This packet is everything a parent or guide needs to assess Unit 06 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 temperature change in a heat-transfer setup and explaining how the energy traveled.
By the end of the Heat & Thermal Energy unit, a student should be able to:
Six criteria, each judged Not yet / Approaching / Mastered (Page 3).
Measure temperature over time as heat moves through a setup.
The student tells heat apart from temperature aloud (Page 4).
Readings over time, the path of the heat, 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 reading and tell heat apart from temperature. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Heat vs temperature | ||
| Temperature | how hot something is | A measure of average particle energy, not the amount of heat |
| Heat | thermal energy on the move | Energy flowing from warmer to cooler — not the same as temperature |
| Thermal energy | energy of jiggling particles | Stored in the motion of particles; more of it at higher temperature |
| Thermal equilibrium | same temperature | When two things stop exchanging heat — their temperatures match |
| Ways heat travels | ||
| Conduction | heat through touch | Through a solid, particle to particle — a metal spoon warming |
| Convection | heat by moving fluid | Warm water or air rises and carries heat with it |
| Radiation | heat by rays | Travels through empty space — warmth from a lamp or the Sun |
| Insulator | poor heat conductor | Slows heat flow — wood or foam, unlike metal |
| Criterion | Not yet | Approaching | Mastered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temperature vs. heat | Uses “heat” and “temperature” to mean the same thing. | Defines each but confuses them in an example. | Explains that temperature measures how hot something is while heat is energy on the move, and keeps the two straight. |
| Conduction, convection & radiation | Cannot name a way that heat travels. | Names the three ways but cannot match them to real cases. | Identifies conduction, convection, and radiation in everyday situations and explains each one. |
| Thermal energy & heat flow | Thinks cold moves into warm things. | Knows heat flows but not which direction. | Shows that heat always flows from the warmer thing to the cooler one until their temperatures even out. |
| Predicting heat transfer | Cannot say what will warm up or cool down. | Predicts a direction but not a reason. | Predicts how heat will move through a setup and explains the path it takes. |
| Lab technique (heat transfer) | Misreads the thermometer or ignores the reading. | Records temperatures but at uneven times. | Measures temperature change over time cleanly and links it to how the heat traveled. |
| 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 heat is not temperature: a warm hand losing energy to a cool spoon is heat flow, not “cold” moving in. Ask “which way did the energy go, and by conduction, convection, or radiation?”
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 | Temperature vs. heat | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 2 | Conduction, convection & radiation | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 3 | Thermal energy & heat flow | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 4 | Predicting heat transfer | NY / Appr / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (heat transfer) | 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.