Explain how living things are dependent upon other living and nonliving things for survival.
- Explain what happens to an organism when its food supply, access to water, shelter or space (niche / habitat) is changed.
- Identify similarities and differences between living organisms, ranging from single-celled to multi-cellular organisms through the use of microscopes, video, and other media.
Describe the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers within a local ecosystem.
Describe the relationships between biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem.
- Compare and contrast different biomes and their characteristics
- Describe symbiotic and predator/prey relationships
Examine the effects of limiting factors on population dynamics.
- Analyze possible causes of population fluctuations.
- Explain the concept of carrying capacity in an ecosystem.
- Describe how organisms become classified as threatened or endangered.
- Describe how limiting factors cause organisms to become extinct.
Analyze the significance of biological diversity in an ecosystem.
- Explain how species adapt to limiting factors in an ecosystem.
- Analyze the differences between natural causes and human causes of extinction.
- Research wildlife management laws and their effects on biodiversity.
Identify how matter cycles through an ecosystem.
- Trace how death, growth, and decay cycle matter through an ecosystem
Explain biogeochemical cycles within an ecosystem.
Additionally, define basic features of the rock cycle. Describe the layers of the earth. Differentiate among the mechanisms by which heat is transferred through the Earth’s system.
4.1.3.C Identify sources of energy.
4.1.4.C Explain how most life on earth gets its energy from the sun.
Describe different food webs including a food web containing humans.
Explain the flow of energy within an ecosystem.
- Compare and contrast the flow of energy between organisms in different habitats.
- Explain the concept of trophic levels.
Evaluate the efficiency of energy flow within a food web.
Describe how energy is converted from one form to another as it moves through a food web (photosynthetic, geothermal).
Research how humans affect energy flow within an ecosystem.
- Describe the impact of industrial, agricultural, and commercial enterprises on an ecosystem
Identify reasons why organisms become threatened, endangered, and extinct.
Explain that ecosystems change over time due to natural and/ or human influences.
Identify factors that contribute to change in natural and human-made systems.
- Explain the processes of primary and secondary succession in a given ecosystem.
Analyze how humans influence the pattern of natural changes (e.g. primary / secondary succession and desertification) in ecosystems over time.
Explain the water cycle.
Explain how water enters, moves through, and leaves a watershed.
- Explain the concept of stream order.
- Describe factors that affect the flow and water quality within a watershed
4.2.8.A Describe factors that affect the quality of ground and surface waters.
Examine the interactions between abiotic and biotic factors within a watershed.
- Describe how topography influences the flow of water in a watershed.
- Describe how vegetation affects water runoff.
- Investigate and analyze the effects of land use on the quality of water in a watershed.
Examine how human interactions impact wetlands and their surrounding environments.
- Describe how land use decisions affect wetlands
Explain the relationship between water quality and the diversity of life in a freshwater ecosystem.
- Explain how limiting factors affect the growth and reproduction of freshwater organisms.
Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using renewable and nonrenewable resources.
- Explain how consumption rate affects the sustainability of resource use.
- Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of using renewable resources such as solar power, wind power, and biofuels.
4.4.6.A Explain how different plants and animals in the United States have specific growing requirements related to climate and soil conditions.
Analyze how soil types and geographic regions have impacted agriculture in Pennsylvania.
4.4.3.C Use scientific inquiry to investigate what animals and plants need to grow.
4.4.5.C Investigate the factors influencing plant and animal growth. (e.g., soil, water, nutrients, and light)
Describe the impact of pests in different geographic locations and techniques used to manage those pests.
- Identify introduced species that are classified as pests in their new environments.
- Research integrated pest management practices.
Describe how human activities affect the environment.
Explain how human actions affect the health of the environment.
- Identify residential and industrial sources of pollution and their effects on environmental health.
4.5.8.C Describe how humans can reduce pollution.
Describe how waste is generated.
- Identify and propose a solution for a waste issue in the school setting (e.g., litter in the hallway).
4.5.5.D Explain how different items are recycled and reused.
4.5.10.D Evaluate various methods of managing waste as related to economic, environmental, and technological factors.
Identify the initial reactants, final products, and general purposes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.
Explain the important role of ATP in cell metabolism.
Describe the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration in photosynthetic organisms.
Explain why many biological macromolecules such as ATP and lipids contain high energy bonds.
Explain the importance of enzymes as catalysts in cell reactions.
Identify how factors such as pH and temperature may affect enzyme function.