Ecosystems

Pre-K-2
Students understand how plants and animals depend on each other and the environment in which they live.

a. Explain that animals use plants and other animals for food, shelter, and nesting. b. Compare different animals and plants that live in different environments of the world.

3-5
Students describe ways organisms depend upon, interact within, and change the living and non-living environment as well as ways the environment affects organisms.

a. Explain how changes in an organism's habitat can influence its survival. b. Describe that organisms all over the Earth are living, dying, and decaying and new organisms are being produced by the old ones. c. Describe some of the ways in which organisms depend on one another, including animals carrying pollen and dispersing seeds. d. Explain how the food of most animals can be traced back to plants and how animals use food for energy and repair. e. Explain how organisms can affect the environment in different ways.

6-8
Students describe ways organisms depend upon, interact within, and change the living and non-living environment as well as ways the environment affects organisms.

a. Explain how changes in an organism's habitat can influence its survival. b. Describe that organisms all over the Earth are living, dying, and decaying and new organisms are being produced by the old ones. c. Describe some of the ways in which organisms depend on one another, including animals carrying pollen and dispersing seeds. d. Explain how the food of most animals can be traced back to plants and how animals use food for energy and repair. e. Explain how organisms can affect the environment in different ways.

9-Diploma
Students describe and analyze the interactions, cycles, and factors that affect short-term and long-term ecosystem stability and change.

a. Explain why ecosystems can be reasonably stable over hundreds or thousands of years, even though populations may fluctuate. b. Describe dynamic equilibrium in ecosystems and factors that can, in the long run, lead to change in the normal pattern of cyclic fluctuations and apply that knowledge to actual situations. c. Explain the concept of carrying capacity and list factors that determine the amount of life that any environment can support. d. Describe the critical role of photosynthesis and how energy and the chemical elements that make up molecules are transformed in ecosystems and obey basic conservation laws.