish
Questions for Lesson 13
4. What would not be part of a food web?
! A. Bird ! B. Beetle ! C. Bicycle ! D. Grass
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5. What do most food webs contain?
! A. Only plants
! B. Only animals
! C. Water
! D. Plants and animals
Questions for Lesson 14
6. What is one job of a flower?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
To make nectar To make To make rain To make food
for bees sunshine for sharks
7. What is one job of a spider?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
To eat birds To play in To eat insects To climb the
the sunshine
waterspout
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8. In a forest, one important job of trees is to:
! A. keep the air clean.
! B. stop traffic.
! C. be a toothpick.
! D. hold laundry.
Questions for Lesson 15
9. Which living thing can be a home for a bird?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
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Jay and Amy went on a field trip to a park.
10. What living things might they find at the park?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
11. Amy looked for living things under a rock. What might she find?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
12. Jay looked for living things in a tree. What might he find?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
13. Amy and Jay looked for living things in the grass. What might they find?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
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Question for Lesson 16 (from Subconcept 4: People Can Choose to Care About and
Protect Living Things)
14. How can people show they care about living things?
! A. ! B. ! C. ! D.
By pulling leaves By stepping on By pulling up a By observing a spider
off a tree a spider flower by its roots and leaving it alone
Question for Lesson 17
15. How can people show they care about living things?
! A. By being quiet and leaving them alone
! B. By throwing trash in the park
! C. By dumping oil in the lake
! D. By keeping wild animals as pets
Questions for Lesson 18
16. What is a good class project that students could do to help living things?
! A. Throw litter on the ground.
! B. Never recycle.
! C. Smash spiders.
! D. Plant trees.
Some students found a baby deer near their school. A baby deer is a wild animal.
17. If you see a wild animal, what should you do?
! A. Leave it alone.
! B. Catch it and put in a cage.
! C. Make it into a pet.
! D. Give it lots of food.
18. What is the best way to help wild animals?
! A. Scream and shout at them.
! B. Throw rocks at them.
! C. Improve their habitat.
! D. Try to pet them.
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