SCIENCE STRAND IV
LiFE SCIENCE
This program emphasizes life science concepts that can be directly observed or explored by students, while minimizing the need to acquire specific terminology.
14. Trace the transmission of energy in a small, simple ecosystem and/or identify the roles of organisms in the energy movement in an ecosystem.
Items will test students’ abilities to analyze food chains and/or food webs and trace the energy transfer among organisms or the level of dependence of groups/organisms on one another; analyze or identify food pyramids for correct representation of energy available at various levels; identify the roles of organisms in a food chain, web, or small ecosystem (producer, consumer, decomposer; predator, prey, scavenger; etc.); identify the primary producers in an ecosystem; identify the relative amount (most, least) of energy from producers that is available to an organism or group of organisms in a food chain or web; and describe types of relationships organisms have with one another (parasitic, predator-prey, etc.). Students should recognize that food-chain arrows are drawn from organisms that are eaten to the organisms that eat them.
Students should be accustomed to accounting for the conservation of energy in living systems, just as they are in simple physical systems. Students should understand that organisms ultimately lose energy as heat and gain energy, directly or indirectly, from the sun. Energy can be stored in chemical bonds and passed on as organisms consume this food; and some energy is lost every time energy is transferred. Terms commonly used in discussion (such as producer, consumer, decomposer) should have strong experiential association for students.
15. Compare and/or contrast the diversity of ways in which living things meet their needs.
Ways in which living things meet their needs includes both physical characteristics and behaviors by which organisms meet basic needs: energy and/or nutrients for growth; water; shelter and protection or escape from other organisms; thermoregulation or reactions (e.g., migration, hibernation) to climate or other environmental stresses; elimination of wastes; reproduction; and growth and maturation. Items will test students’ abilities to identify what need is being met by a particular characteristic or action; identify what characteristic or action would meet a particular need; compare the advantages and/or disadvantages of characteristics or actions that meet the same or similar needs; and analyze an animal’s physical characteristics and tell how that animal would react to a particular stress. Items that require analysis of physical characteristics will be clearly illustrated.
Students must be familiar not only with the basic needs of living things, but with characteristics and behaviors through which those needs are met. Since the environments that provide basic needs often change with the seasons, students should be familiar with those changes, with organisms’ responses to those changes, and with the effects those responses have. Students should have experiences of growing something or keeping something alive at home or in the classroom, or observations that provide similar understanding.
16. Analyze behaviors and/or activities that positively or negatively influence human health.
Students should be able to analyze and/or identify behaviors or activities that will have the most beneficial or harmful effects on human health in a given situation; identify the reasons for such effects; and identify actions to take in situations where there is potential for harm to human health. Topics or areas covered include exercise plans and precautions; food preparation and/or diet; public and personal health and hygiene; accident prevention with materials or equipment at home or in classrooms; basic first aid responses or measures; and safety measures in outdoor activities.
Clear advantages and disadvantages to human health are the focus of this outcome, and students should be practiced in explaining the science and logic behind their evaluations of the behaviors or activities in question. Class-determined safety rules for activities are helpful references in students’ learning of the principles of this type of decision-making.
17. Analyze the impacts of human activity on the ecosystems of the earth.
This outcome tests students’ abilities to analyze, describe, or identify how human actions or activities can affect the earth’s ecosystems and its plant and animal species, in terms of pollution (air, soil, water); conservation of natural resources (including preservation of land, plant and animal species); change or maintenance of habitats for particular plant or animal species; erosion; soil fertility; and effects associated with the use and/or production of different forms of energy.
Students should understand that human activity can have certain effects on the environment, just as the characteristics of an environment can have certain effects or limits on human activity. There are advantages and disadvantages to any activity, and students should be able to identify or discuss these from multiple viewpoints.
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