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 04 learning pathway.
The student demonstrates the following:
Five science criteria plus separately reported integration (Page 3).
Annotate approved images/models and source life-stage records; no wildlife handling.
The student explains how the structures link the groups (Page 4).
Sketches and labeled structures kept distinct from interpretation.
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 find the structures and explain how they link echinoderms to the chordates. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Echinoderms | ||
| Water-vascular system | tube-foot hydraulics | Drives the tube feet with water pressure; unique to echinoderms |
| Tube feet | podia | Hundreds of tiny feet used to walk and to feed |
| Deuterostome | “second mouth” development | Shared early development that groups echinoderms with chordates |
| Chordate hallmarks | ||
| Notochord | flexible support rod | A stiff rod along the back; in every chordate at some stage |
| Dorsal hollow nerve cord | nerve cord above the notochord | Runs along the back; becomes the spinal cord in vertebrates |
| Pharyngeal slits | gill / throat slits | Openings in the throat region; a chordate hallmark |
| Post-anal tail | tail past the anus | A tail that extends beyond the gut; the fourth hallmark |
| Invertebrate chordate | lancelet / tunicate | No backbone; character expression can change across life stages |
| Endostyle / thyroid | additional chordate feature in the source | The four focus traits are not the source's entire list |
| Unknown (?) | not documented in this record | Not zero; not evidence of absence throughout development |
The split between Proficient and Mastery is structures link the groups: not just naming the notochord, but explaining that it and the other three hallmarks connect a lancelet forward to a fish. Ask “what does that structure tell you about its relatives?”
| Criterion | Developing | Proficient | Mastery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water-vascular system & tube feet | Cannot say how a sea star moves or feeds. | Names tube feet but not the system that drives them. | Explains how the water-vascular system powers hundreds of tube feet for movement and feeding. |
| Deuterostome development | Draws a ladder from living sea stars to humans. | Recognizes shared development but treats one character as a universal classification rule. | Uses developmental and other comparative evidence to explain common ancestry, not a chain of living ancestors or a rank. |
| Chordate hallmarks across life stages | Treats an unseen adult feature as absent throughout development. | Names the four focus traits but overlooks stage or the source's additional feature. | Independently compares life-stage records, marks unknown entries, counts known traits and interprets endostyle/thyroid alongside the four focus characters without a one-trait rule. |
| Invertebrate chordates | Assumes every chordate is a vertebrate. | Knows lancelets or tunicates exist but not why they count as chordates. | Explains that lancelets and tunicates are chordates without a backbone and shows which hallmarks they keep. |
| Lab technique (sea-star & lancelet observation) | Invents structures not visible in the approved source. | Annotates an image but omits its source or life stage. | Annotates approved images/models, identifies source and stage, separates visible structures from reference facts and explains what a fresh incomplete record cannot establish. |
| 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.
Student: ______________________________________ Date: _______________ Guide: _________________________
| # | Criterion | Decision | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Water-vascular system & tube feet | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 2 | Deuterostome development | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 3 | Chordate hallmarks across life stages | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 4 | Invertebrate chordates | Dev / Prof / Mast | |
| 5 | Lab technique (sea-star & lancelet observation) | 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.