Engaging students in experiences with phenomena (Category III) and presenting them with scientific ideas (Category IV) will not lead to effective learning unless they are given time, opportunities, and guidance to make sense of the experiences and ideas (Driver, 1983). No matter how clearly materials may present ideas, students will make their own meaning out of it (Anderson & Smith, 1984). Carefully chosen and sequenced questions and tasks are necessary to scaffold students' attempts to construct the intended meaning of experiences or presentations of ideas (Arons, 1990; Anderson & Smith, 1987; Anderson & Roth, 1989). By students making their thinking about experiences and ideas overt to themselves, the teacher, and other students, it can be examined, questioned, and shaped (Glaser, 1994; Linn & Burbules, 1993; Needham, 1987). This category includes criteria to determine whether the material provides students with opportunities and guidance to make meaning out of its activities.

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