Standards and Misconceptions

Kindergarten:

SKL1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about how organisms (alive and not alive) and non-living objects are grouped.

a. Construct an explanation based on observations to recognize the differences between organisms and nonliving objects.

Misconceptions: Things must be moving to be considered “alive”

Anything that is not moving is “dead”

Organisms are small, cell like things”

First Grade:

S1L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the basic needs of plants and animals.

b. Ask questions to compare and contrast the basic needs of plants (air, water, light, and nutrients) and animals (air, water, food, and shelter).

Misconceptions: “Sunlight helps plants grow by keeping them warm.”

“Plants need things provided by people (water, nutrients, light)”

Second Grade:

S2L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the life cycles of different living organisms.

d. Develop models to illustrate the unique and diverse life cycles of organisms other than humans.

Misconceptions: “Only aquatic animals lay eggs”

“Only large land mammals are animals”

Third Grade:

S3L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the similarities and differences between plants, animals, and habitats found within geographic regions (Blue Ridge Mountains, Piedmont, Coastal Plains, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau) of Georgia.

a. Ask questions to differentiate between plants, animals, and habitats found within Georgia’s geographic regions.

Misconceptions: “Animals are not region specific and you can find any kind of animal anywhere”

“Sunlight is helpful but not critical to plants”

Fourth Grade:

S4L1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information about the roles of organisms and the flow of energy within an ecosystem.

b. Design a scenario to demonstrate the effect of a change on an ecosystem. (Clarification statement: Include living and non-living factors in the scenario.)

Misconceptions: “Energy accumulates in an ecosystem so that a top predator has all the energy from the organisms below it.”

“A species high on the food web is a predator to everything below it.”

Fifth Grade:

S5L3. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to compare and contrast the parts of plant and animal cells.

c. Construct an explanation that differentiates between the structure of plant and animal cells.

Misconceptions: “living things grow because their cells get larger.”

“Plant and animal cells are two different things rather than different categories under the same umbrella”

Seventh Grade:

S7L4. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to examine the interdependence of organisms with one another and their environments.

a. Construct an explanation for the patterns of interactions observed in different ecosystems in

terms of the relationships among and between organisms and abiotic components of the ecosystem.

(Clarification statement: The interactions include, but are not limited to, predator-prey relationships, competition, mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism.)

b. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and the flow of energy among biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem.

(Clarification statement: Emphasis is on tracing movement of matter and flow of energy, not the biochemical mechanisms of photosynthesis and cellular respiration.)

c. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for how resource availability, disease, climate, and human activity affect individual organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems.

Misconceptions: “The food that is eaten and used as a source of energy is part of the food chain”

“Food that is synthesized into the body of the eater is now food for the next level.”

“Energy accumulates in an ecosystem so that a top predator has all the energy from the organisms below it.”

Biology:

SB4. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to illustrate the organization of interacting systems within single-celled and multi-celled organisms.

a. Construct an argument supported by scientific information to explain patterns in structures and function among clades of organisms, including the origin of eukaryotes by endosymbiosis. Clades should include:

• archaea

• bacteria

• eukaryotes fungi
  plants
  animals
  (Clarification statement: This is reflective of 21st century classification schemes and nested hierarchy of clades and is intended to develop a foundation for comparing major groups of organisms. The term 'protist' is useful in describing those eukaryotes that are not within the animal, fungal or plant clades but the term does not describe a well-defined clade or a natural taxonomic group.)

b. Analyze and interpret data to develop models (i.e., cladograms and phylogenetic trees) based on patterns of common ancestry and the theory of evolution to determine relationships among major groups of organisms.

c. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence to compare and contrast the characteristics of viruses and organisms.

SB5. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to assess the interdependence of all organisms on one another and their environment.

a. Plan and carry out investigations and analyze data to support explanations about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems.

(Clarification statement: Factors include population size, carrying capacity, response to limiting factors, and keystone species.)

b. Develop and use models to analyze the cycling of matter and flow of energy within ecosystems through the processes of photosynthesis and respiration.

• Arranging components of a food web according to energy flow.

• Comparing the quantity of energy in the steps of an energy pyramid.

• Explaining the need for cycling of major biochemical elements (C, O, N, P, and H).

c. Construct an argument to predict the impact of environmental change on the stability of an

ecosystem.

d. Design a solution to reduce the impact of a human activity on the environment.

(Clarification statement: Human activities may include chemical use, natural resources

consumption, introduction of non-native species, greenhouse gas production.)

e. Construct explanations that predict an organism’s ability to survive within changing

environmental limits (e.g., temperature, pH, drought, fire).

Misconceptions: “the nucleus the ‘brain of the cell’.”

“Like animals, plants eat.”

“When an antibiotic no longer works, the bacteria has developed antibodies to it so it is “immune””

“In a food chain, the arrows shows what has been eaten”

Environmental Science:

SEV1. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to investigate the flow of energy and cycling of matter within an ecosystem.

a. Develop and use a model to compare and analyze the levels of biological organization including organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, and biosphere.

d. Evaluate claims, evidence, and reasoning of the relationship between the physical factors (e.g., insolation, proximity to coastline, topography) and organismal adaptations within terrestrial biomes.

Misconceptions: “Organisms higher in a food web eat everything that is lower in the food web”

“Food chains involve predator and prey, but not producers.”

“Carnivores are big or ferocious, or both. Herbivores are small and passive.”