CAASPP Grade 3 ELA - Performance Task

Last updated about 1 month ago

3 questions

Note from the author:

Task:
Your class has been learning about different types of jobs to prepare for your school's job week. Your teacher has asked each person to learn about a different job. You think being an astronaut must be an interesting job so you decide to learn about what it is like to be an astronaut. You have found two sources about being an astronaut.

After you have looked at these sources, you will answer some questions about them. Briefly scan the sources and the three questions that follow. Then, go back and read the sources carefully so you will have the information you will need to answer the questions and complete your research. You may also use scratch paper to take notes.

In Part 2, you will write an informational article using information you have read.

Directions for Beginning:
You will now look at two sources. You can look at either of the sources as often as you like.

Research Questions:
After looking at the sources, use the rest of the time in Part 1 to answer three questions about them. Your answers to these questions will be scored. Also, your answers will help you think about the information you have read and looked at, which should help you write your informational article.

You may refer back to your scratch paper to look at your notes when you think it would be helpful.

Your written notes on scratch paper will be available to you in Part 1 and Part 2 of the performance task.

Instructions

Task:
Your class has been learning about different types of jobs to prepare for your school's job week. Your teacher has asked each person to learn about a different job. You think being an astronaut must be an interesting job so you decide to learn about what it is like to be an astronaut. You have found two sources about being an astronaut.

After you have looked at these sources, you will answer some questions about them. Briefly scan the sources and the three questions that follow. Then, go back and read the sources carefully so you will have the information you will need to answer the questions and complete your research. You may also use scratch paper to take notes.

In Part 2, you will write an informational article using information you have read.

Directions for Beginning:
You will now look at two sources. You can look at either of the sources as often as you like.

Research Questions:
After looking at the sources, use the rest of the time in Part 1 to answer three questions about them. Your answers to these questions will be scored. Also, your answers will help you think about the information you have read and looked at, which should help you write your informational article.

You may refer back to your scratch paper to look at your notes when you think it would be helpful.

Your written notes on scratch paper will be available to you in Part 1 and Part 2 of the performance task.

Part 1

You have found a source describing the type of training that astronauts receive in order to do their job.

What is an Astronaut?
by Talia Yee

Have you ever thought about what it is like in space? Astronauts are people who go out into space. Being an astronaut is an exciting job. Astronauts who see Earth from space say that it is round, like a ball. While in space, astronauts can look down and see clouds, land, and water. Some can even see the moon up close. Astronauts get the chance to see more stars than you or I have ever seen.

Being an astronaut may be exciting, but it is not an easy job. A person who wants to be an astronaut has to study for years. There are many things an astronaut must learn to do before going into space for the first time.

Astronauts train for hundreds of hours. During their training, they learn about space. This type of training might include studying the stars and Earth. It is important that astronauts study space so that they understand what they will work with while in space. The astronauts also learn medical skills like basic first aid during their training. This training allows them to treat simple medical problems so that they can keep each other healthy and safe in space.

In their training, astronauts also learn what life is like on the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS is a large spacecraft that orbits the earth. The ISS is a place where astronauts do science experiments while in space. Astronauts also learn to eat, exercise, and do experiments while floating in the air. They also practice riding in special vehicles that are just for space. These vehicles bring supplies like food and fuel to the ISS. The vehicles are about the size of a pickup truck with 12 wheels. Astronauts even take classes in scuba diving!1 When they're walking underwater in their scuba suits, astronauts feel the same as they would feel walking in space. Lastly, astronauts must also learn how to work together as a team. This is important because as many as eight astronauts may be in one spacecraft. These astronauts have to learn how to live and work together in space.

Each astronaut has a special job to do as part of the team. Some astronauts learn how to put things together so they become good at fixing things. This is important because if something on a spaceship breaks, the astronauts must be able to fix it themselves. Some astronauts are pilots who know how to fly airplanes. These astronauts have to study how to fly and steer a spaceship. They train for many hours to learn how to turn it, how to make it go faster and slower, and how to guide it through space. Some astronauts are leaders and are in charge of all of the people on the ship. They make sure that everybody is doing the right job. Other astronauts learn mostly about science. Their job is to learn how living things change when they are in space.

Although each astronaut has a special job on the team, each of them has to learn how to work where there is no gravity. When they are in a spaceship that is moving around Earth, they can feel as though they do not weigh anything. They are able to float. Many astronauts say that it is fun to float around the inside of a spaceship. Objects in the spaceship can also float, so astronauts can lift and move heavy things easily.

Feeling weightless is fun, but being in space is work for astronauts. Astronauts must be healthy and eat right. They have to exercise and be in good shape. Astronauts have many adventures, but they work hard, too.

¹scuba diving: swimming underwater with a special suit, air tank, and fins

Sources Used

European Space Agency (n.d.). Astronaut training. Retrieved from http://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEM3RIWJD1E_LifeinSpace_0.html

Kidzworld (n.d.). Becoming an astronaut. Retrieved from http://www.kidzworld.com/article/3084-becoming-an-astronaut

NASA (n.d.). Astronauts answer student questions. Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/569954main_astronaut%20_FAQ.pdf

NASA (2011, November 30). What is the International Space Station? Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/what-is-the-iss-k4.html

NASA (n.d.). NASA's space exploration vehicle. Retrieved from: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/technology/space_exploration_vehicle/index.html

Photograph of weightless astronaut (Image Number 4128R-4871), copyright by Superstock. Used by permission.

Required

Click on the boxes to match each source with the idea or ideas that it supports. Some ideas may have more than one source selected.

	Source #1: What is an Astronaut?	Source #2: Life in Space
Astronauts feel weak when they come back from space.
Since objects are also able to float in space, astronauts can easily lift things in space that are heavy on Earth.
Astronauts have a special view of Earth from space.

Required

Explain why it is hard to be an astronaut. Give two reasons, one from Source #1 and one from Source #2. For each reason, include the source title or number.

Part 2

Required

Now begin work on your informational article. Manage your time carefully so that you can
plan your informational article.
write your informational article.
revise and edit the final draft of your article.
For Part 2, you are being asked to write an informational article that is several paragraphs long. Type your response below.

Remember to check your notes and your prewriting/planning as you write, and then revise and edit your informational article.