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 testing a weathering or erosion process and reading a landscape as the record of the agent that shaped it.
By the end of the Weathering, Erosion & Landforms unit, a student should be able to:
Six criteria, each judged Not yet / Approaching / Mastered (Page 3).
Test a process; connect the result to the landform it would build.
The student reads a landscape aloud (Page 4).
Process test, landform link, and evidence 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 name the process from the landform and back it with evidence such as the dilute-acid test. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Weathering | ||
| Mechanical weathering | physical weathering | Breaks rock without changing it — frost wedging, exfoliation |
| Chemical weathering | decomposition | Alters the rock — dissolution, oxidation, hydrolysis |
| Carbonate dissolution | acid dissolution of limestone | Dilute acid fizzes on carbonate rock; carves caves and sinkholes |
| Frost wedging | freeze–thaw | Water freezes in cracks and pries rock apart (mechanical) |
| Erosion, deposition & landforms | ||
| Erosion | wearing away & removal | Weathered debris picked up and carried off by an agent |
| Deposition | sediment drop | Agent loses energy and drops its load, building landforms |
| Karst | limestone terrain | Caves, sinkholes, and springs from carbonate dissolution |
| Moraine | glacial deposit | Ridge of unsorted debris left by glacial ice |
| Criterion | Not yet | Approaching | Mastered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical vs. chemical weathering | Treats all weathering as the same breakdown. | Names both types but cannot tell them apart in the field. | Distinguishes mechanical weathering (frost wedging, exfoliation) from chemical weathering (dissolution, oxidation, hydrolysis) with evidence. |
| Agents of erosion & transport | Cannot name what moves weathered material. | Lists water, wind, or ice but not how each carries its load. | Explains how water, wind, and glacial ice erode and transport sediment, and how each sorts what it carries. |
| Landforms from process | Sees landforms as random shapes. | Names a landform but not the agent that built it. | Links an agent of erosion or deposition to the landform it produces — meanders, deltas, dunes, moraines, or karst caves. |
| Carbonate dissolution & karst | Ignores how water dissolves and alters rock. | Mentions dissolution but not which rock or why. | Explains carbonate dissolution and karst using the dilute-acid fizz test and links it to cave and sinkhole formation. |
| Lab technique (weathering, erosion & landform investigation) | Cannot design a test that isolates one process. | Runs a weathering or erosion test but confounds variables. | Investigates a process cleanly and links the result to the landform it would build over time. |
| 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 process from landform: a landscape is a record of the agent that shaped it. Ask “which agent built this, and what’s your evidence?” — the fizz on limestone, the sorted sand of a dune, the unsorted till of a moraine.
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 | Mechanical vs. chemical weathering | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 2 | Agents of erosion & transport | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 3 | Landforms from process | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 4 | Carbonate dissolution & karst | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (weathering, erosion & landform investigation) | 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.