Understanding  of  evolution  and  inheritance  at  KS1  and  KS2:   Formative  assessment  probes   - Terry  Russell  and  Linda  McGuigan,  Centre  for  Lifelong  Learning,  University  of  Liverpool.

3   Inheritance  Formative  Assessment  Probes     Typical  ideas   Formative  Assessment  Probes   Follow- ‐up  Questions   Children  recognise  that  seedlings   Probe  1:  How  do  young  plants   How  are  growing  seedlings  like   and  young  plants  look  like  their   come  to  look  like  their  parent   their  parent  plants?   parent  plants. [...] How  are  they  produced?  Why  should  parents  want  to  have  such  babies?           5   Deep  time  Formative  Assessment  Probes     Children’s  science  ideas  collected   Description  of  each  ‘Thinking   Questions  to  be  posed  to  elicit   in  the  research     Allowed’  probe     and  develop  thinking   Ideas  about  the  overall  duration  of   Probe  1:  Children  construct  their. [...]                   6   Evolution  Formative  Assessment  Probes     Typical  ideas   Formative  assessment  probe   Follow- ‐up  questions     Children  tend  to  think  of  evolution   Probe  1:  Thinking  about  evolution   What  do  you  think  is  meant  by   as  change  happening  to  individuals   Children  draw  and  write  to  show   ‘evolution’?  Draw  and  write  with   as  they  grow  (m. [...]       Children  tend  to  be  aware  of   Probe  3  How  do  you  think   What  do  you  think  ‘extinct’   examples  of  animals  that  have   extinction  happens?     means?         become  extinct  but  rarely  mention   Encouraging  a  debate  about  the   What  animals  or  plants  do  you   plants. [...]   of  becoming  extinct?       7   Simplified  cladogram  of  primate  evolution                           Possible  questions     Explain  with  reasons  what  you  think  happened  at  A.