Ecosystem Patterns

Ecosystems

Grades 3, 6-8

Patterns in interactions among organisms maintain healthy ecosystems.

• Constuct an explanation that includes qualitative or quantitative relationships between variables that predict(s) and/or describe(s) phenomena.

• Construct a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students' own experiments) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

• Apply scientific ideas, principles, and/or evidence to construct, revise and/or use and explanation for real-world phenomena, examples, or events.

• Apply scientific reasoning to show why the data or evidence is adequate for the explanation or conclusion.

• Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for phenomena.

• Students recognize that macroscopic patterns are related to the nature of microscopic and atomic-level structure. They identify patterns in rates of change and other numerical relationships that provide information about natural and human designed systems. They use patterns to identify cause and effect relationships, and use graphs and charts to identify patterns in data.

• Organisms and populations are dependent on their environmental interactions both with other living things and with nonliving factors, any of which can limit their growth. Competitive, predatory, and mutally beneficial interactions vary across ecosystems but the patterns are shared.