Overview

Jules Craft, a high school science teacher, recognized the need for alternative assessment formats through her participation in TRKE. This unit features a project-based assessment approach that emphasizes student autonomy and experiential learning. Students collect, analyze, and interpret environmental data to evaluate and assess impacts on the environment and biodiversity.

Take a closer look at Jules' Alternative Assessment Unit HERE

Goals

  • Engage students in authentic data collection and interpretation
  • Provide student autonomy through project-based assessment
  • Bild comfort with data and uncertainty using real-World contexts
  • Connect classroom learning to field experiences and statewide datasets

Implementation & Outcomes

  • Implemented with 9th-12th grade students
  • Activities included matter/energy flow modeling, a brewery field trip, and Future Creatures engineering challenge where students imagined how environmental changes may impact ecosystems
  • Students populated a shared spreadsheet, selected local impacts and proposed evidence-based solutions
  • Community partners included WY Game & Fish, Sheridan County Conservation District, Sheridan City Planner, and others
  • Future plans include: more pre-field environmental impact brainstorming, expanded product-format options, and inviting specialists/researchers to the field to guide students in interpreting and collecting data

Resources & Links

Contact for More Information

For more details about this program or to learn how to incorporate similar activities in your school, please reach out to the TRKE program coordinators.