1: Students will understand that living organisms interact with one another and their environment.

1.1: Summarize how energy flows through an ecosystem.

1.1.a: Arrange components of a food chain according to energy flow.

Food Chain

1.1.c: Describe strategies used by organisms to balance the energy expended to obtain food to the energy gained from the food (e.g., migration to areas of seasonal abundance, switching type of prey based upon availability, hibernation or dormancy).

Food Chain

1.2: Explain relationships between matter cycles and organisms.

1.2.a: Use diagrams to trace the movement of matter through a cycle (i.e., carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, water) in a variety of biological communities and ecosystems.

Carbon Cycle
Cell Energy Cycle

1.2.d: Evaluate the impact of personal choices in relation to the cycling of matter within an ecosystem (e.g., impact of automobiles on the carbon cycle, impact on landfills of processed and packaged foods).

Carbon Cycle

1.3: Describe how interactions among organisms and their environment help shape ecosystems.

1.3.a: Categorize relationships among living things according to predator-prey, competition, and symbiosis.

Food Chain

1.3.c: Use data to interpret interactions among biotic and abiotic factors (e.g., pH, temperature, precipitation, populations, diversity) within an ecosystem.

Pond Ecosystem

1.3.e: Research and evaluate local and global practices that affect ecosystems.

Coral Reefs 1 - Abiotic Factors
Coral Reefs 2 - Biotic Factors
Pond Ecosystem

2: Students will understand that all organisms are composed of one or more cells that are made of molecules, come from preexisting cells, and perform life functions.

2.1: Describe the fundamental chemistry of living cells.

2.1.b: Identify the function of the four major macromolecules (i.e., carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids).

RNA and Protein Synthesis

2.2: Describe the flow of energy and matter in cellular function.

2.2.b: Illustrate the cycling of matter and the flow of energy through photosynthesis (e.g., by using light energy to combine CO2 and H2O to produce oxygen and sugars) and respiration (e.g., by releasing energy from sugar and O2 to produce CO2 and H2O).

Carbon Cycle
Cell Energy Cycle
Food Chain
Photosynthesis Lab

2.2.c: Measure the production of one or more of the products of either photosynthesis or respiration.

Photosynthesis Lab

2.3: Investigate the structure and function of cells and cell parts.

2.3.a: Explain how cells divide from existing cells.

Cell Division

2.3.c: Describe how the transport of materials in and out of cells enables cells to maintain homeostasis (i.e., osmosis, diffusion, active transport).

Osmosis
Paramecium Homeostasis

2.3.d: Describe the relationship between the organelles in a cell and the functions of that cell.

Cell Structure
Paramecium Homeostasis
RNA and Protein Synthesis

3: Students will understand the relationship between structure and function of organs and organ systems.

3.1: Describe the structure and function of organs.

3.1.a: Diagram and label the structure of the primary components of representative organs in plants and animals (e.g., heart - muscle tissue, valves and chambers; lung - trachea, bronchial, alveoli; leaf - veins, stomata; stem - xylem, phloem, cambium; root - tip, elongation, hairs; skin - layers, sweat glands, oil glands, hair follicles; ovaries - ova, follicles, corpus luteum).

Circulatory System
Digestive System

3.1.b: Describe the function of various organs (e.g. heart, lungs, skin, leaf, stem, root, ovary).

Circulatory System
Digestive System

3.1.c: Relate the structure of organs to the function of organs.

Digestive System

3.2: Describe the relationship between structure and function of organ systems in plants and animals.

3.2.a: Relate the function of an organ to the function of an organ system.

Circulatory System
Digestive System

3.2.b: Describe the structure and function of various organ systems (i.e., digestion, respiration, circulation, protection and support, nervous) and how these systems contribute to homeostasis of the organism.

Circulatory System
Human Homeostasis

3.2.c: Examine the relationships of organ systems within an organism (e.g., respiration to circulation, leaves to roots) and describe the relationship of structure to function in the relationship.

Circulatory System
Digestive System

3.2.d: Relate the tissues that make up organs to the structure and function of the organ.

Digestive System

4: Students will understand that genetic information coded in DNA is passed from parents to offspring by sexual and asexual reproduction. The basic structure of DNA is the same in all living things. Changes in DNA may alter genetic expression.

4.2: Predict and interpret patterns of inheritance in sexually reproducing organisms.

4.2.b: Demonstrate possible results of recombination in sexually reproducing organisms using one or two pairs of contrasting traits in the following crosses: dominance/recessive, incomplete dominance, codominance, and sex-linked traits.

Chicken Genetics

4.3: Explain how the structure and replication of DNA are essential to heredity and protein synthesis.

4.3.b: Explain the importance of DNA replication in cell reproduction.

Cell Division

4.3.c: Summarize how genetic information encoded in DNA provides instructions for assembling protein molecules.

RNA and Protein Synthesis

4.3.d: Describe how mutations may affect genetic expression and cite examples of mutagens.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection

5: Students will understand that biological diversity is a result of evolutionary processes.

5.1: Relate principles of evolution to biological diversity.

5.1.a: Describe the effects of environmental factors on natural selection.

Natural Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks - Metric

5.2: Cite evidence for changes in populations over time and use concepts of evolution to explain these changes.

5.2.a: Cite evidence that supports biological evolution over time (e.g., geologic and fossil records, chemical mechanisms, DNA structural similarities, homologous and vestigial structures).

Human Evolution - Skull Analysis

5.2.b: Identify the role of mutation and recombination in evolution.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection

5.3: Classify organisms into a hierarchy of groups based on similarities that reflect their evolutionary relationships.

5.3.a: Classify organisms using a classification tool such as a key or field guide.

Dichotomous Keys
Human Evolution - Skull Analysis

5.3.b: Generalize criteria used for classification of organisms (e.g., dichotomy, structure, broad to specific).

Dichotomous Keys
Human Evolution - Skull Analysis

6.2.e: Relate how weather patterns are the result of interactions among ocean currents, air currents, and topography.

Coastal Winds and Clouds - Metric
Hurricane Motion - Metric
Weather Maps - Metric