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Rubric
Name: Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
Advanced: Meets all proficient criteria. Also combines three or more lines of evidence (age table, symmetric magnetic stripes, Mesosaurus/rock matches, and earthquake/volcano maps) into one explanation of plate movement. Checks the spreading rate against the data, for example by comparing rates across table intervals and noting the near-constant slope or small variations. Uses the rate to estimate when South America and Africa were joined and compares that estimate to the fossil evidence. Explains, with specific evidence, why the water-erosion explanation fails: erosion cannot produce a steady age increase with distance or mirror-image magnetic stripes. Names a limitation or source of uncertainty in the data, such as drilling along only one line.
Beginning: Writes a claim about the seafloor (e.g., "the seafloor moves" or "water wears rock away") but cites no specific data from the age table, magnetic stripes, or Mesosaurus fossils. Does not connect the claim to a cause such as new crust forming at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Makes no reference to rates or time scales (cm per year, millions of years). May restate the phenomenon in place of an explanation.
Dimension: SEP
Developing: States that new seafloor forms at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and moves outward. Cites at least one piece of evidence, such as rock age rising with distance in the table or Mesosaurus fossils on two continents. The causal link stays incomplete: the explanation does not say why no seafloor is older than about 180 million years (crust destroyed at trenches). It also does not use the data to calculate or describe a spreading rate. The explanation of how slow motion builds an ocean over long time spans is missing or inaccurate.
Proficient: Builds a written explanation for the display panel that links cause to effect in a chain. Magma rises and cools at the ridge, making new basalt. That crust moves away from the ridge, so rock age increases with distance. Old seafloor sinks back into the mantle at subduction zones, which explains why no seafloor is older than about 180 million years while continental rock reaches over 4 billion years. Uses at least two data sources (e.g., age table and magnetic stripes or Mesosaurus fossils). Calculates a spreading rate from the table, about 2.3–2.5 cm/yr (e.g., 2000 km ÷ 85 million years), and uses it to show that centimeters per year across millions of years can open an ocean thousands of kilometers wide.
Procedure
Phenomenon
Task Scenario
Teacher Notes
Ngss Alignment
Driving Question
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