This packet is everything a parent or guide needs to assess Unit 07 at home — learning targets, the answers that count as correct, the mastery rubric, calibration examples, and a clipboard score sheet. No multiple-choice test: the student shows mastery by modeling an ocean current or the water cycle and defending what the model shows.
By the end of the Hydrosphere unit, a student should be able to:
Six criteria, each judged Not yet / Approaching / Mastered (Page 3).
Model an ocean current or the water cycle; defend what it shows.
The student traces water through the full cycle (Page 4).
The setup, the observation, and the conclusion kept distinct.
You are making a decision, not adding up points. For each criterion, decide whether the work is Not yet, Approaching, or Mastered — the column language tells you which. A criterion counts as mastered only when the student can both build the model and defend what it does and does not show. A student carries three tokens per term; one token buys a re-do of one criterion on another day, so a single bad afternoon never sinks the unit.
Accept any answer in the synonyms column — they are pre-approved as equivalent. The third column flags the confusions that look close but are not yet, so you can coach precisely.
| Canonical answer | Accepted synonyms | Common confusion / discriminator |
|---|---|---|
| The water cycle | ||
| Water cycle | hydrologic cycle | More than evaporation and rain — includes transpiration and groundwater |
| Transpiration | plant water loss | Water vapor released by plants; part of the cycle, easily forgotten |
| Groundwater | aquifer water | Most fresh water is underground, not in visible rivers |
| Oceans, tides & salinity | ||
| Ocean current | surface / deep current | Driven by wind, density, and Earth's rotation; moves heat, not just water |
| Tide | lunar tide | Caused by the Moon and Sun's pull, not by the wind |
| Wave | surface wave | Energy moving through water, not the water itself — not a current |
| Salinity | dissolved-salt content | Set by evaporation and freshwater input; not a fixed number |
| The ocean system | ocean–climate link | Currents, evaporation, and climate move as one connected system |
| Criterion | Not yet | Approaching | Mastered |
|---|---|---|---|
| The water cycle (full) | Thinks the water cycle is just evaporation and rain. | Adds condensation but leaves out transpiration, groundwater, or ocean circulation. | Traces water through evaporation, transpiration, precipitation, runoff, and groundwater, and back to the ocean. |
| Ocean currents | Sees ocean currents as random or unrelated to climate. | Names currents but cannot say what drives them or what they move. | Explains how wind, density, and Earth's rotation drive currents that redistribute heat around the globe. |
| Waves, tides & salinity | Confuses waves with currents or thinks tides are caused by wind. | Links tides to the Moon in general but not to its position, or treats salinity as fixed. | Relates tides to the Moon and Sun, distinguishes waves from currents, and explains what sets ocean salinity. |
| The ocean as a system | Treats the ocean as a still reservoir disconnected from weather and land. | Links the ocean to weather loosely but cannot connect currents, evaporation, and climate. | Connects ocean circulation, the water cycle, and climate into one moving system. |
| Lab technique (current / water-cycle modeling) | Cannot set up or read a model of a current or the water cycle. | Builds the model but misreads what it demonstrates. | Models an ocean current or the water cycle and defends what the model does and does not show. |
| Integration (cross-domain) | Treats the science as isolated facts; makes no cross-domain connection. | Names a link to history, reading, or writing but cannot defend why it matters. | Connects the unit to its anchor across History · Reading · Writing (plus chosen electives) and defends why the connection matters. |
The split between Approaching and Mastered is reading the model: not just building it, but saying what it shows and what it leaves out. Ask “what does your model get right about the real ocean, and where does it break down?”
Read these before you grade. They show what Mastered and Not yet actually sound like, plus the edge cases where you should coach rather than decide on the spot.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The water cycle (full) | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 2 | Ocean currents | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 3 | Waves, tides & salinity | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 4 | The ocean as a system | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (current / water-cycle modeling) | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 6 | Integration (cross-domain) | NY / Appr / Mast |
☐ No ☐ Yes — for criterion: __________ Tokens remaining: ☐ 3 ☐ 2 ☐ 1 ☐ 0
NY = Not yet · Appr = Approaching · Mast = Mastered · Unsure between two levels? Circle the lower one and note what a re-do would need.