Science · Unit 3 · Weeks 13–18 · 35–40 min

Scoring Guide: Life Cycles & Living Together

42 points total

Part 1: Animal Groups

11 points

Read about wolves. Then answer questions 1 to 4.

1.
Does living in a pack help wolves survive? Make an argument. Claim: ____ Evidence: ____ Reasoning: ____
(6 pts)
Answer: Answers vary. Look for: Claim: yes, living in a pack helps wolves survive. Evidence: an elk is much bigger than one wolf, but a pack can chase it together and surround it; the pack shares food with the young. Reasoning: working together lets wolves catch large prey that one wolf could not, so more wolves, including the young, get food.
2.
Which one is a benefit of living in a group?
(1 pt)
Answer: more eyes watch for danger
3.
In an ant colony, some ants gather food, some care for the young and some guard the nest. How does sharing the jobs help the colony survive?
(2 pts)
Answer: Answers vary. Look for: all the jobs get done at the same time, so the colony has food, its young are raised and the nest is protected; one ant could not do every job alone.
4.
Small fish swim together in a big school. A larger fish attacks. Give one reason a fish in the school is safer than a fish swimming alone.
(2 pts)
Answer: Answers vary. Look for: many moving fish confuse the hunter so it is hard to pick one; many eyes spot the danger sooner; the chance that any one fish is caught is smaller.

Scoring: Item 1: Claim: 2 points for a clear answer to the question, 1 point for a partly correct claim. Evidence: 2 points for two facts or numbers from the table or text, 1 point for one. Reasoning: 2 points for a science idea that links the evidence to the claim, 1 point for a link with a gap or a restated claim. Spelling does not count. If your child can say it but not write it, write their words down and score them. Item 2: 1 point. Items 3 and 4: 2 points for a clear reason tied to survival, 1 point for a reason that is true but does not say how it helps the animals survive.

Reteach if needed: Week 13. Week 13 Days 1–5 (how groups help animals survive, jobs in a group, hunting and protection, living alone, claim-evidence-reasoning arguments).

Part 2: Life Cycles

10 points

Think about the life cycles of plants and animals.

5.
A chicken hatches from an egg as a fluffy chick, grows into an adult and lays eggs. Does a chicken go through metamorphosis? How do you know?
(2 pts)
Answer: No. The chick looks like a small version of the adult and grows bigger without a big change in body shape.
6.
A ladybug's life cycle has four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Which animal you studied has the same four stages?
(1 pt)
Answer: a butterfly
7.
A bean seed sprouts and becomes a seedling. Which stage of its life cycle comes next?
(1 pt)
Answer: adult plant
8.
Draw a life cycle model for a sunflower. Show 4 stages with arrows that go in a circle. Circle the stage where the plant reproduces (makes new seeds).
(3 pts)
Answer: Answers vary. Look for: seed → seedling (sprout) → adult plant → flower that makes seeds (back to seed), arrows in a circle, and the flower or seed-making stage circled.
9.
Name one way a frog's life cycle and a sunflower's life cycle are the same. Name one way they are different.
(3 pts)
Answer: Answers vary. Look for: Same: both begin, grow, reproduce and die, or both start from something small (an egg or a seed). Different: the frog goes through metamorphosis (tadpole to frog), or the frog hatches from an egg while the sunflower sprouts from a seed.

Scoring: Item 5: 1 point for 'no', 1 point for the reason. Items 6 and 7: 1 point each (accept 'moth' for item 6). Item 8: 1 point for 4 stages in the right order, 1 point for arrows that make a cycle, 1 point for marking the reproducing stage. Item 9: 1 point for a likeness, 2 points for a clear difference (1 point for a vague one).

Reteach if needed: Week 15. Week 15 Days 1–4 (plant, butterfly and frog life cycles, metamorphosis, and what every life cycle shares).

Part 3: Habitats: Who Survives?

10 points

Read about Noor's study squares. Use the table for questions 10 and 11.

