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 02 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Classify igneous rocks with a hand lens by texture and composition.
The student defends the cooling story the crystals record (Page 4).
Texture, composition, and each rock’s volcanic origin 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 identify the rock and defend the cooling story the crystals record. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Melt & cooling | ||
| Magma | molten rock below ground | Lava is the same melt once it reaches the surface |
| Intrusive (plutonic) | cooled below ground | Slow, deep cooling → coarse crystals (e.g. granite) |
| Extrusive (volcanic) | cooled at the surface | Fast cooling → fine-grained or glassy texture (e.g. basalt) |
| Texture & composition | ||
| Texture | crystal size / grain size | Records the cooling rate — not how old the rock is |
| Vesicular | full of gas holes | Trapped gas bubbles; pumice can float |
| Felsic | high-silica, light-colored | Sticky, gas-rich melt → explosive; e.g. granite, rhyolite |
| Mafic | low-silica, dark, iron-rich | Runny melt → gentle flows; e.g. basalt |
| Bowen’s reaction series | mineral crystallization order | Orders minerals by the temperature at which they crystallize |
| Volcano form | ||
| Shield volcano | broad, gently sloped cone | Built by runny mafic lava; gentle eruptions |
| Composite volcano | stratovolcano | Layered ash and lava; explosive, felsic melt |
| Cinder cone | scoria cone | Small, steep cone of erupted fragments |
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Magma, lava & cooling rate | Confuses settings or temperature change with elapsed time. | Names a trend but cannot calculate or qualify a rate. | Distinguishes magma/lava and common settings; calculates assigned interval cooling rates and states their limits. |
| Texture & crystal size | Cannot describe diagnostic textures. | Connects texture to cooling but assumes a unique quantitative history. | Describes coarse, fine, glassy, and vesicular textures, using composition and conditions to qualify the inferred history. |
| Composition & Bowen's reaction series | Cannot order minerals or tell felsic from mafic. | Sorts felsic and mafic by color but ignores mineral content. | Uses Bowen's reaction series to rank a melt from ultramafic through mafic and intermediate to felsic. |
| Rock identification (granite, basalt, obsidian, pumice) | Confuses common igneous rocks with one another. | Names some rocks but not from texture and composition together. | Identifies granite, basalt, obsidian, and pumice from texture and composition and justifies each call. |
| Volcano type & eruption interpretation | Treats all eruptions alike. | Infers behavior from composition alone. | Relates volcano forms to viscosity, volatiles, temperature, and setting, while distinguishing interpretation from an eruption forecast. |
| 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. |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is crystals tell the story: not just naming a rock, but using its texture to say how fast the melt cooled and its composition to predict the eruption. Ask “so what do the crystals tell you?”
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 | Magma, lava & cooling rate | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Texture & crystal size | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Composition & Bowen's reaction series | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Rock identification (granite, basalt, obsidian, pumice) | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Volcano type & eruption 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.