The first and sixth period biology honors students were given a two tiered assessment

that included two questions addressing two different concepts. The first question was about
diffusion; students were shown a picture of salt being poured into a beaker of water. They were
required to draw what would happen when the salt was poured and to explain their reasoning.
This question is meant to reveal whether students think that particles disperse equally, all
concentrate in a one area, and to see what other explanations they come up with that we can
talk about in class. The second question was a picture of a red blood cell in a beaker of salt
water. They were required to draw what they thought would happen to the cell after being
placed in the solution and to explain their reasoning. This question is specific to our main task
which is about osmosis. Our goal was to see what direction students think the salt goes,
whether the size of the cell changes (increases, decreases, or stays the same), and any
combination of interactions they think happened between the cell and salt. We will first address
question two on the pre-assessment. The quantitative results are summarized in Table 1.
In period six, five students believed there was some sort of attraction between the salt
molecules and the cell. Four of the five students believed the red blood cell would attract the salt
molecules and, in their picture, drew the salt molecules in very close proximity to the cell. One of
these students depicted the cell repelling the salt molecules. They explained that the cell is
neutral but salt is not. In first period, two students believed there would be an attraction because
they might have opposite charges. At the time of this pre-assessment, the students were
learning about chemistry and specifically about balancing chemical equations. These students
were likely drawing on what they were currently learning and using it to try and explain this
scenario.
Five students in period six believed there would be no difference or change in the salt or
the red blood cell. One of these students only provided a drawing with no explanation. Three
stated they did not know or did not have a reason to back up their claim. Interestingly, the
remaining student stated the reason it would be unchanged is due to the red blood cell not
dissolving the salt. This is an example of another student using dissolving in their explanation
(others mentioning dissolving are summarized below). In this case, the response sounded to me
as if they believed dissolving must play some role or be included in the explanation. Four
students in period one believed there would be no change. Two of these students said this was
because the salt has no effect on the cell and the other two specifically said the salt would fall to
the bottom of the beaker.
Four students in period six stated the red blood cell will absorb the salt and
expand.These students explained that the red blood cell will absorb the salt and all of their
pictures showed the cell larger in size than in the before picture. Eight students in period one
had the same explanation and picture but two of these students had a different reasoning. One
student said this happened because the cell needs energy and the other student claimed the
cell needs nutrients.
In period six, four students believed the red blood cell will or will not break down.These
three students had different responses but we grouped them together because they specifically
mentioned breaking down in their explanation. One student claimed salt would break down the
cell membrane. Two students claimed it would break apart with no explanation as to why. The
last student claimed the cell would not break down because it is heterogenous. In period one,
four students believed the cell would break down. Two of these students provided no

explanation other than it would break down. The other two students either claimed because the
cell could not take the salinity of the water, or because the solution is too dense for the cell.
Four students in period six believed the red blood cell would absorb the salt molecules
and shrink. These students described the salt as causing the cell to dry out or dehydrate and
showed less or no salt molecules around the cell. They also drew the molecule as smaller or
shriveled up. No students in period one had this same claim.
There were some explanations that were uncommon and only one or two students had.
One student in period six claimed the red blood cell would absorb the salt but the size remained
the same in their picture. In period one, two students claimed the red blood cell would dissolve
because it was mixed into the solution and they drew nothing because the blood cell
disappeared. One student said the red blood cell would change color, and one student said the
cell would die from absorbing moisture.
In terms of correct, incorrect, or incomplete, the four students who stated the cell would
shrink were correct but their reasoning was incorrect. They stated the reason as the salt being
absorbed by the cell. The correct answer is that water would move out of the cell which would
cause it to shrink. Therefore, all of the answers were incorrect but they contained great content
which we can work with to help guide our lesson which we will talk more about in part b.
Table 1. Summary of results from periods one and six on question two
Explanation

Period 1

Period 6

Total

Electrical
attraction/repulsion
between red blood
cell and salt
molecules

No effect or change
between red blood
cell and salt
molecules

Red blood cell will

absorb the salt
molecules and
expand

12

Red blood cell will

absorb the salt
molecules and shrink

N/A

Red blood cell will or

will not break down

Red blood cell will

absorb salt and
remain the same

N/A

Red blood cell will

dissolve into nothing

N/A

Red blood cell will

change color

N/A

Red blood cell will die

N/A

Quantitative results for question one are summarized in Table 2. In period six, seventeen
students said the sugar molecules would disperse in the water. Their drawings depicted the
molecules evenly distributed throughout the water. In period one, seventeen students said that
the sugar molecules would disperse in the water. Only six students said that the sugar
molecules would sink to the bottom. Two students stated that the sugar cube dissolved but drew
the sugar gathering at the bottom, one student claimed that the sugar molecules are not in
contact with anything else unless it gets shaken up so the molecules sink, another student
claimed that it sunk to the bottom because it was more dense than water, and one simply stated
that it sunk to the bottom.
In period six, four students stated that the sugar would sink to the bottom but they had
different reasons. One student discussed an observation of putting sugar in water and seeing it
sink to the bottom, another student stated solid objects fall to the bottom, another claimed that
they remain small because they dissolve but drew the sugar molecules clumped at the bottom,
and the last student said the sugar would sink due to its mass.
When comparing students correctness, thirty four students correctly stated that the
sugar molecules would disperse in the water and ten students incorrectly stated that the sugar
molecules would sink to the bottom. From the thirty four students, thirty one students correctly
stated that the sugar molecule dissolved or broke down, and one student said it would dissolve
and turn into a homogenous solution. However, two incorrectly justified their claim by stating
that the molecules would break down into atoms and stick with the water. The students who
incorrectly stated that the sugar would collect at the bottom were not completely incorrect. We
had not taken into account that students may have assumed that there was more sugar than the

water could dissolve. For that reason we plan on addressing and clarifying this in the enactment
of the lesson.
Table 2. Summary of results from periods one and six on question one
Explanation

Period 1

Period 6

Total

The sugar molecules

will disperse in the
water

17

17

34

The sugar molecules

will sink to the bottom

10

Thinking about the design of our lesson, we will first address question two. The most
popular category that came from twelve students was that the salt will enter the cell and cause
the cell to expand. Interestingly, this same observation led to two other conclusions- that the cell
would shrink or stay the same. This is a very informative look into how the students are thinking.
We can use this in our whole group discussion at the end of the task when students are trying to
come up with an explanation for why their cells expanded or shrank. Student are thinking that
salt is moving into the cell rather than water moving out. We can draw this back to the big idea
that the plasma membrane acts as a boundary and controls what enters and leaves the cell.
Only small molecules and water can pass freely without needing a form of active transport. We
will make sure to bring this up in the discussion and even in the questions we use to monitor the
small groups. Some other ideas that were brought up were attraction/repulsion and the breaking
down of a cell. These are important to address first because they are not rested in sound
reasoning. A way to address this with students is to poke at their reasoning. For example,
asking students what charge salt has. If they respond positive or negative, we could lead into
what it must be if both oppositely charged ions are together. In reference to the cell breaking
apart, we could make sure in the launch to clearly address the context. If we make certain that
students know we are referring to cells in our body, we can push them to think about what might

cause a cell in our body to break apart and what effect that would have. There were other
responses as well but these are the most important and common to discuss.
For the first question there was less disparity among the students answers. However,
there were a few students who answered the questions differently than expected. Students who
answered that the sugar cube would collect at the bottom were not completely incorrect. In
some cases, sugar does clump at the bottom of liquids if the ratio of sugar is greater than that of
liquid. Although this was not the intended response, we intend on emphasizing what happens
when something goes from a high concentration to a lower concentration solution.