Sample Assessment Items
This is not meant to be printed off and given as a test…this document is to give you ideas of how this standard might be assessed. Please use these as an example when you are developing your own formative assessments. Remember formative assessment is to be given throughout the teaching of a standard to help you guide your instruction based on students needs. A good formative assessment should have a mix of multiple choice as well as open ended.
S4E3. Students will differentiate between the states of water and how they relate to the water cycle and weather.
c. Investigate how clouds are formed.
Multiple Choice:
Clouds form as a result of which stage of the water cycle?
a. condensation
b. evaporation
c. precipitation
d. transpiration
Answer: a
Briana looks at the sky and notices gray, low clouds moving in to cover much of the sky. Which kind of cloud is she observing?
a. cirrus
b. cumulus
c. stratus
d. thunderclouds
Answer: c
For visible clouds to form, water droplets need to cling to ______.
a. dust
b. heat
c. ice
d. wind
Answer: a
A special cloud called ______is formed close to the ground when moisture condenses as air is cooled from below.
a. dew
b. fog
c. nimbus
d. stratus
Answer: a
Clouds form when air is ______.
a. swirled by wind
b. heated by the sun
c. turned into ozone
d. transpired by plants
Answer: b
Cloud type B, or a swelling cumulus cloud, grows tall when ______.
a. warm air rises from the surface
b. ice crystals replace water drops
c. the air in the cloud cools quickly
d. warm air falls to the bottom of the cloud
Answer: a
Open ended:
How are clouds formed?
What are the main ingredients needed to make a cloud?
What is the difference between a cirrus and a stratus cloud?
What weather would you expect to occur if you saw a cumulus cloud?