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 08 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Build a working circuit and an electromagnet; trace the current.
Explain the loop and complete the assigned induction data.
Circuit diagram, the current path, and the result kept distinct.
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 build a working circuit and explain why the current flows the way it does. 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.
| Term | Accepted explanation | Distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Current | Rate of charge flow | Not an amount of energy being used up. |
| Voltage difference | Energy transfer per charge | A voltage measurement is not automatically a current measurement. |
| Series path | Components on the same steady-current path | Current is equal through that path under the stated conditions. |
| Parallel branches | Alternative paths between junctions | Branch currents sum; each branch need not carry the total current. |
| Electrical energy | Energy transferred by the circuit | Use the stated V I time relation and component model. |
| Magnetic field | A model of magnetic interaction in space | One measured component is not necessarily the whole field. |
| Magnetic flux | Field-through-area quantity with an orientation | Changes depend on field, geometry and orientation. |
| Induced emf | Voltage associated with changing flux | Constant nonzero flux can give zero induced emf. |
| Practical evidence | Approved observed measurement or construction | Supplied circuit tables cannot certify unobserved wiring skill. |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is follow the current: a student who can trace the charge all the way around the loop — and explain that it is not used up — has it. Ask “trace the current through your circuit and back to the battery.”
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current & voltage | Cannot say what current or voltage is. | Names them but swaps their meanings. | Distinguishes current as charge-flow rate from voltage as energy transfer per charge, using a stated simple-circuit model. |
| Complete circuits | Thinks a bulb lights from a single wire. | Builds a loop but cannot say why it is needed. | Builds an approved low-voltage DC circuit and explains the source/potential difference and conducting path needed for sustained current. |
| “Used-up current” misconception | Believes the bulb uses up the current. | Knows charge flows in a loop but says some is lost in the bulb. | Accounts for charge: current is equal through a steady series path and branch currents sum at junctions; components transfer energy, not used-up charge. |
| Magnets & electromagnets | Cannot describe what a magnet does. | Knows magnets attract but confuses a current's field with induction. | Separately builds an approved electromagnet; distinguishes current-produced fields from changing-flux emf and interprets the supplied field/induction records with limits. |
| Lab technique (circuits & electromagnets) | Cannot get a circuit to work. | Lights a bulb but cannot troubleshoot a break. | Builds and fixes simple circuits and an electromagnet, tracing the current through each. |
| 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.
Evidence for the score sheet: Level: ______ Case/data: ______ Criterion: ______ Source/date: ______ First attempt and work: ______ Assumptions/uncertainty: ______ Fresh variation: ______. Practical observation is recorded separately.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Current & voltage | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Complete circuits | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | “Used-up current” misconception | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Magnets & electromagnets | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (circuits & electromagnets) | 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.