Checkpoints in any science investigation help keep your students on track, provide opportunities to encourage critical thinking, and allow the teacher to more effectively facilitate the investigative process. Checkpoints are identified by the teacher as places where student progress needs to be checked before they move on to the next step. I used the standard "Raise your hand when you reach point X." Raised hands work but aren't nearly as fun as this checkpoint tip using red and green cups.

 To use the red cup-green cup method of signaling, students place the green cup on top when they are working and place the red cup on top when they have reached a checkpoint.

Teachers can easily identify the student groups that have reached a checkpoint and verify that they're ready to move forward with the investigation. This is an excellent opportunity to also ask probing questions:

What if...?

How do you know?

What evidence supports this claim?

What do you predict will happen next?

Is this the result you expected?

How do you monitor checkpoints in science investigations?

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