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 06 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Structures identified on models, a dissection, or prepared slides — observed live.
The student defends an identification aloud (Page 4 anchors).
Contemporaneous record of each observation — magnification, stain, labeled sketch, and the ID.
Judge each criterion as Developing, Proficient, or Mastery, not by adding points. Mastery requires locating the structure in the declared medium and explaining its function. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alimentary canal | GI tract, digestive tract | Continuous food tube: mouth to anus |
| Stomach | (none) | Churns food; acid/enzymes start protein digestion; not the main absorption site |
| Small intestine | (none) | Duodenum → jejunum → ileum; main site of chemical digestion and nutrient absorption |
| Large intestine | colon is its major segment | Reclaims remaining water; most water absorption occurs in small intestine. Colon lacks villi |
| Villi | villus (singular) | Mucosal projections that enlarge the absorptive surface; small intestine only |
| Liver | (none) | Makes bile; processes absorbed nutrients; food does not pass through it |
| Gallbladder | (none) | Stores/concentrates bile; liver makes it |
| Pancreas | (none) | Exocrine digestive enzymes/bicarbonate; endocrine insulin/glucagon |
| Kidney | (none) | Filters then modifies tubular fluid; GFR differs from urine flow |
| Nephron | (none) | Functional renal filtering unit; about a million per kidney |
| Glomerulus | (none) | Cortical capillary tuft where filtration starts |
| Renal cortex & medulla | cortex; medulla | Pale outer cortex band: glomeruli. Inner medulla: striped pyramids |
| Ureter, bladder, urethra | (none) | Urine: ureter, kidney → bladder; urethra, bladder → outside. Distinct tubes |
| Reabsorption / secretion | opposed transport directions | Bloodward / lumenward; excretion = filtered − reabsorbed + secreted |
| Clearance / filtration fraction | C / FF | C = urine concentration × flow / plasma concentration; FF = GFR / renal plasma flow |
| ADH / aldosterone | distinct hormones | Water permeability / distal sodium recovery and potassium secretion; volume and concentration differ |
| Net acid excretion | buffered H+ equivalents/time | Ammonium + titratable acid − bicarbonate loss; urine pH alone is insufficient |
| SGLT1 / SGLT2 | Na+-glucose cotransporters | SGLT1: intestine and later proximal tubule; SGLT2: early proximal. Indirect ATP dependence |
| Jmax / Khalf / Tm | different quantities | Max flux/area / half-flux concentration / total rate cap; splay rounds the transition |
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digestive tract & accessory organs | Cannot name the organs of the alimentary canal in order, or confuses them with accessory organs. | Names the major organs but cannot place the accessory organs (liver, gallbladder, pancreas) or their role. | Traces the alimentary canal from mouth to anus in order and places the accessory organs that feed into it. |
| Digestion & absorption | Confuses mechanical/chemical digestion or the main sites of absorption. | Names processes but needs help tracing nutrients or balancing supplied water flows. | Separates mechanical/chemical digestion, traces portal versus lymphatic nutrient routes, and identifies the small intestine as the main site of nutrient and water absorption; balances the supplied GI ledger. |
| Kidney structure & nephron transport | Confuses blood/filtrate routes or assigns ATP hydrolysis directly to SGLT. | Orders segments but needs help with permeability, SGLT roles, or sodium-gradient coupling. | Traces separate blood and filtrate routes; explains loop permeability and proximal SGLT2/SGLT1 recovery driven indirectly by an ATPase-maintained sodium gradient. |
| Excretion, clearance & homeostasis | Equates concentration, filtrate, urine, and clearance or assumes unlimited transport. | Balances some quantities but needs help with units, saturation, or model limits. | Defends assigned solute, clearance, fluid/acid, and saturation calculations with units; explains hormone roles, Jmax/Khalf/Tm, and honors splay limits. |
| Structure identification & evidence | Cannot interpret the approved model, specimen, or image. | Names a structure but needs help supporting the identification or distinguishing inferred function. | Defends a digestive/urinary identification with two features visible in the selected medium; distinguishes observed structure from transport inferred from supplied data, without claiming unperformed techniques. |
| 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.
Work down the criteria one at a time. Ask the student to defend the call rather than recall it — “how do you know that’s small intestine and not large?” The visible features are where Proficient and Mastery separate. Naming a structure is Proficient; pointing to the features that prove it — villi, cortex vs medulla — is Mastery.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Digestive tract & accessory organs | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Digestion & absorption | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Kidney structure & nephron transport | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Excretion, clearance & homeostasis | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Structure identification & evidence | 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.