Concept 1: Characteristics of Organisms

Understand that basic structures in plants and animals serve a function

Grade 4

PO 1.  Compare structures in plants (e.g., roots, stems, leaves, flowers) and animals (e.g., muscles, bones, nerves) that serve different functions in growth and survival.

PO 2.  Classify animals by identifiable group characteristics:

• vertebrates – mammals, birds,  fish, reptiles, amphibians
• invertebrates – insects, arachnids

Concept 3:  Organisms and Environments

Grade 3

Grade 4

PO 1.  Identify the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem.

PO 1.  Describe ways various resources (e.g., air, water, plants, animals, soil) are utilized to meet the needs of a population.

PO 2.  Examine an ecosystem to identify microscopic and macroscopic organisms.

PO 3.  Explain the interrelationships among plants and animals in different environments:

• producers – plants
• consumers – animals
• decomposers – fungi, insects, bacteria

PO 4.  Describe how plants and animals cause change in their environment.

PO 5.  Describe how environmental factors (e.g., soil composition, range of temperature, quantity and quality of light or water) in the ecosystem may affect a member organism’s ability to grow, reproduce, and thrive.

Concept 4: Diversity, Adaptation and Behavior

Identify plant and animal adaptations.

Grade 3

Grade 4

PO 1.  Identify adaptations of plants and animals that allow them to live in specific environments.

PO 1. Recognize that successful characteristics of populations are inherited traits that are favorable in a particular environment.

PO 2.  Describe ways that species adapt when introduced into new environments.

PO 2.  Give examples of adaptations that allow plants and animals to survive.

• camouflage – horned lizards, coyotes
• mimicry – Monarch and Viceroy butterflies
• physical – cactus spines
• mutualism – species of acacia that harbor ants, which repel other harmful insects

PO 3.  Cite examples of how a species’ inability to adapt to changing conditions in the ecosystem led to the extinction of that species.

Concept 1: Structure and Function in Living Systems

Understand the relationships between structures and functions of organisms

Grade 5

PO 1.  Identify the functions and parts of the skeletal system:

• protection – rib cage, cranium
• support – vertebrae
• movement – pelvis, femur, hip

PO 6.  Relate the following structures of living organisms to their functions:

Animals

• respiration – gills, lungs
• digestion – stomach, intestines
• circulation – heart, veins, arteries, capillaries
• locomotion – muscles, skeleton

Plants

• transpiration – stomata, roots, xylem, phloem
• absorption – roots, xylem, phloem
• response to stimulus (phototropism, hydrotropism, geotropism) – roots, xylem, phloem

 PO 2.  Identify the following types of muscles:

• cardiac – heart
• smooth – stomach
• skeletal – biceps

PO 7.  Describe how the various systems of living organisms work together to perform a vital function:

• respiratory and circulatory
• muscular and skeletal
• digestive and excretory

PO 3.  Identify the functions and parts of the nervous system:

• control center – brain
• relay mechanism – spinal cord
• transport messages – nerves

Concept 3: Populations of Organisms in an Ecosystem

Analyze the relationships among various organisms and their environment.

Grade 6

Grade 7

PO 1.  Explain that sunlight is the major source of energy for most ecosystems.

(See Strand 5 Concept 3 and Strand 6 Concept 2)

PO 1.  Compare food chains in a specified ecosystem and their corresponding food web. 

PO 2.  Describe how the following environmental conditions affect the quality of life:

• water quality
• climate
• population density
• smog

PO 2.  Explain how organisms obtain and use resources to develop and thrive in:

• niches
• predator/prey relationships

PO 3.  Analyze the interactions of living organisms with their ecosystems:

• limiting factors
• carrying capacity

PO 4.  Evaluate data related to problems associated with population growth (e.g., overgrazing, forest management, invasion of non-native species) and the possible solutions.

PO 5.  Predict how environmental factors (e.g., floods, droughts, temperature changes) affect survival rates in living organisms.

PO 6.  Create a model of the interactions of living organisms within an ecosystem.

Concept 4: Diversity, Adaptation and Behavior

Grade 8

PO 1.  Explain how an organism’s behavior allows it to survive in an environment.

PO 2.  Describe how an organism can maintain a stable internal environment while living in a constantly changing external environment.

PO 3.  Determine characteristics of organisms that could change over several generations.

PO 4.  Compare the symbiotic and competitive relationships in organisms within an ecosystem (e.g., lichen, mistletoe/tree, clownfish/sea anemone, native/non-native species).

PO 5.  Analyze the following behavioral cycles of organisms:

• hibernation
• migration
• dormancy (plants)

PO 6.  Describe the following factors that allow for the survival of living organisms:

• protective coloration
• beak design
• seed dispersal
• pollination