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 public practice answers (not assessment keys): Unit 07 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Use an instructor-approved, risk-assessed source or supplied image; find and track organisms only within that approved evidence.
The student describes visible features, source approval, and evidence limits (Page 4).
Source ID, features found, and a labeled sketch kept distinct.
Accept listed synonyms; use the distinction column to resolve near-matches.
| Term | Accepted explanation | Distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Approved source | Instructor-approved, risk-assessed prepared slide, specimen, known culture or recorded micrograph | Unknown microbes are not collected, cultured or amplified. |
| Morphology | Shape category such as coccus or rod | Shape alone does not identify species or pathogenicity. |
| Total magnification | Ocular times objective | Record actual total; "high power" is not enough. |
| Supplied image practical | Image-based reasoning task | Separate from observed handling of biological material. |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is self-powered motion: an organism swims or crawls against the drift; debris just floats. Ask “is it moving on its own, or being carried?”
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approved specimen preparation | Uses unapproved material or cannot follow the selected procedure. | Prepares approved material but loses the field or confuses evidence types. | Follows approved preparation of a risk-assessed slide/specimen (observed), keeps the field and distinguishes live, prepared and recorded evidence; images alone do not credit this criterion; no unknown collection, culturing, enrichment or amplification. |
| Finding & tracking motile protists | Cannot spot a moving organism or loses it the instant it swims. | Sees something move but cannot follow it with the stage. | Locates and tracks a motile protist — amoeba, paramecium, or euglena — steering the stage to keep it in the field. |
| Recognizing algae | Cannot tell algae from other green material. | Suspects algae but cannot point to the feature that marks it. | Recognizes algae by their chloroplasts and form and separates them from plant debris in the mount. |
| Recognizing bacterial shapes | Names features that the image cannot resolve. | Suggests a shape but ignores preparation, scale, or contrast. | Recognizes bacterial morphology only when preparation, total magnification and resolution make it achievable; shape alone never identifies species or pathogenicity. |
| Evidence limits & biological handling | Treats every moving speck as a living organism or ignores source approval. | Uses some distinguishing evidence but overlooks drift or handling limits. | Distinguishes self-powered organisms from drift or debris, states source limits, image/practical distinctions and uncertainty, and follows the approved handling/disposal route whenever hands-on material is used (observed). |
| 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.
You are making a decision, not adding up points. For each criterion, decide whether the work is Developing, Proficient, or Mastery — the column language tells you which. A criterion counts as mastered only when the student can both hold a moving organism in view and name the approved source and evidence limits. 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.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Approved specimen preparation | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Finding & tracking motile protists | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Recognizing algae | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Recognizing bacterial shapes | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Evidence limits & biological handling | 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.