Unit 5: Ecosystems & Ecology

State Standards:

1. MS-LS2-1

Performance Expectation: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of periods of abundant and scarce resources on the growth of organisms and the size of populations in an ecosystem.

2. MS-LS2-2

Performance Expectation: Describe how relationships among and between organisms in an ecosystem can be competitive, predatory, parasitic, and mutually beneficial and that these interactions are found across multiple ecosystems.

3. MS-LS2-3

Performance Expectation: Develop a model to describe that matter and energy are transferred among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem and that both matter and energy are conserved through these processes.

4. MS-LS2-4

Performance Expectation: Analyze data to provide evidence that disruptions (natural or human-made) to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations.

5. MS-LS2-5

Performance Expectation: Evaluate competing design solutions for protecting an ecosystem. Discuss benefits and limitations of each design.

6. MS-LS2-6 (MA)

Performance Expectation: Explain how changes to the biodiversity of an ecosystem—the variety of species found in the ecosystem—may limit the availability of resources humans use.

7. MS-LS1-4

Performance Expectation: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures increase the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants.

2.