Grade 5

• 5-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information about ways communities reduce human impact on the Earth’s resources and environment by changing an agricultural, industrial, or community practice or process.

Clarification Statement: • Examples of changed practices or processes include treating sewage, reducing the amounts of materials used, capturing polluting emissions from factories or power plants, and preventing runoff from agricultural activities.

• 5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among producers, consumers, decomposers, and the air, water, and soil in the environment to (a) show that plants produce sugars and plant materials, (b) show that animals can eat plants and/or other animals for food, and (c) show that some organisms, including fungi and bacteria, break down dead organisms and recycle some materials back to the air and soil.

Clarification Statement: • Emphasis is on matter moving throughout the ecosystem.

Grade 7

• 7.MS-LS2-3. 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.

Clarification Statements: • Cycling of matter should include the role of photosynthesis, cellular respiration, and decomposition, as well as transfer among producers, consumers (primary, secondary, and tertiary), and decomposers. • Models may include food webs and food chains.

• 7.MS-LS2-4. 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. 

Clarification Statement: • Focus should be on ecosystem characteristics varying over time, including disruptions such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, oil spills, and construction.

Grade 8

• 8.MS-ESS3-5. Examine and interpret data to describe the role that human activities have played in causing the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Clarification Statements: • Examples of human activities include fossil fuel combustion, deforestation, and agricultural activity. • Examples of evidence can include tables, graphs, and maps of global and regional temperatures; atmospheric levels of gases such as carbon dioxide and methane; and the rates of human activities.

HS: Life Science

• HS-LS2-4. Use a mathematical model to describe the transfer of energy from one trophic level to another. Explain how the inefficiency of energy transfer between trophic levels affects the relative number of organisms that can be supported at each trophic level and necessitates a constant input of energy from sunlight or inorganic compounds from the environment. 

Clarification Statement: • The model should illustrate the “10% rule” of energy transfer and show approximate amounts of available energy at each trophic level in an ecosystem (up to five trophic levels)

• HS-LS2-7. Analyze direct and indirect effects of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem health, specifically habitat fragmentation, introduction of non-native or invasive species, overharvesting, pollution, and climate change. Evaluate and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem health.*

Clarification Statement: • Examples of solutions can include captive breeding programs, habitat restoration, pollution mitigation, energy conservation, and ecotourism.