Formative assessment: Elicit many voices and many ideas. Defer responding until many ideas have been surfaced. Rather, listen closely for students’ notions about cause, effect, mechanism, and explanation. Consider how the ideas students shared relate to the scientific use of these terms needed for the MRSA investigation, biology, and science methods writ large.

Responsive instruction, short-­‐term: If needed and possible in a few words, leverage student response as a foundation for clarifying how these terms will be used in this investigation.

Responsive instruction, long-­‐term: It may be helpful to return to these words and follow up on students’ changing understandings of their meanings in the context of the MRSA investigation.