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 public practice answers (not assessment keys): Unit 03 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Expose the specimen and locate, name, and explain real structures — watched live.
The student explains why each structure does its job (Page 4 anchors).
Careful observations of the external and mouthpart structures 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. Technique criteria are mastered only when an educator observes them; identification and explanation criteria can be mastered on the approved specimen, image, model, or virtual route without penalty. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Head | anterior region | Bears the eyes, antennae, and mouthparts |
| Thorax | middle region | Bears the wings and the three pairs of legs |
| Abdomen | posterior region | The long rear tagma; carries the spiracles along its sides |
| Compound eye | faceted eye | Made of many units; not a single simple lens |
| Antennae | feelers | Paired sensory organs on the head |
| Spiracles | breathing pores | Openings along the abdomen; air enters directly, not through lungs |
| Tympanum | hearing membrane | The eardrum-like membrane on the first abdominal segment |
| Exoskeleton | cuticle; outer skeleton | Supports and protects from the outside; molted to grow |
| Mandibles | jaws | Hard, toothed mouthparts that chew |
| Maxillae | accessory jaws | Paired mouthparts that hold and manipulate food |
| Labium | lower lip | The fused mouthpart forming the floor of the mouth |
| Gastric caeca | digestive pouches | Finger-like pouches off the gut that secrete digestive juices |
| Appendage pair | left-right matched structures | Compare the same structure on both sides before interpreting differences. |
| Artifact-limited | partly obscured by damage or preparation | Do not invent missing distal segments or mouthparts. |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is the real specimen over the label: naming a part from memory is not the same as pointing to it on the tray. Ask the student to find the spiracles along the abdomen and say what they do; the answer should match the structure in front of them.
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instrument handling & safe technique | Grips the scalpel, scissors, forceps, or probe awkwardly and cuts too hard through the hard body, crushing parts or slipping. | Handles the instruments correctly with reminders but still presses too hard on the exoskeleton or steadies the small specimen poorly. | Holds each instrument the right way and works with a light, controlled hand suited to a small, hard-bodied specimen; this technique criterion requires educator-observed approved practical work. |
| Careful exposure & observation | Tears at the wings and legs and pulls parts off before looking at how they attach. | Removes the wings and legs roughly and disturbs external parts before observing them. | Clears the wings and legs cleanly at their joints and observes each region before disturbing it, leaving the exposed structures intact; this exposure criterion requires observation. |
| Locating & naming external structures | Cannot point to the head, thorax, or abdomen, or find the compound eyes, antennae, or spiracles. | Finds the major body regions with prompting but confuses the mouthparts, misses the spiracles, or overlooks the tympanum. | Locates and names the head, thorax, abdomen, compound eyes, antennae, mouthparts, spiracles, wings, legs, and tympanum on the specimen, image, model, or virtual route. |
| Locating & naming mouthpart & internal structures | Guesses at the mouthparts or names the wrong ones once they are separated. | Separates the mouthparts but cannot reliably tell mandibles from maxillae or find the crop and gastric caeca. | Locates and names the mandibles, maxillae, and labium, and finds the crop and gastric caeca on the approved specimen, image, model, or virtual route. |
| Explaining structure & function (and specimen care) | Cannot say what a structure does, and handles the fragile specimen carelessly or lets it dry out. | Explains one or two structures' functions but not the rest, and keeps the specimen moist and intact only when reminded. | Explains exoskeleton support, spiracles for air exchange, and chewing mouthparts while stating paired-measurement variation and artifact limits; handling care is observed separately. |
| 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. |
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 | Instrument handling & safe technique | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Careful exposure & observation | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Locating & naming external structures | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Locating & naming mouthpart & internal structures | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Explaining structure & function (and specimen care) | 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
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.
Dev = Developing · Prof = Proficient · Mast = Mastery · Unsure between two levels? Circle the lower one and note what a re-do would need.