Middle School (6-8)

Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)
Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)
Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)
Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)
Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)
Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)
Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)
Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)
Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

Performance Expectation

Grade:  Middle School (6-8)