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 03 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Seagrass | marine angiosperm | Roots, rhizomes, flowers and seeds; not kelp. |
| Green / red / brown algae | distinct algal lineages | Color alone is not a complete key. |
| Holdfast | attachment structure | Not a root-and-vascular uptake system. |
| Stipe / blade | support / photosynthetic surface | Not homologous to flowering-plant stems/leaves. |
| Kelp forest | habitat-forming brown algae | Food and shelter; not proof of carbon burial. |
| Percent cover | hits/points × 100 | Not individuals per square metre. |
| Quadrat | defined-area sampling unit | Points within it are subsamples. |
| Blank correction | subtract matched background change | Use the same time and volume conventions. |
| Net exchange | production minus consumption | Not gross production in a light-only record. |
| Standing stock | biomass at a time | A stock change is not long-term sequestration. |
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algae vs marine flowering plants | Treats all seaweeds as seagrasses. | Distinguishes groups but misses organs or ancestry. | Distinguishes algal lineages from flowering seagrasses using structural evidence, without treating all algae as one clade. |
| Algal structure & groups | Calls holdfasts true roots. | Labels structures but keys groups inconsistently. | Labels holdfast, stipe and blade; compares green, brown and red algae using a key and explicit identification limits. |
| Kelp forests & seagrass meadows | Treats cover as individual abundance. | Names habitat services but cannot measure cover. | Measures point-intercept cover with a denominator and explains shelter, nursery and food functions without claiming measured survival. |
| Photosynthesis, carbon & productivity | Equates biomass with permanent carbon storage. | Calculates exchange without blank or normalization. | Calculates blank-corrected net exchange and biomass change; distinguishes standing carbon from gross production and durable sequestration. |
| Lab technique (algal survey evidence) | Invents specimens or discards unknowns. | Records identifications but not effort or provenance. | Keys approved figures/specimens and records quadrat area, points, unknowns and uncertainty; labels inland data work separately from observed preparation. |
| 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. |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is why it’s in that group: not just naming the parts, but explaining what makes it a green, brown, or red alga — or a true plant. Ask “why isn’t this a plant?”
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 new image has 14 eelgrass hits among 40 points, not 20. Is its cover the same as the third meadow quadrat?
No: 35% rather than 70%. Point effort changed. Image area and point-placement rules also need to be comparable.
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 | Algae vs marine flowering plants | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Algal structure & groups | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Kelp forests & seagrass meadows | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Photosynthesis, carbon & productivity | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (algal survey 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.