Correlation to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Shop by NGSS »

Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
HS-LS2-2. Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.
HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

• Science & Engineering Practices

  Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
  - Construct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict phenomena.
  - Design, evaluate, and refine a solution to a complex real-world problem, based on scientific knowledge, student-generated sources of evidence, prioritized criteria, and tradeoff considerations.

• Disciplinary Core Ideas

  LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
  - Extreme fluctuations in conditions or the size of any population can challenge the functioning of ecosystems in terms of resources and habitat availability.
  - Moreover, anthropogenic changes (induced by human activity) in the environment—including habitat destruction, pollution, introduction of invasive species, overexploitation, and climate change—can disrupt an ecosystem and threaten the survival of some species.

  LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans
  - Humans depend on the living world for the resources and other benefits provided by biodiversity. But human activity is also having adverse impacts on biodiversity through overpopulation, overexploitation, habitat destruction, pollution, introduction of invasive species, and climate change. Thus sustaining biodiversity so that ecosystem functioning and productivity are maintained is essential to supporting and enhancing life on Earth.

• Crosscutting Concepts

  Patterns - Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships.

  Stability and Change - Much of science deals with constructing explanations of how things change and how they remain stable.

  Cause and Effect - Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.

  Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
  Using the concept of orders of magnitude allows one to understand how a model at one scale relates to a model at another scale.