Assessment Template
1) Identify your standards for your students.
MS-ESS2-1.Develop a model to describe the cycling of Earth's materials and the flow of energy that
drives this process. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the processes of melting, crystallization,
weathering, deformation, and sedimentation, which act together to form minerals and rocks through the
cycling of Earth’s materials.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the identification and
naming of minerals.]
2) For a particular standard or set of standards, develop a task your students
could perform that would indicate that they have met these standards.
*Students completed the “Starburst Rock Cycle’ activity. During this activity, each student
used their Chromebook to take pictures of their “starburst model” at each stage in the rock
cycle. Once the activity was completed, the students would develop a slide show incorporating
their pictures along with a detailed explanation of the rock cycle. A rubric will be handed out
so that each student will understand the expectation of the assignment.
3) Identify the characteristics of good performance on that task, the criteria, that,
if present in your students’ work, will indicate that they have performed well on
the task, i.e., they have met the standards.
*The students will develop a PowerPoint describing the rock cycle based on the model they
created in the “Starburst Rock Cycle” activity.
*The authentic assessment used to assess the standard will be a rubric.
*The characteristics of good performance on this task will be:
-all pictures will be represented in the PowerPoint
-using the model, each slide will provide a detailed explanation of each stage in the rock
cycle
-the presentation will be organized based on the cycle starting with sediment and
ending with the Igneous Rock
-all slide are labeled with accurate information
-no spelling or grammar errors
4) For each criterion, identify two or more levels of performance along which
students can perform which will sufficiently discriminate among student
Assessment Template
performance for that criterion. The combination of the criteria and the levels of
performance for each criterion will be your rubric for that task (assessment).
Rubric: There are 4 areas in this rubric to assess the standard.
3
2
1
-the presentation will
be organized based on
the cycle starting with
sediment and ending
with Igneous Rock
-no spelling or
grammar errors
-all slide are labeled
with accurate
information
-project is basic and
only provides
minimal details
-3 to 5 spelling and
grammar errors
-2 slides are not
properly labeled with
correct information
-the project has no
logical order and
information about
the rock cycle is
unclear
-more than 5
spelling or grammar
errors
-all slides are
missing labels
Mastery of
Standard
-demonstrate mastery
of standard by using
the model to clearly
explain the rock cycle
-demonstrate near
mastery of
standard by using
the model to simply
explain the rock
cycle process
-standard not
mastered. Shows
little understanding
of how the model
represents the rock
cycle
Visual Appeal
-the project is
memorable and
compelling to look at.
-the layout of the
project is
appropriate but
simple.
-the project is vague
and lacks visual
appeal.
Organization
Assessment Template
Use of
pictures
-all pictures from the
activity are
represented in an
orderly fashion
-missing 2 pictures
from the activity
-no pictures are
represented from
activity