2008-2009 school year
Carbon Clinical Interview
Protocol: Guidelines (download)
Introduction to carbon cycle assessments (PDF; Word)
We have developed 2008-2009 Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for elementary school students:
Pre test Elementary School Level, Form A (Word)
Pre test Elementary School Level, Form B (Word)
Pre test Elementary School Level, Form C (Word)
Post test Elementary School Level, Form A (Word)
Post test Elementary School Level, Form B (Word)
Post test Elementary School Level, Form C (Word)
We have developed 2008-2009 Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for middle school students
Pre test Middle School Level, Form A (Word)
Pre test Middle School Level, Form B (Word)
Pre test Middle School Level, Form C (Word)
We have developed 2008-2009 Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for high school students
Pre test High School Level, Form A (Word)
Pre test High School Level, Form B (Word)
Pre test High School Level, Form C (Word)
We have developed 2008-2009 Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for college students (Carbon and Energy in Ecosystems Diagnostic Question Clusters):
College Level (PDF; Word) 
Answer Key (PDF; Word)
2007-2008 school year
Carbon Clinical Interview
Proposal: AERA (download)
Protocol: Guidelines (download); High School (download); Middle School (download); Elementary School (File1) (File2) (Checklist)
Handout: KSI (download); CRCSTL (download)
Introduction to carbon cycle assessments (PDF; Word)
We have developed 2007-2008 Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for elementary school students:
Post test Elementary School Level, Form A (Word)
Post test Elementary School Level, Form B (Word)
Post test Elementary School Level, Form C (Word)
Elementary School Level, Form A (PDF; Word) Answer Key (PDF; Word)
Elementary School Level, Form B (PDF; Word) Answer Key (PDF; Word)
Elementary School Level, Form C (PDF; Word) Answer Key (PDF; Word)
All Elementary School Items Answer Key (PDF; Word)
We have developed 2007-2008 Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for middle school students:
Post test Middle School Level, Form A (Word)
Post test Middle School Level, Form B (Word)
Post test Middle School Level, Form C (Word)
Middle School Level, Form A (PDF; Word) Answer Key (PDF; Word)
Middle School Level, Form B (PDF; Word) Answer Key (PDF; Word)
Middle School Level, Form C (PDF; Word) Answer Key (PDF; Word)
All Secondary (Middle & High) School Items Answer Key (PDF; Word)
We have developed 2007-2008 Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for high school students:
High School Level, Form A (PDF; Word) Answer Key (PDF; Word)
High School Level, Form B (PDF; Word) Answer Key (PDF; Word)
High School Level, Form C (PDF; Word) Answer Key (PDF; Word)
All Secondary (Middle & High) School Items Answer Key (PDF; Word)
2006-2007 school year
Introduction to carbon cycle assessments (PDF; Word)
We have developed Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for elementary school students:
Module 1. Matter (under construction)
Module 2. Organism
Animal metabolism tests (version 1) (version 2)
Plant metabolism tests (version 1) (version 2)
Module 3. Ecosystem
Ecosystem (version 1) (version 2)
Module 4. Energy system (under construction)
Carbon K12 Paper Assessments: Ecosystem Test (download)
Interview questions for elementary level are developed to detect how students trace matter and energy in environmental and human systems.
Interview Questions for Elementary Level (Download)
We have developed Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for middle school students:
Module 1. Matter
Module 2. Organism
Plants and Animals Test (version 1) (verson 2)Module 3. Ecosystem
2007 Ecosystem Test (version 1) (version 2)
Module 4. Energy system
Carbon K12 Paper Assessments
Ecosystem Test (version 1) (version 2)
We have newly developed Environmental Literacy Carbon Assessment for high school students:
Module 1. Systems and Scale
2006 Systems and Scales version 1 (Pre-test) (Post-test)
2006 Systems and Scales version 2 (Pre-test) (Post-test)
Module 2. Organism
Plant and animal metabolism assessment
(version 1) (version 2) (version 3)
Module 3. Ecosystem
Ecosystem test (version 1) (version 2) (version 3)
Module 4. Engineered Systems (under construction)
Carbon K12 Paper Assessments
2007 Ecosystem Test (version 1) (version 2)
2005-2006 school year
We developed test papers to assess student understanding of carbon cycle in environmental literacy. The assessments were conducted in 40 elementary school classes (3rd & 4th grade), 40 middle school classes (6th & 8th grade), and 40 high school biology classes. We also developed Working Paper to analyze the results of student assessments. Our key findings are:
- Students primarily reason at macroscopic level; Reasoning at microscopic scale and large scale is more common in explanations from older students, but very limited.
- Students do not trace matter from organic to inorganic forms (e.g., decomposition).
- Students view living systems as connected by having things in common or being part of a food chain, but not by tracing matter and energy.
- Students make environmental decisions based on needs of humans and animals.
- Elementary Test (PDF; Word) (Answer Key); Elementary Working Paper
- Middle School Test (PDF;Word) (Answer Key) ; Middle School Working Paper
- High School Test (PDF; Word) (Answer Key); High School Working Paper
