K-12 performance tasks in 

Students take on the role of artists submitting a piece of work and write an artist statement that tells the story of life (grounded in concepts of evolution) for a contest for a natural history exhibition. In their art (or artist statement), students show their knowledge of the evolution of life forms from organic molecules to more complex structures.

Students take on the role of environmental activist-educators who strive to educate elementary school students about environmental restoration in the wake of natural and human-caused disturbances to ecosystems. Students research the causes, impacts, and potential solutions to natural or man-made environmental disasters or issues. Their job is to understand the impact that disasters have on both the environment as well as the many ways they impact humans. This includes understanding the social, economic, health, legal, and political impact and effects, so they can begin to develop solutions for returning the environment to its optimal state. Students then create educational materials for elementary students on their topic that describes the environmental issue, causes, impact, and possible alternatives or solutions.

Students choose a leader or activist who resonates with them and conduct research on this figure's life experiences, challenges, and accomplishments. Using this research, students write an essay explaining how this activist/leader embodies the values and leadership qualities the student finds to be important in change agents/positive figures. After completing their essays, students present their activist/leader, explaining how the activist/leader displayed values and leadership qualities, and why these are important qualities/values to have.

Students take on the role of textbook authors to write a more holistic history of Native Americans. Students conduct research on Native Americans tribes in the New England region to learn about how they adapted to environments and the impact of that today. After gathering and organizing research, students write a section of a history textbook explaining how Native Americans contributed to the culture of their region and how their contributions are still impactful today. For the final component, students prepare a presentation for their peers.

Students combine their knowledge of birds and adaptations with their imagination to create a new bird that has adaptive features. Students start by thinking of a home for the bird and imagine a bird that can survive in the home that the student creates. Some questions they will consider in the creation of the new bird include: What special body parts does your bird need to survive in the home? What special features does your bird need? How does your bird compare to other birds we have studied? NOTE: Although this task was designed as part of a unit study regarding birds, it can be modified for the study of any animal.

Students take on the role of an agent and try to get others to read an authors' book. Students retell a sequence of the story including details such as characters, setting, problem, and solution.

Students take the role of a person trying to survive during the "Zombie Apocalypse." Students use multiplication to work their way through a series of tasks in order to survive - choose a case to carry their belongings, choose a destination to travel to, raid a grocery store, and calculate how many zombies they have seen in a year.

Upon completion of a unit of study in which students examine a variety of texts from modern works to stories recorded after being passed down in the oral tradition, students independently read and analyze a fable, identifying archetypal characters, setting, story pattern, objects and themes. Then students reinvent the tale in whatever context they choose. For example, a fable originally written with animal characters can be retold using human characters; a story set in an enchanted woods could be relocated to modern-day middle school, etc. The end product is a class retelling book, containing a collection of reimagined tales conveying life lessons, to be left in the school library for future students to enjoy and understand archetypes.

Students take on the role of a high school senior making a sales pitch to an anonymous foreign investor who will pay for 100% of their college expenses if they can prove to the investor which of two potential majors or career tracks best matches their passion and is most worth their pursuing. They should pretend as if they have already done the preliminary research to narrow down to two commensurate possibilities. Their job is to present a variety of research-supported characteristics of each major and persuade their audience as to which would be better suited to them.

Students create a functioning prototype of a board game and convince their target audience to invest in ther product. Students must incorporate elements of board games and video games they already enjoy and combine them with other ideas and features they would like to see in a game.