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 08 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Use the supplied source, inputs and practice; this does not certify unobserved hands-on technique.
Instructor-selected new variant or observation, with approved references and accommodations.
Keep source/date, chosen level, calculations, uncertainty and practical/safety review.
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 read the data and justify the biology 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.
| Term | Accepted explanation | Distinction |
|---|---|---|
| NPP | GPP minus producer respiration | Production is a rate, not standing biomass. |
| Transfer efficiency | Receiving/supplying production | Approximate 10% is not universal; multiply successive ratios. |
| Nitrogen fixation | N₂ to reactive nitrogen | Distinct from nitrification and denitrification. |
| Reservoir balance | Final = initial + inputs − outputs | Keep material, boundary and time units compatible. |
| Independent quadrat | Distinct sampled area under a design | A recount is not another independent plot. |
| Carrying capacity | K under stated conditions | Not a permanent species constant. |
| Simpson diversity here | 1 − Σpi², with replacement | State convention; not every source uses this form. |
| Association | Variables vary together | Does not by itself establish causation. |
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy flow & trophic levels | Treats all transfer as exactly ten percent. | Uses a ratio with incomplete units. | Traces energy flow and uses about 10% transfer as an approximate model, explaining why efficiency varies and energy remains conserved. |
| Nutrient cycles | Uses one generic cycle without reservoirs. | Names some processes with missing pathways. | Traces carbon, nitrogen, and water through their principal reservoirs and processes and reconciles bounded ledgers. |
| Population dynamics | Extrapolates growth without conditions. | Uses a model with partial interpretation. | Models and interprets exponential and logistic growth, carrying capacity, sampling variation and limiting factors using supplied data. |
| Community interactions | Labels interactions without evidence. | Recognizes direct effects with prompting. | Explains predation, competition, symbiosis and environmental responses, including testable indirect effects. |
| Human impact & data interpretation | Treats association or one index as causal proof. | Calculates an index with missing sampling limits. | Interprets diversity, sampling and environmental comparisons with stated conventions, controls, uncertainty and causal limits. |
| 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. |
Public, nonsecure calibration. Students attempt first; an instructor supplies a fresh variant or observation for assessment.
A new synthetic system has GPP 15000, producer respiration 9000, herbivore production 600 and carnivore production 90 kJ/m²/year. Calculate NPP and both transfer efficiencies; does a non-10% value violate conservation?
Science criteria 1–2: approximate transfer and all three material cycles; criterion 5: quantitative evidence with boundaries and uncertainty.
Use the unit’s actual data and criterion-linked evidence. Require a new variant or observation for assessment; never infer hands-on technique from a supplied-data answer. Integration cannot reduce the science grade or block a practical pass.
All unit cases: student learning pathway. Record chosen level, task ID, source, first attempt and instructor follow-up.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
Integration is reported separately and cannot lower the science grade or block a science demonstration pass. Science and practical criteria determine that pass.
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Energy flow & trophic levels | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Nutrient cycles | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Population dynamics | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Community interactions | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Human impact & data interpretation | 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.