LIVING ENVIRONMENT UNIT 1: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES AMONG LIVING THINGS
NY STATE CORE STANDARDS:
STANDARD 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.
Key Idea 1:
Living things are both similar to and different from each other and from nonliving things.
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 1.2
Major Understandings
1.2a Important levels of organization for structure and function include organelles, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and whole organisms.
1.2b Humans are complex organisms. They require multiple systems for digestion, res- piration, reproduction, circulation, excretion, movement, coordination, and immunity. The systems interact to perform the life functions.
1.2c The components of the human body, from organ systems to cell organelles, interact to maintain a balanced internal environment. To successfully accomplish this, organisms possess a diversity of control mechanisms that detect deviations and make corrective actions.
1.2d If there is a disruption in any human system, there may be a corresponding imbal- ance in homeostasis.
1.2e The organs and systems of the body help to provide all the cells with their basic needs. The cells of the body are of different kinds and are grouped in ways that enhance how they function together.
1.2f Cells have particular structures that perform specific jobs. These structures per- form the actual work of the cell. Just as systems are coordinated and work together, cell parts must also be coordinated and work together.
1.2g Each cell is covered by a membrane that performs a number of important func- tions for the cell. These include: separation from its outside environment, controlling which molecules enter and leave the cell, and recognition of chemical signals. The processes of diffusion and active transport are important in the movement of materials in and out of cells.
1.2h Many organic and inorganic substances dissolved in cells allow necessary chemical reactions to take place in order to maintain life. Large organic food molecules such as proteins and starches must initially be broken down (digested to amino acids and sim- ple sugars respectively), in order to enter cells. Once nutrients enter a cell, the cell will use them as building blocks in the synthesis of compounds necessary for life.
1.2i Inside the cell a variety of specialized structures, formed from many different mol- ecules, carry out the transport of materials (cytoplasm), extraction of energy from nutri- ents (mitochondria), protein building (ribosomes), waste disposal (cell membrane), stor- age (vacuole), and information storage (nucleus).
1.2j Receptor molecules play an important role in the interactions between cells. Two primary agents of cellular communication are hormones and chemicals produced by nerve cells. If nerve or hormone signals are blocked, cellular communication is disrupted and the organism's stability is affected.
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 1.3: Explain how a one-celled organism is able to function despite lacking the levels of organization present in more complex organisms.
Major Understandings
1.3a The structures present in some single-celled organisms act in a manner similar to the tissues and systems found in multicellular organisms, thus enabling them to perform all of the life processes needed to maintain homeostasis.
Next Generation Science Standards:
HS-LS1From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Students who demonstrate understanding can:
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-LS1-6. 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/or other large carbon-based molecules. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on using evidence from models and simulations to support explanations.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the details of the specific chemical reactions or identification of macromolecules.]HS-LS1-7. Use a model to illustrate that cellular respiration is a chemical process whereby the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and the bonds in new compounds are formed resulting in a net transfer of energy. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conceptual understanding of the inputs and outputs of the process of cellular respiration.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment should not include identification of the steps or specific processes involved in cellular respiration.]
Common Core Standards:
Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects 6–12
Key Ideas and Details
1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
2. Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; trace the text’s explanation or depiction of a complex process, phenomenon, or concept; provide an accurate summary of the text.
Craft and Structure
4. Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics
5. Analyze the structure of the relationships amongconcepts in a text, including relationships amongkey terms (e.g., force, friction, reaction force,energy).
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
7. Translate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text into visual form (e.g., a table or chart) and translate information expressed visually or mathematically (e.g., in an equation) into words
Range of Reading and Level of text Complexity
10. By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend science/technical texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6–12
Production and distribution of Writing4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.