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 01 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Streak, hardness, cleavage, luster, and the acid test on a specimen set.
The student reasons from the physical properties aloud (Page 4 anchors).
Contemporaneous record of streak, hardness, cleavage, and the unknown ID.
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 run the test and justify why that property separates one mineral from another. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Defining a mineral | ||
| Mineral | naturally occurring inorganic solid | Ordered internal structure and characteristic composition; distinguish the material from a whole rock |
| Crystalline | ordered internal structure | Atoms in a repeating lattice; this is what gives crystal faces |
| Rock | aggregate of minerals | Made of one or more minerals; a rock is not itself a mineral |
| Physical-property tests | ||
| Streak | powder color on a plate | Read on porcelain; can differ from the surface color |
| Luster | metallic / non-metallic shine | How the surface reflects light — independent of color |
| Mohs hardness | ordinal scratch-resistance scale | Bracket with approved evidence; 8 is not twice as hard as 4 |
| Cleavage | flat breakage planes | Count the directions; smooth planes, not rough breaks |
| Fracture | irregular break | Conchoidal (curved) in quartz; no flat planes |
| Identification & special tests | ||
| Carbonate-test evidence | supplied or approved reaction record | One observation to combine with other properties; not a required home acid procedure |
| Crystal habit | characteristic growth shape | Cubic halite, six-sided quartz — the shape when free to grow |
| Dichotomous key | branching ID key | Each step is a yes/no choice; work it end-to-end to a name |
| Grade / recovery | concentration / recovered fraction | Apply grade to feed and recovery to contained metal; they are not the same percentage |
| Resource / reserve | geological occurrence / evaluated recoverability | A classroom mass balance does not establish economic or engineering feasibility |
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mineral identity & resource quantities | Confuses a mineral, rock, grade, and recovered material. | Names properties or percentages but misuses their meaning. | Explains mineral identity and rock composition; applies assigned density, grade, and recovery calculations without equating a resource with a reserve. |
| Streak & luster | Reads the specimen’s surface color as its streak; cannot name luster. | Gets a streak on the plate but forgets that streak can differ from surface color; luster call is inconsistent. | Powders the mineral on the porcelain plate to read true streak, and classifies luster as metallic or non-metallic to narrow the field — e.g. pyrite’s greenish-black streak under a brassy metallic shine. |
| Mohs hardness | Guesses hardness by appearance; misuses the kit. | Runs scratch tests but reverses which scratches which, or reports a single number instead of a range. | Uses fingernail, copper penny, glass plate, and steel nail methodically to bracket hardness on the Mohs scale and reads it accurately (e.g. calcite ~3, quartz 7). |
| Cleavage vs. fracture | Uses the terms interchangeably or not at all. | Defines both but misreads a specimen — calls conchoidal fracture “cleavage” or misses a plane. | Distinguishes flat cleavage planes from irregular fracture, counts cleavage directions, and cites mica’s one perfect cleavage against quartz’s fracture. |
| Property evidence & the dichotomous key | Guesses without a reference or ignores the approved procedure. | Uses a property but overlooks uncertainty or another possible identity. | Combines approved or supplied property evidence with a key, explaining uncertainty and why one result alone need not establish identity. |
| 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.
Work down the criteria one at a time. Ask the student to reason from the property rather than recall — “why can’t this be quartz?” Hardness, streak, and cleavage are what separate look-alikes. Running the test is Proficient; explaining why the property rules a mineral in or out is Mastery.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral identity & resource quantities | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Streak & luster | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Mohs hardness | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Cleavage vs. fracture | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Property evidence & the dichotomous key | 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.