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.
By the end of the Grasshopper unit, a student should be able to:
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. A criterion counts as mastered only when the student can both perform the technique cleanly and locate, name, and explain the structures on the actual specimen. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Body regions & external parts | ||
| Head | anterior region | Bears the eyes, antennae, and mouthparts — the front tagma |
| 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 |
| Sense & breathing | ||
| Antennae | feelers | Paired sensory organs on the head — smell and touch |
| 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 |
| Mouthparts & gut | ||
| Mandibles | jaws | The hard, toothed mouthparts that chew — the innermost pair |
| 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; the crop stores food ahead of them |
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, safely for both the student and the specimen. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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 specimen. |
| 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 why key structures do their jobs — the exoskeleton for support and protection, the spiracles for taking in air, the mouthparts specialized for chewing — while handling the specimen respectfully, keeping it moist, and cleaning up afterward. |
| 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
Dev = Developing · Prof = Proficient · Mast = Mastery · Unsure between two levels? Circle the lower one and note what a re-do would need.