MS-LS4-1   Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

MS-LS4-1. Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on finding patterns of changes in the level of complexity of anatomical structures in organisms and the chronological order of fossil appearance in the rock layers.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the names of individual species or geological eras in the fossil record.]
The performance expectation above was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:

Science and Engineering Practices

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

         Connections to Nature of Science

 

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

  • Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

         Connections to Nature of Science

 

Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems

  • Science assumes that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation.

Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band:

MS.ESS1.C ; MS.ESS2.B

Articulation of DCIs across grade-bands:

3.LS4.A ; HS.LS4.A ; HS.ESS1.C

Common Core State Standards Connections:

ELA/Literacy -
RST.6-8.1Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions. (MS-LS4-1)
RST.6-8.7Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table). (MS-LS4-1)
Mathematics -
6.EE.B.6Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set. (MS-LS4-1)

MS-LS4-1   Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

MS-LS4-1. Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on finding patterns of changes in the level of complexity of anatomical structures in organisms and the chronological order of fossil appearance in the rock layers.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the names of individual species or geological eras in the fossil record.]
The performance expectation above was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:

Science and Engineering Practices

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

         Connections to Nature of Science

 

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

  • Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

         Connections to Nature of Science

 

Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems

  • Science assumes that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation.

Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band:

MS.ESS1.C ; MS.ESS2.B

Articulation of DCIs across grade-bands:

3.LS4.A ; HS.LS4.A ; HS.ESS1.C

Common Core State Standards Connections:

ELA/Literacy -
RST.6-8.1Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions. (MS-LS4-1)
RST.6-8.7Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table). (MS-LS4-1)
Mathematics -
6.EE.B.6Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set. (MS-LS4-1)

MS-LS4-1   Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

MS-LS4-1. Analyze and interpret data for patterns in the fossil record that document the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of life forms throughout the history of life on Earth under the assumption that natural laws operate today as in the past. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on finding patterns of changes in the level of complexity of anatomical structures in organisms and the chronological order of fossil appearance in the rock layers.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the names of individual species or geological eras in the fossil record.]
The performance expectation above was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:

Science and Engineering Practices

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Analyzing data in 6–8 builds on K–5 experiences and progresses to extending quantitative analysis to investigations, distinguishing between correlation and causation, and basic statistical techniques of data and error analysis.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

         Connections to Nature of Science

 

Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence

  • Science knowledge is based upon logical and conceptual connections between evidence and explanations.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

LS4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity

Crosscutting Concepts

Patterns

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

         Connections to Nature of Science

 

Scientific Knowledge Assumes an Order and Consistency in Natural Systems

  • Science assumes that objects and events in natural systems occur in consistent patterns that are understandable through measurement and observation.

Connections to other DCIs in this grade-band:

MS.ESS1.C ; MS.ESS2.B

Articulation of DCIs across grade-bands:

3.LS4.A ; HS.LS4.A ; HS.ESS1.C

Common Core State Standards Connections:

ELA/Literacy -
RST.6-8.1Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions. (MS-LS4-1)
RST.6-8.7Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table). (MS-LS4-1)
Mathematics -
6.EE.B.6Use variables to represent numbers and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in a specified set. (MS-LS4-1)

* The performance expectations marked with an asterisk integrate traditional science content with engineering through a Practice or Disciplinary Core Idea.

The section entitled “Disciplinary Core Ideas” is reproduced verbatim from A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Cross-Cutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Integrated and reprinted with permission from the National Academy of Sciences.

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Related Evidence Statements
MS-LS4-1-1 Evidence Statements
Related Quality Units
Middle School: K-12 Alliance: Understanding White Sharks
Middle School: OpenSciEd Unit 8.6: How Could Things Living Today Be Connected to the Things That Lived Long Ago?
Related Example Bundles
Middle School Phenomenon Model Course 3: Bundle 1
Middle School Topic Model Course 3: Bundle 3
Middle School Topic Model Course 3: Bundle 4

How to Read the Standards

The standards integrate three dimensions within each standard and have intentional connections across standards. More...