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 Disease, Immunity & Prevention unit, a student should be able to:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Model how a disease spreads; add a prevention step and compare.
The student explains why the immune system remembers a germ (Page 4).
Model setup, transmission data, and result 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 run the model and defend the prevention reasoning. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| The immune system | ||
| Immune system | the body’s defense system | Barriers, cells, and memory working together — not a single organ |
| White blood cell | leukocyte / immune cell | Finds and destroys invaders; different types do different jobs |
| Pathogen | germ / disease-causing microbe | A microbe that can cause illness — not every microbe is one |
| Immune memory | acquired immunity | Why we rarely catch the same illness twice; the basis of how vaccines work |
| Spread & prevention | ||
| Transmission | how a disease spreads | Contact, droplets, or contaminated food/water — the route decides how to interrupt it |
| Vaccination | immunization | Trains immune memory with a safe signal — presented as science, not personal medical advice |
| Hygiene | handwashing / sanitation | Interrupts spread by removing pathogens; not the same as sterilizing everything |
| Community protection | population-level immunity | When enough of a group is protected, spread slows for everyone — a group pattern, not an individual cure |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is reading the model: a student who can say how adding a prevention step changed how far and fast the disease spread has it. Ask to see the transmission data — the before-and-after numbers, not a single “it got better.”
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| How the immune system defends the body | Cannot say how the body protects itself from germs. | Names a defense or two but cannot explain how they work together. | Explains how the immune system defends the body — barriers like skin, white blood cells that fight invaders, and the memory that follows an infection or a vaccine. |
| How diseases spread | Cannot describe how an illness passes from one person to another. | Names a way disease spreads but cannot connect it to prevention. | Explains the main ways diseases spread — contact, droplets, contaminated food or water — and links each route to how it can be interrupted. |
| Evidence-based prevention | Cannot name an evidence-based way to prevent disease. | Lists a prevention step but cannot explain the evidence behind it. | Explains how hygiene and vaccination prevent disease and describes the scientific evidence for each — presented as science, not as personal medical advice. |
| Modeling disease transmission | Cannot show or predict how an illness moves through a group. | Runs a transmission model but cannot interpret what it shows. | Models how a disease spreads through a population and interprets how adding a prevention measure changes the outcome. |
| Anchor lab (immunity & disease-transmission modeling) | Skips the modeling activity or runs it without recording results. | Completes the model but cannot explain the pattern in the data. | Completes the immunity & disease-transmission model, records the data carefully, and explains how prevention measures change how far and fast the disease spreads. |
| 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 | How the immune system defends the body | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | How diseases spread | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Evidence-based prevention | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Modeling disease transmission | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Anchor lab (immunity & disease-transmission modeling) | 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.