David Liu is a science teacher at Kennedy Middle School (K.M.S.) in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He is deeply concerned that state government will take control of his school if the scores earned by K.M.S. students on state-mandated tests do not significantly improve. Mr. Liu decides to begin using more "authentic assessments" in his classes as a first step toward improving the performance of his students on subsequent standardized testing.
Design three authentic assessments Mr. Liu might use with his eighth-grade general science class. What makes these assessments "authentic"?