Resources · Mastery
Mastery rubrics.
One rubric per unit, plus the three demonstration rubrics. Every rubric uses the same three levels — Not yet, Approaching, Mastered — so the bar is identical for every student.
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How the rubrics work
The grading philosophy behind every rubric — decisions not points, a vocabulary published in advance, three tokens that absorb a bad day, and how unit mastery becomes a letter grade.
Unit rubrics
A mastery rubric for each of the eight units. Each one names exactly what a student must be able to do — not how many points they earned — to reach Mastered.
Unit 01
Chemistry of Life
Water, bonds, and the molecules that make life chemically possible.
Unit 02
Cell Structure & Function
Organelles, membranes, and how form follows function inside the cell.
Unit 03
Cellular Energetics
Photosynthesis, respiration, and how energy flows through living systems.
Unit 04
Cell Communication & the Cell Cycle
Signaling, division, and what happens when the cycle goes wrong.
Unit 05
Heredity
Mendelian rules, probability, and how traits pass between generations.
Unit 06
Gene Expression & Regulation
Transcription, translation, and how genes are switched on and off.
Unit 07
Natural Selection
Variation, fitness, and how populations change across time.
Unit 08
Ecology
Populations, environments, and the systems that connect living things.
Demonstration rubrics
The three live demonstrations a student defends in person. These are the AI-proof assessments — you can't paste your way through any of them.
Demonstration
Fetal-pig dissection defense
Defending the cuts, structures, and observations in your own dissection.
Demonstration
Timed microscopy identification
Identifying live specimens at the scope, against the clock.
Demonstration
Lab-notebook defense
Standing behind your recorded methods, data, and reasoning out loud.