Characteristics of Living Things
NGSS Performance Expectations:
http://www.biology4kids.com
http://www.neok12.com/Cell-Structures.htm
http://www.cellsalive.com/
http://www.livescience.com/37009-human-body.html
- MS-LS1-1 Conduct and investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells
- MS-LS1-2 Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways parts of cells contribute to the function.
- MS-LS1-3 Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
- MS-LS1-8 Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.
- All living things are made up of cells. In organisms, cells work together to form tissues and organs that are specialized for particular body functions.
- Each sense receptor responds to different inputs, transmitting them as signals that travel along nerve cells to the brain. The signals are then processed in the brain, resulting in immediate behaviors or memories
- What are the properties or characteristics that differentiate living organisms from non-living things?
- What are the ways cells contribute to the function of living organisms?
- How would scientists go about redesigning the human body to get the most efficiency out of it?
- Why are Stem Cells considered the foundation upon which our body grows?
- How do changes in the brain affect an organism's behavior?
http://www.biology4kids.com
http://www.neok12.com/Cell-Structures.htm
http://www.cellsalive.com/
http://www.livescience.com/37009-human-body.html
Photosynthesis
NGSS Performance Expectations
- MS-LS1-6 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.
- MS_LS1-7 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
- Plant, algae and many microorganisms use the energy from light to make sugars from carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water through the process of photosynthesis which also releases oxygen. These sugars can be used immediately or stored for growth.
- Within individual organisms, food moves through a series of chemical reactions in which it is broken down and rearranged to form new molecules, support growth or release energy.
- The chemical reaction by which plants produce complex food molecules requires energy input to occur. In this reaction, carbon dioxide and water combine to form carbon based organic molecules and release oxygen.
- Cellular respiration in plants and animals involves chemical reaction with oxygen that release stored energy. In these processes complex molecules containing carbon react with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and other materials.
- How do cells transform, store and use energy to maintain the survival of organisms?
- How is energy from plants able to be used by other organisms?
- Are plants more important to people or are people more important to plants? Explain
Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
NGSS Performance Expectations
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/miracle/divide.html
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/classical-genetics/mendelian--genetics/v/introduction-to-heredity
http://www.ducksters.com/science/biology/dna.php
- MS-LS1-4 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.
- MS-LS1-5 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
- MS-LS3-1 Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
- MS-LS3-2 Develop and use a model to describe why sexual reproduction results in offspring with identical genetic information and sexual reproduction results in offspring with genetic variation.
- MS-LS4- 4 Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.
- Genes vary and affect the structure and function of organisms.
- Heritable information provides for the continuity of life.
- Diversity affects interactions between biological systems and the environment
- Animals engage in behaviors that increase the odds of reproduction. An organism’s growth is
affected by both genetic and environmental factors
- How do sexual and asexual reproduction vary in terms of genetic variation of offspring?
- How do genetic mutations occur?
- What genetic and environmental factors influence the growth of an organism?
- What characteristics (behavior and structural) affect the probability of successful reproduction in animals and plants
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/miracle/divide.html
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/classical-genetics/mendelian--genetics/v/introduction-to-heredity
http://www.ducksters.com/science/biology/dna.php
|
|
Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
NGSS Performance Expectations
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_01
http://www.neok12.com/Natural-Selection.htm
- 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.
- MS-LS4-2 Apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for the anatomical similarities and differences among modern organisms and between modern and fossil organisms to infer evolutionary relationships.
- MS-LS4-3 Analyze displays of pictorial data to compare patterns of similarities in the embryological development across multiple species to identify relationships not evident in the fully formed anatomy.
- MS-LS4-5 Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.
- MS-LS4-6 Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.
- The fossil record documents the existence, diversity, extinction, and change of many life forms and their environments through Earth’s history. The fossil record and comparison of anatomical similarities between organisms enable the inference of lines of evolutionary descent.
- Both natural and artificial selection result from certain traits given some individuals and advantage in survival and reproduction, leading to predominance of certain traits in a population.
- Species can change over time in response to changes in environmental conditions through adaptation by natural selection acting over generations. Traits that support successful survival and reproduction in the new environment become more common.
- How does the fossil record document the existence, diversity, extinction and change of many life forms throughout the history of life on Earth?
- How do anatomical similarities and differences between organisms living today and organisms in the fossil record demonstrate the inference of lines of evolutionary decent?
- In what ways has technology allowed humans to influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms?
- How does natural selection lead to the increase or decrease of specific traits in a population?
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evo_01
http://www.neok12.com/Natural-Selection.htm
Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy and Dynamics
NGSS Performance Expectations
Enduring Understandings
http://geography4kids.com/files/land_ecosystem.html
- MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resources availability on organism and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
- MS-LS2-2 Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
- MS-LS2-3 Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and non-living parts of an ecosystem.
- MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
- MS-LS2-5 Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services
Enduring Understandings
- Organisms and populations are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors, any of which can limit their growth. Competitive, predatory, and mutually beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems but the patterns are shared.
- The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem. Food webs model how matter and energy are transferred among producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem
- How are population growth and reproductions constrained by competition for limited resources?
- How are the interactions among organisms in multiple ecosystems mutually beneficial?
- How are matter and energy cycled among the living and non-living parts of an ecosystem?
- What is the relationship between abiotic and biotic factors in an ecosystem and what role does it play in the health of an ecosystem?
http://geography4kids.com/files/land_ecosystem.html
|
|
Earth and Human Activities
NGSS Performance Expectations
- MS-ESS3-1 Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how the uneven distribution of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources are the result of past and current geoscience processes.
- MS-ESS3-2 Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects.
- MS-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
- MS-ESS3-4 Construct an argument supported by evidence for how increases in human population and per capita consumption of natural resources impact Earth's systems.
- MS-ESS3-5 Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past.
- MS-PS1-3 Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society
Enduring Understandings
Helpful Websites
http://www.c2es.org/science-impacts/basics/kids
- Human activities have altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging it, although changes to environments can have different impacts for different living things. Activities and technologies can be engineered to reduce people’s impacts on Earth.
- How do geological processes affect the distribution of resources such as minerals, energy and groundwater?
- How have human activities positively and negatively affect Earth's systems?
Helpful Websites
http://www.c2es.org/science-impacts/basics/kids