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.
By the end of the Nutrients & the Science of Food unit, a student should be able to:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Test a food for starch, sugar, fat, and vitamin C — read the evidence.
The student explains what a food provides, without judging it (Page 4).
Label readings, test results, and interpretations 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 gather the evidence and justify the nutrition science behind it. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Macronutrients | ||
| Carbohydrate | carbs; sugars & starches | The body’s main fuel; type and amount matter, not “good vs. bad” |
| Protein | made of amino acids | Builds and repairs tissue; also a backup energy source |
| Fat | dietary fat; lipids | Energy storage, insulation, vitamin absorption — not inherently “bad” |
| Fiber | dietary fiber | A carbohydrate the body cannot fully digest; supports digestion |
| Micronutrients & food science | ||
| Vitamin | micronutrient | Needed in small amounts; vitamin C, for example, prevents scurvy |
| Mineral | micronutrient | Needed in small amounts; iron and calcium, for example |
| Calorie | unit of energy; kcal | The energy a food provides — a measure, never a “bad” thing |
| Nutrient density | nutrients per calorie | How much nourishment a food gives for the energy it carries |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is evidence over labels: not just naming a nutrient, but reading what a food actually provides and reasoning about type and amount instead of “good” and “bad.” Ask “so what does the test show?”
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naming macronutrients & micronutrients | Cannot tell a macronutrient from a micronutrient or name examples. | Names carbohydrates, proteins, and fats but is unsure about micronutrients. | Names the three macronutrients — carbohydrates, proteins, and fats — and the micronutrients, vitamins and minerals, with examples. |
| What each nutrient does | Thinks all food does the same one thing in the body. | Knows nutrients have jobs but cannot match a nutrient to its role. | Explains that food is both energy and building material — carbs and fats fuel, proteins build and repair, vitamins and minerals keep systems running. |
| Reading nutrient content | Cannot find the nutrients listed on a food’s nutrition information. | Locates nutrients on a label but misreads the serving size or amounts. | Reads a nutrition label accurately — serving size, macronutrients, key micronutrients — and describes what the food provides. |
| Type and amount, not category | Sorts foods into “good” and “bad” and calls carbs or fats inherently unhealthy. | Senses that category labels are too simple but still leans on them. | Explains that no food is inherently unhealthy — type and amount matter, not the category — and reasons without judging foods or people. |
| Anchor lab (food-nutrient testing) | Skips the food-nutrient tests or records results with no evidence. | Runs a test or two but cannot say what each result reveals about the food. | Runs the food-nutrient tests — starch with iodine, sugar with Benedict’s, fat with a grease spot, vitamin C with indophenol — and reads each as evidence. |
| 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.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naming macronutrients & micronutrients | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | What each nutrient does | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Reading nutrient content | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Type and amount, not category | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Anchor lab (food-nutrient testing) | 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.