10.
In which study square did Noor find the most moss?
(1 pt)
Answer: damp shade by the fence
11.
Use the data. Where does moss survive well, survive less well and not survive at all?
(3 pts)
Answer: Well: the damp shade by the fence. Less well: the half shade. Not at all: the sunny, dry spot.
12.
Noor wants to find out whether mealworms choose bran or sand. What is the one thing she changes? Name two things she keeps the same.
(3 pts)
Answer: She changes what is on each side (bran or sand). Keep the same: any two of the same tray, the same number of mealworms, the same light, the same amount of time, starting the mealworms in the middle.
13.
Crabs of one kind live on a pale sandy beach. Most are pale tan, but a few are dark brown. Gulls hunt the crabs. Which crabs are more likely to survive and have young? Why?
(2 pts)
Answer: The pale tan crabs, because they blend in with the sand, so gulls have a harder time seeing and catching them.
14.
A mole has wide, strong front paws for digging. Is this a physical or a behavioral adaptation?
(1 pt)
Answer: physical

Scoring: Item 10: 1 point. Item 11: 1 point for each place. Item 12: 1 point for the one thing changed, 1 point for each thing kept the same. Item 13: 1 point for the pale tan crabs, 1 point for the reason. Item 14: 1 point.

Reteach if needed: Week 14, Week 16. Week 14 Days 2–4 (physical and behavioral adaptations, camouflage, fair test with pill bugs); Week 16 Days 2–3 (observing and comparing a study square).

Part 4: Ecosystem Models & Changes

11 points

Read about Ben's pond model. Then answer questions 15 to 19.

15.
Write a food chain from Ben's model. Start with the sun.
(2 pts)
Answer: sun → algae → water fleas → small fish
16.
Ben wants dead algae and fish waste to break down. What kind of living thing should he make sure his model has?
(1 pt)
Answer: decomposers (such as bacteria in the mud)
17.
Predict: if all the water fleas were taken out, what would happen to the algae and to the fish? Tell why for each.
(3 pts)
Answer: The algae would increase, because nothing is eating them. The fish would go hungry or die, because they lose their food.
18.
A wetland dries up and stays dry. Name one animal that would probably move away and one kind of living thing that might move in. Tell why for one of them.
(2 pts)
Answer: Answers vary. Look for: an animal that needs water moving away (frog, duck, fish dies or heron leaves) and a living thing suited to drier land moving in (grasses, mice, grasshoppers), with a reason tied to its needs.
19.
A dam is built across a river. Salmon swim up the river to lay their eggs, but the dam blocks them. Solution 1: build a fish ladder, a row of small pools that step up beside the dam. Solution 2: drop more fish food into the river below the dam. Which solution is better? Make a claim and give a reason.
(3 pts)
Answer: Solution 1, the fish ladder. It lets the salmon get past the dam to the places where they lay their eggs, so new salmon can hatch. Extra food does not get them past the dam.

Scoring: Item 15: 2 points for the chain in the right order with arrows pointing to the eater, 1 point if one part is out of place. Item 16: 1 point. Item 17: 1 point for the algae, 1 point for the fish, 1 point for reasons. Item 18: 1 point for the two living things, 1 point for a reason. Item 19: 1 point for the fish ladder, 2 points for a reason about reaching the egg-laying places (1 point for a reason that is true but vague).

Reteach if needed: Week 17, Week 18. Week 17 Days 1–4 (building an ecosystem model, energy arrows, predicting changes and judging a solution); Week 18 Days 1–4 (review of ecosystems, food webs and habitat changes).

Score box

Part	Points earned	Possible
1. Animal Groups		11
2. Life Cycles		10
3. Habitats: Who Survives?		10
4. Ecosystem Models & Changes		11
Total		42

Level: Enter points to see the level.

D · Developing: 0–20
A · Approaching: 21–29
P · Proficient: 30–37
E · Exceeding: 38–42