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 07 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Estuary | river/coastal transition in this case | Salinity and mixing can vary over time. |
| Chemosynthesis | chemical-energy-driven carbon fixation | Not the absence of all oxidant requirements. |
| Marine snow | sinking organic particles | Important beyond vent ecosystems. |
| Mutualism | interaction benefiting both partners | Benefits depend on context. |
| Bleaching | symbiont/pigment loss under stress | Not necessarily immediate coral death. |
| Density | count/known sampled area | Equal counts need not mean equal density. |
| Morphotype richness | number of represented distinguishable types | Not verified species richness here. |
| Simpson diversity | 1 − sum(p_i^2) | State this convention; other forms exist. |
| Pseudoreplication | treating dependent samples as independent | Repeated plots do not create new sites. |
| Missing observation | NA with a reason | Not a zero count. |
| Net primary production | GPP minus producer respiration | Not mixed-community light-bottle exchange. |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is sampling discipline: a careful survey places the quadrat by a set rule and counts every species inside it. Ask to see the data sheet — a defined area and real counts, not a single “lots of stuff.”
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Major ocean ecosystems | Treats the ocean as one habitat. | Names habitats but omits physical conditions. | Compares reefs, estuaries, kelp, open ocean and deep habitats using light, salinity, temperature, oxygen and supported biological traits. |
| Food webs & energy flow | Treats energy as fully recycled. | Draws a web but conflates gross and net production. | Maps producer, consumer and microbial pathways; calculates NPP and carbon-transfer fractions with system boundaries. |
| Symbiosis & community interactions | Treats organisms as isolated. | Names a partnership without its mechanism. | Explains mutualism, predation and recruitment; distinguishes coral bleaching from death and avoids causal claims from covariation. |
| The deep sea | Assumes no life without local sunlight. | Names vents but treats all deep habitats as vents. | Distinguishes sinking organic matter from localized chemosynthetic production and explains oxygen/circulation connections. |
| Lab technique (community evidence) | Counts without area or invents a field visit. | Calculates abundance but not grouping or diversity. | Uses defined-area plots, pooled proportions and missing-data rules; reports uncertainty and labels inland versus observed evidence. |
| 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.
Two identical counts of 10 come from plots of 0.25 and 0.50 m^2. Does equal count mean equal density or diversity?
Densities are 40 and 20/m^2. Diversity also needs the composition of each count; total abundance alone is insufficient.
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 | Major ocean ecosystems | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Food webs & energy flow | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Symbiosis & community interactions | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | The deep sea | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (community 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.