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 01 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Use the five science criteria and selected learning level.
Label supplied data separately from actually observed, approved skills.
Use a changed dataset or assumption, not recitation of the answer key.
Report source-linked writing separately; it cannot block a science pass.
Judge each criterion Developing, Proficient or Mastery from its stated evidence. A supplied-data result does not certify an unobserved practical skill. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pelagic / benthic | water column / bottom habitat | Bottom habitat is not automatically dark. |
| Euphotic depth | photosynthetically useful light zone | Local optics matter; 200 m is not universal. |
| Intertidal / abyssal | tidally exposed shore / deep bottom | Habitat terms are not field-access permission. |
| Practical Salinity | PSS-78; informal PSU | Dimensionless, not exactly the same as g/kg. |
| Salt mass fraction | g salt/kg solution | Divide salt mass by total solution mass. |
| Density | mass per volume | Depends on temperature, salinity and pressure. |
| Thermocline | rapid temperature change with depth | Not every profile has one fixed boundary. |
| Stratification | density layering | Restricts mixing; does not eliminate exchange. |
| Dissolved oxygen | O2 in water, mg/L | Concentration is not oxygen production rate. |
| Absolute / gauge pressure | including / excluding atmosphere | 20 m is about 3 atm absolute, 2 atm gauge. |
| Upwelling | upward transport of deeper water | Can supply nutrients; requires circulation context. |
Work down the criteria one at a time. Ask the student to reason it out rather than recall — “why does the deep water sink?” The cause (cold, salty water is denser) is where Proficient and Mastery separate. Reading a value is Proficient; explaining why the ocean behaves that way is Mastery.
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ocean zones & structure | Confuses water column with seafloor. | Names zones but assumes fixed light boundaries. | Distinguishes pelagic/benthic habitats and interprets local light data without a universal 200 m cutoff. |
| Salinity & seawater properties | Equates every salinity scale or omits units. | Relates salinity to density with help. | Explains salinity scales, temperature and stratification; interprets a calibrated reading and conserves salt in a mass-balance model. |
| Depth: temperature, oxygen, pressure & light | Reads axes or pressure reference incorrectly. | Reads profiles but misses uncertainty or mechanism. | Graphs profiles with units, calculates gradients and oxygen differences, and distinguishes gauge from absolute pressure with limits. |
| Currents & circulation | Treats currents as water standing still. | Names wind or density but not their effects. | Links wind, density, tides and upwelling to oxygen/nutrient transport; limits conclusions from a single profile. |
| Lab technique (water-property evidence) | Invents readings or omits measurement context. | Records values but needs help with scale or provenance. | Records scale, temperature, calibration and uncertainty for approved instrument work, or completes labeled data analysis without claiming tool proficiency. |
| 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.
A turbid estuary reaches 1% light at 4 m, not 20 m. Does a 10 m seabed have to be photosynthetic because it is shallower than 200 m?
No. The local light record, organism requirements and respiration matter. The 200 m convention cannot override site-specific attenuation.
Use a fresh variant for assessment. Integration is reported separately and cannot lower the science grade or block a science demonstration pass. Science and practical criteria determine that pass.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ocean zones & structure | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Salinity & seawater properties | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Depth: temperature, oxygen, pressure & light | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Currents & circulation | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (water-property 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.