Use these targets, vocabulary, rubrics, examples, and score sheet with the instructor's approved lesson and procedure. This is an assessment companion, not a complete lesson or safety authorization.
Student lessons, data, and worked answers: Unit 06 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Find the Milky Way band and a bright galaxy; sketch under a red flashlight.
The student classifies a galaxy from an image and defends it (Page 4).
Classifications, dark-matter reasoning, and dated sketches kept distinct.
You are making a decision, not adding up points. For each criterion, decide whether the work is Developing, Proficient, or Mastery — the column language tells you which. A criterion counts as mastered only when the student can both name what they see and defend the structure behind it. Each student has three tokens per term; each token retries one rubric criterion. Approved accommodations, equipment failures, and approved absences are handled separately and do not consume these tokens.
Accept listed synonyms; use the distinction column to resolve near-matches.
| Canonical answer | Accepted synonyms | Common confusion / discriminator |
|---|---|---|
| Galaxies & the Milky Way | ||
| Galaxy classification | spiral, elliptical, irregular | Sort by shape from real images, not by how bright they look |
| The Milky Way's structure | disk, bulge, halo | We sit partway out a spiral arm, not at the center |
| Spiral arm | disk feature | We live inside the disk, looking through it as the Milky Way band |
| Deep-sky object | galaxy, nebula, cluster | Faint and extended; needs a dark sky and a red flashlight for night vision |
| Dark matter & large-scale structure | ||
| Rotation curve | galaxy spin measurement | Outer stars orbit too fast for the visible mass alone |
| Dark matter | unseen mass | Inferred from motion, not seen directly — not just dark sky |
| Galaxy cluster | bound galaxy group | Galaxies gravitationally gathered into groups and clusters |
| Cosmic web | large-scale structure | Clusters strung along filaments with vast voids between |
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classifying galaxies | Cannot tell galaxy types apart. | Names the types but misclassifies them from images. | Classifies galaxies as spiral, elliptical, or irregular from real images. |
| The Milky Way & our place in it | Pictures the Milky Way as random scattered stars. | Names the disk but cannot locate us within it. | Describes the Milky Way's disk, bulge, and halo and places us partway out a spiral arm. |
| Evidence for dark matter | Confuses unseen mass with a dark image. | Names a curve without evaluating its model. | Compares a rotation curve with a mass model and states the evidence and limitations of the unseen-mass inference. |
| How galaxies cluster | Thinks galaxies are spread evenly through space. | Names structures but treats all as gravitationally bound. | Distinguishes bound groups and clusters from the larger cosmic web and explains where the Local Group fits. |
| Observation technique & the journal | Cannot find a deep-sky object and leaves the journal blank. | Finds the Milky Way band but keeps thin, undated notes. | Locates the Milky Way and a bright galaxy such as Andromeda with binoculars or telescope under a red flashlight and logs dated sketches. |
| Integration (cross-domain) | Makes no supported connection between the source and the science. | Uses the source but needs help connecting evidence, writing, or limitations to the science. | Independently connects History, Reading, and Writing using a cited source, appropriate evidence, a limitation, and a scientific explanation. |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is name what you see and defend the structure behind it: a spiral shape is a classification; the rotation curve is the evidence. Ask “what type is this, and how do you know galaxies hide extra mass?”
Read these before you grade. They show what Mastery and Developing actually sound like, plus the edge cases where you should coach rather than decide on the spot.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Classifying galaxies | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | The Milky Way & our place in it | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Evidence for dark matter | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | How galaxies cluster | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Observation technique & the journal | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 6 | Integration (cross-domain) | Dev / Prof / Mast |
☐ No ☐ Yes — for criterion: __________
Tokens left this term after this session (choose one): ☐ 3 ☐ 2 ☐ 1 ☐ None left
Dev = Developing · Prof = Proficient · Mast = Mastery · Unsure between two levels? Circle the lower one and note what a re-do would need.