Ranking Tasks

Gravity Direction

This ranking task presents common objects located on the surface of the Earth and asks the student to order the figures based on the strength of the gravitational force acting between the objects and the Earth. The goal of this exercise is to strengthen the student's understanding that a mutual gravitation force acts equally on each of the two objects.

Gravity Mass and Distance

This ranking task presents pairs of objects of varying mass and distance. The goal of this exercise is to strengthen the student's understanding that the mutual gravitational force between two objects is a function of both mass and distance, and that distance is especially important.

Scientific Method

Here are several ranking task exercises aimed at strengthening student understanding of the characteristics and requirements of modern science. The goals are (1) recognizing science as a step-by-step process of investigation, (2) weighing the reliability of initial observations, (3) judging the strength of a scientific hypothesis, (4) judging the strength of testing methods, (5) Evaluating test results and conclusions that can be drawn.