Describing the Cleft: Type, Side, and How Complete
Disease domain · Lesson 2 of 20 · Shared clinical backbone (the cleft team)
Today's goal: Students will classify a cleft by the structures involved (lip only, palate only, or both), by laterality (unilateral or bilateral, and which side), and by completeness (complete or incomplete), and apply that vocabulary to Mateo.
What a finished product looks like
This is a model of the work you should turn in. Use it to check your own: match the structure and the level of detail, do not copy it. Your wording should be your own.
Mateo's standardized description box:
- Structures involved: both lip and palate (cleft lip and palate, CLP)
- Laterality (and side): unilateral, left side only (right lip intact)
- Completeness: complete (lip cleft reaches the left nostril; palate open along its full length)
- One-line summary: 'Complete unilateral (left) cleft lip and palate.'
Why a registry needs this: a registry compares thousands of children to study outcomes and plan surgery, and 'a cleft' could mean a tiny lip notch or a wide bilateral CLP; the three-axis phrase pins down exactly what a surgeon will repair.
Also due today: Confirm no submucous-cleft features are being missed; here the cleft is overt, not occult.
Context note: Mateo's pattern is the most common version of each axis. CLP is the largest single cleft category (about 45%), unilateral lip clefts outnumber bilateral roughly 4 to 1, and of unilateral clefts about 70% are left-sided. His phenotype is typical, not unusual; this is a description, and it does not yet tell us a cause.
How this was built, step by step
The finished product above did not appear all at once. Here is the path from the question to the turned-in work, so you can follow the same steps.
- 1Start from today's question: How does the team describe Mateo's precisely enough to plan from?
- 2Work the Model and the Explore questions to reason it out before writing anything.
- 3Pull the specific evidence the product needs from the reading and any database you used.
- 4Write it up in the required format: Fill in Mateo's standardized description box for the chart and registry (structures involved, and side, completeness, one-line summary), then write one sentence on why a registry needs this level of precision and why a casual word like 'a ' will not do.
- 5Check it against the rubric, then submit.
| Criterion | Proficient | Developing | Beginning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete | Every required part of the artifact is present and filled in. | Most parts are present, but one is missing or left blank. | Several parts are missing. |
| Accurate | The science and data are correct and match the evidence. | Mostly correct, with a small factual slip. | Key science or data is wrong. |
| Scientific reasoning (CER) | States a claim, backs it with specific evidence, and explains the reasoning. | Has a claim and evidence, but the reasoning is thin or missing. | Gives an answer with no evidence or reasoning. |
| Professional communication | Clear, organized, and labeled the way a clinician or scientist would write it. | Readable but disorganized or missing labels. | Hard to follow. |
| Submitted | Turned in the right way (Schoology for routine work) and confirmed. | Turned in, but in the wrong place or unconfirmed. | Not turned in. |
- CompleteProficient: Nothing is left blank: the model fills every part of "Fill in Mateo's standardized description box for the chart and registry (structures involved, laterality and side, completeness, one-line summary), then write one sentence on why a registry needs this level of precision and why a casual word like 'a cleft' will not do.".
- AccurateProficient: Every number and claim matches the case evidence.
- Scientific reasoning (CER)Proficient: It names a claim, cites the specific evidence, and explains the reasoning, not just the answer.
- Professional communicationProficient: It is organized and labeled like a real chart note.
- SubmittedProficient: It would be turned in on Schoology and confirmed.
WebXam problem for today's skill
One exam-style question that uses exactly what you practiced today. Try it before you reveal the answer, then read why each choice is right or wrong.
Tap an answer to see the full explanation. Nothing is recorded or graded.