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:
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tetrapod | four-limbed vertebrate ancestry | Modern limbs can be modified or reduced. |
| Mammary gland | milk-producing gland | Whale trait despite fish-like shape. |
| Endothermy | metabolic heat production | Not the same thing as insulation. |
| Blubber | insulating/energy-storing tissue | Does not generate heat by itself. |
| Hemoglobin / myoglobin | blood O2 transport / muscle O2 store | Not a human breath-holding prescription. |
| Bradycardia | slower heart rate | Species-specific physiological context only. |
| Baleen / teeth | filtering plates / prey-capture structures | Not every whale has the same feeding mode. |
| Encounter rate | observations per unit time | Not unique animals or a population census. |
| Detection probability | chance of observing an available target | Assumed here, not measured. |
| Time-weighted mean | integrated depth/elapsed time | Different from an unweighted sample mean. |
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air-breathing marine tetrapods | Groups all large marine animals as fish. | Names groups but not their shared ancestry. | Distinguishes marine reptiles, birds and mammals by traits; explains lungs and terrestrial ancestry. |
| Mammals, not fish | Uses shape alone for classification. | Calls whales mammals without diagnostic evidence. | Uses mammary glands, hair and other mammal traits; contrasts lungs with fish gills without ignoring convergence. |
| Diving adaptations (evidence only) | Treats animal data as a human challenge. | Names an adaptation without mechanism or limits. | Explains oxygen stores, circulatory and pressure adaptations from sources; interprets supplied tracks without human imitation. |
| Thermoregulation, feeding & migration | Treats insulation as heat generation. | Names blubber or feeding modes without context. | Explains metabolic heat and insulation, baleen/toothed feeding and migration; calculates model cooling rates with limits. |
| Lab technique (adaptation-data analysis) | Omits time, units or provenance. | Plots records but overclaims population or physiology. | Analyzes supplied cooling, depth and effort records; states detection/interpolation limits and separates analysis from observed practical work. |
| 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 measure and explain: reading the model carefully and tying the result to the animal’s biology. Ask “how does this adaptation help a lung-breather in the sea?”
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.
Two observers each report 12 encounters, one in 30 minutes and one in 90 minutes. Are their rates equal, and does either count prove population size?
No: 24 versus 8 encounters/hour. Neither establishes population size without comparable sampling, identities, coverage and detection.
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 | Air-breathing marine tetrapods | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Mammals, not fish | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Diving adaptations (evidence only) | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Thermoregulation, feeding & migration | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (adaptation-data analysis) | 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.