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 03 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Identify rocks and order a set of beds by the stratigraphic principles.
The student defends the sequence of time the layers record (Page 4).
Rock ID, depositional environment, and the ordered column 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 name the rock and defend the sequence of time it records. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sediment to rock | ||
| Compaction | burial squeezing | Weight of overlying layers presses grains together |
| Cementation | mineral glue | Dissolved minerals precipitate and bind the grains |
| Lithification | sediment turning to rock | The whole compaction + cementation process, in order |
| Rock origins | ||
| Clastic | fragment / detrital rock | Broken pieces cemented together; e.g. sandstone, shale |
| Chemical | precipitated rock | From minerals left as water evaporates; e.g. rock salt, some limestone |
| Organic | biological rock | From living matter; e.g. coal, shelly limestone |
| Depositional environment | where it was laid down | Read from grain size and sorting — beach, river, deep sea, swamp |
| Stratigraphy | ||
| Superposition | oldest on the bottom | In undisturbed layers, each bed is younger than the one below |
| Original horizontality | layers start flat | Tilted beds were deformed after deposition |
| Cross-cutting | cuts are younger | A fault or intrusion is younger than the rock it cuts |
| Unconformity | gap in the record | Missing time — erosion or non-deposition, not a normal layer |
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sediment to rock: compaction & cementation | Cannot describe how loose sediment becomes rock. | Names compaction or cementation but not both, and not in order. | Traces weathered sediment through burial, compaction, and cementation into solid rock. |
| Clastic, chemical & organic rocks | Groups all sedimentary rock together. | Sorts a few rocks but confuses the three origins. | Classifies sandstone, shale, limestone, rock salt, and coal by clastic, chemical, or organic origin. |
| Depositional environment | Cannot connect observations to an environment. | Uses one property as a unique environmental diagnosis. | Combines grain size, sorting, structures, and composition to compare plausible depositional environments and their limits. |
| Stratigraphic principles | Cannot order the supplied relationships. | Applies superposition without checking orientation or disturbance. | Uses appropriate relative-dating principles, a scaled log, and stated structural assumptions to order events and calculate thicknesses. |
| Unconformities & preserved accumulation | Treats the record as complete and uniform. | Identifies a gap but assigns its duration without evidence. | Explains erosion/non-deposition, calculates assigned preserved rates, and identifies effects of compaction, hiatuses, and missing records. |
| 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 layers as time: not just naming a rock, but using the principles to order a cliff face and explain any gaps. Ask “which is older, and how do you know?”
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 | Sediment to rock: compaction & cementation | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Clastic, chemical & organic rocks | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Depositional environment | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Stratigraphic principles | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Unconformities & preserved accumulation | 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.