This packet is everything a parent or guide needs to assess Unit 04 at home — learning targets, the answers that count as correct, the mastery rubric, calibration examples, and a clipboard score sheet. No multiple-choice test: the student shows mastery by measuring motion on a ramp and reasoning from the forces at work.
By the end of the Forces & Motion unit, a student should be able to:
Six criteria, each judged Not yet / Approaching / Mastered (Page 3).
Motion timed on a ramp and force read on a spring scale — measured live.
The student explains the motion from the forces at work (Page 4).
Times, the speed calculation, and the conclusion kept distinct.
You are making a decision, not adding up points. For each criterion, decide whether the work is Not yet, Approaching, or Mastered — the column language tells you which. A criterion counts as mastered only when the student can both take the measurement and justify it from the forces at work. A student carries three tokens per term; one token buys a re-do of one criterion on another day, so a single bad afternoon never sinks the unit.
Accept any answer in the synonyms column — they are pre-approved as equivalent. The third column flags the confusions that look close but are not yet, so you can coach precisely.
| Canonical answer | Accepted synonyms | Common confusion / discriminator |
|---|---|---|
| Motion | ||
| Speed | distance ÷ time | How fast, not how far; watch the units (m/s) |
| Distance–time graph | position vs time | A steeper line means faster; a flat line means stopped |
| Velocity | speed with a direction | Speed alone has no direction; velocity does |
| Forces | ||
| Force | a push or a pull | Measured with a spring scale, in newtons |
| Balanced forces | forces that cancel | No change in motion — at rest or at steady speed |
| Unbalanced forces | forces that don’t cancel | Motion changes — speeds up, slows, or turns |
| Newton’s laws (survey) | ||
| Newton’s first law | inertia | A moving thing keeps moving unless a force acts — no force needed to keep it going |
| Newton’s second law | force changes motion | A bigger force, or a lighter object, means a bigger change |
| Newton’s third law | action–reaction | Every push comes with an equal push back |
| Criterion | Not yet | Approaching | Mastered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed & distance–time | Confuses speed with distance or reads the graph wrong. | Finds speed but mixes up the units or the graph’s axes. | Calculates speed as distance ÷ time and reads it correctly off a distance–time graph. |
| Balanced vs unbalanced forces | Thinks any force always causes motion. | Defines the two but cannot predict what each does. | Tells balanced from unbalanced forces and predicts whether an object speeds up, slows, or stays put. |
| Newton’s laws (survey) | Cannot state a law of motion in plain words. | Recites a law but cannot give an example. | States each of Newton’s three laws in plain words and matches each to an everyday example. |
| Measuring force | Reads the spring scale wrong or ignores direction. | Reads the force but leaves out its direction. | Measures a force with a spring scale and describes both its size and its direction. |
| Lab technique (motion on a ramp) | Runs the cart with no measurement or timing. | Times the cart but mishandles the distance or the repeats. | Measures the cart’s motion on a ramp accurately and uses it to check a prediction. |
| Integration (cross-domain) | Treats the science as isolated facts; makes no cross-domain connection. | Names a link to history, reading, or writing but cannot defend why it matters. | Connects the unit to its anchor across History · Reading · Writing (plus chosen electives) and defends why the connection matters. |
The split between Approaching and Mastered is prediction backed by measurement: not just timing the cart, but predicting what the ramp will do and explaining the result from the forces. Ask “why did it speed up going down?” Listen for the unbalanced force pulling it along.
Read these before you grade. They show what Mastered and Not yet actually sound like, plus the edge cases where you should coach rather than decide on the spot.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speed & distance–time | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 2 | Balanced vs unbalanced forces | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 3 | Newton’s laws (survey) | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 4 | Measuring force | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (motion on a ramp) | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 6 | Integration (cross-domain) | NY / Appr / Mast |
☐ No ☐ Yes — for criterion: __________ Tokens remaining: ☐ 3 ☐ 2 ☐ 1 ☐ 0
NY = Not yet · Appr = Approaching · Mast = Mastered · Unsure between two levels? Circle the lower one and note what a re-do would need.