NGSS Standards (Life Science)

HS-LS1-1: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins.

HS-LS1-2: Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.

HS-LS1-3: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

HS-LS1-4: Use a model to illustrate the role of cellular division (mitosis) and differentiation in producing and maintaining complex organisms.

HS-LS1-5: Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.

HS-LS1-6: Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements to form amino acids and other large carbon-based molecules.

HS-LS1-7: Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen are broken and new compounds are formed.

HS-LS2-1: Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

HS-LS2-2: Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems.

HS-LS2-3: Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

HS-LS2-4: Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.

HS-LS2-5: Develop a model to illustrate the role of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in the cycling of matter and flow of energy.

HS-LS2-6: Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms.

HS-LS2-7: Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

HS-LS2-8: Evaluate the evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.

HS-LS3-1: Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

HS-LS3-2: Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from new genetic combinations.

HS-LS3-3: Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.

HS-LS4-1: Communicate scientific information that common ancestry and biological evolution are supported by multiple lines of empirical evidence.

HS-LS4-2: Construct an explanation based on evidence that the process of evolution primarily results from four factors: potential for a species to increase in number, heritable genetic variation, competition, and adaptation.

HS-LS4-3: Apply concepts of statistics and probability to support explanations that organisms with advantageous heritable traits tend to increase in proportion.

HS-LS4-4: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation.

HS-LS4-5: Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in a new species.

HS-LS4-6: Create or revise a simulation to test a solution to mitigate the adverse impacts of human activity on biodiversity.