One hot, sunny day Sally left two buckets of water out in the sun. The two buckets were the same
except that one was black and one was white. At the end of the day, Sally noticed that the water in the
black bucket felt warmer than the water in the white bucket.
Sally wondered why this happened, so the next day she left the buckets of water out in the hot sun
again. She made sure that there was the same amount of water in each bucket. This time she carefully
measured the temperature of the water in both buckets at the beginning of the day and at the end of
the day. The pictures below show what Sally found.
1.
What changes do you see?
Tell why the changes happened.
NAEP released item, grade 4
Question 1
Scoring Guide
Score & Description
Complete
Student response includes a complete observation and a complete explanation. Student states that
the water in the black bucket got warmer than the water in the white bucket and explains either that
dark colors absorb more heat than light colors or that light colors reflect more heat than dark colors.
a. The black bucket got hotter than the white bucket/The black absorbs more heat
b. The black bucket got hotter than the white bucket/The white reflected the Sun's light
Essential
Student response includes a complete observation and a partial explanation, or vice versa. Or, both
parts of the response may be partial. A partial observation refers to the temperature correctly, but
does not explicitly compare the temperatures of the two buckets. A partial explanation tells that
absorption or reflection of heat occurs without specifying a bucket.
a. The black bucket got hotter than the white bucket (complete)/The water absorbed heat
(partial)
b. The black bucket got hotter (partial)/The black bucket absorbed more heat (complete)
c. The black bucket got hotter (partial)/The water absorbed heat (partial)
Partial
Student response includes a complete or partial observation and an unsatisfactory explanation, or
vice versa. An unsatisfactory observation does not refer to temperature specifically or may only
refer to it in general terms. An unsatisfactory explanation may be something incorrect such as "dark
colors attract heat".
a. The black bucket got hotter than the white bucket (complete)/The sun is hot (unsatisfactory)
b. The black bucket got hotter (partial)/Black attracts heat (unsatisfactory)
c. Black goes up (unsatisfactory)/Black absorbed more heat (complete)
Unsatisfactory/Incorrect
Both the observation and explanation are unsatisfactory or incorrect.
a. It went up higher/Bucket has less water
b. The black got hotter and the white got colder/Because they are different
Complete - Student Response
NAEP released item, grade 4
1 What changes do you see?
Scorer Comments:
A complete observation is made comparing the temperatures of the black bucket and white bucket.
The explanation makes complete statements about the absorption of heat by the black bucket and
the reflection of heat by the white bucket.
1 What changes do you see?
Scorer Comments:
A complete observation is made comparing the temperatures of the black bucket and white bucket.
The explanation makes complete statements about the absorption of heat by dark colors and the
reflection of heat by light colors.
Essential - Student Response
1 What changes do you see?
NAEP released item, grade 4
Scorer Comments:
A partial observation is made stating that the temperature of the black bucket gets hotter; the
response makes no comparison to the temperature of the white bucket. The explanation is
complete, referring to a greater absorption of heat by the black bucket.
1 What changes do you see?
Scorer Comments:
A partial observation is made stating that the temperature of the black bucket gets hotter; the
response makes no comparison to the temperature of the white bucket. The explanation is
complete, referring to a greater absorption of heat by dark colors.
Partial - Student Response
1 What changes do you see?
NAEP released item, grade 4
Scorer Comments:
A partial observation is made stating that the temperature of the black bucket gets hotter; the
response makes no comparison to the temperature of the white bucket. The explanation is
incorrect, referring to the misconception that black color attracts heat and white color attracts
coolness. Although objects absorb heat, they cannot actively pull it in.
1 What changes do you see?
Scorer Comments:
A partial observation is made stating that the temperature of the black bucket gets hotter; the
response makes no comparison to the temperature of the white bucket. The explanation is
unsatisfactory, repeating the observation that the black bucket heats up more.
1
Unsatisfactory/Incorrect - Student Response
What changes do you see?
NAEP released item, grade 4
Scorer Comments:
The observation is ambiguous and unsatisfactory. Since there is no specific reference to
temperature, it is unclear what is different. The explanation is unsatisfactory, simply repeating part
of the question.
1
What changes do you see?
Scorer Comments:
The observation and explanation are both incorrect. Although it is given that the two cups are the
same except for their color, the reasons in the response indicate that the cups are different.
NAEP released item, grade 4
2000 National Performance Results
Score
Percentage of Students
Unsatisfactory/incorrect
29%
Partial
59%
Essential
6%
Complete
5%
Omitted
1%
Off task
1%
Note:
•
•
These results are for public and nonpublic school students.
Percentages may not add to 100 due to rounding.
The Fields of Science: Earth & Space Sciences (Sub content classification: Water)
Knowing and Doing Science : Scientific Investigation
NAEP released item, grade 4
The Fields of Science
Earth & Space Sciences
This question measures basic knowledge and understanding of the following:
Water
•
•
•
water cycle;
nature of the oceans and their effects on water and climate; and
location of water, its distribution, characteristics, and effect of and influence on human activity.
Knowing and Doing Science
Scientific Investigation
Scientific investigation probes students' abilities to use the tools of science, including both cognitive
and laboratory tools. Students should be able to acquire new information, plan appropriate
investigations, use a variety of scientific tools, and communicate the results of their investigations.
NAEP released item, grade 4