Week 10
Skill: Ecosystems, Food Chains, Roles of organisms in food chains.
Subject: Science Grade 4
This test section contains EIGHT multiple-choice and ONE open-response (short-answer) questions. Please mark your answers for the multiple-choice questions in the spaces provided on your Student Response Booklet. Mark only one answer for each question. If you do not know the answer, make your best guess. DO NOT WRITE ANY ANSWERS IN THIS TEST BOOKLET. WHEN YOU FINISH, DO NOT WORK ON ANY OTHER TEST SECTION.1. / A hawk, mouse, snake, grasshopper, and grass form a simple food chain. Which of these organisms is a producer?
O / A. / Mouse
O / B. / Hawk
O / C. / Grass
O / D. / Grasshopper
2. / The sun is necessary to life in all ecosystems on Earth. What does the sun provide that all organisms depend upon to sustain life?
O / A. / Warm weather
O / B. / A natural time of day system
O / C. / Heat and light for living things
O / D. / Dry weather
3. / There is a population of deer living in an area. The deer have thrived for several years. The deer have a successful breeding season and many new deer are now living in the area. The deer population soon decreases. What most likely caused the reduction in the number of deer in the area?
O / A. / There was not enough space for the deer to rest each day.
O / B. / The animals died because of a previous disease.
O / C. / There was not enough food for all the deer.
O / D. / There was not enough air for that number of deer.
4. / An ecosystem includes a beaver population. What would happen to the beaver population if their wetland is destroyed to allow for the building of a shopping center?
O / A. / The beaver would move.
O / B. / The beaver would adapt to living in a dry ecosystem.
O / C. / The beaver would learn to eat new foods.
O / D. / The beaver would die out because they are adapted to an aquatic habitat.
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5. / Which is the correct flow of energy in an ocean food chain?O / A. / Sun, krill, plankton, whale
O / B. / Sun, plankton, krill, penguin, whale
O / C. / Plankton, krill, whale, penguin
O / D. / Plankton, sun, whale, penguin
6. / A biome is a type of
O / A. / Grassland
O / B. / Wetland
O / C. / Population
O / D. / Ecosystem
7. / An unusually large amount of berries gives a specific species of birds plenty to eat. Which of the following would most likely happen due to the increase in berries?
O / A. / The birds will produce fewer young.
O / B. / The birds will overeat and die.
O / C. / The bird’s predators will have more birds to feed on.
O / D. / The birds will leave the ecosystem.
8. / Which of the following is a true statement about the flow of energy between plants and animals?
O / A. / Insects receive very little of the sun’s energy from their food.
O / B. / Animals and insects get energy directly from the sun.
O / C. / Plants use very little energy from the sun.
O / D. / A tiger receives less of the sun’s energy in its food than a caterpillar does.
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OPEN-RESPONSE QUESTION
Read all parts of the open-response question before you begin. Write your answers to the open-response question in the space provided on your Student Response Booklet. DO NOT WRITE ANY ANSWERS IN THIS TEST BOOKLET.Relationships between organisms and their environment
All living things depend on their environment for survival. An environment consists of both living and non living components.
9. / a. List the living and non living components in a pond ecosystem.
b. Explain how the animals depend upon both; the living and non living components of the pond environment to meet their basic needs.
c. Explain how the plants depend upon both; the living and non living components of the pond environment to their basic needs.
Do not write on this page. Please write your
answer to this open-response question in
the test answer booklet
STOP!
Student Name______
Scoring Guide
4 / Student completes all components of the question completely and accurately.
Student completes all components of the question completely and
accurately.
Student communicates answer clearly and concisely.
Student demonstrates in-depth understanding of the concept of the
interdependence of living and nonliving things in an ecosystem.
Student gives insightful interpretations or extensions.
3 / Student completes most important components of the question and communicates clearly.
Student demonstrates an understanding of the interdependence of living and nonliving things in an ecosystem, but overlooks some less important ideas and details.
2 / Student completes most important components of the question and communicates clearly.
Student demonstrates a basic understanding of the interdependence of living and nonliving things in an ecosystem, but overlooks or misunderstands less important ideas and details.
1 / Student shows minimal understanding of the question.
0 / Student’s response is totally incorrect or irrelevant.
Blank / No student response.
Annotated Rubric/ Performance Expectations for ORQ
Academic Expectation: 2.2 2.3
Core Content: SC-04-4.6.1
Students will analyze patterns and make generalizations about the basic relationships of plants and animals in an ecosystem (food chain). Plants make their own food. All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants. Basic relationships and connections between organisms in food chains, including the flow of energy, can be used to discover patterns within ecosystems.
Ceiling DOK Level: 3 Question DOK Level: 3
Question Type (circle): Scaffold, Single Dimension/Component, Two or More Relatively Independent Components, Student Choice, Respond to Provided Information
An appropriate student response should provide evidence of the student’s understanding……….
The basic relationships of plants and animals in an ecosystem (food chain). Plants make their own food. All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants. Basic relationships and connections between organisms in food chains, including the flow of energy, can be used to discover patterns within ecosystems.
For example, an appropriate response to this question would show that the student can
a. Living Components of a Pond Ecosystem:
Plants, Animals, Fungi, Bacteria
Nonliving Components of a Pond Ecosystem:
Water, Soil, Air, Rocks, Sunlight
b. Animals depend upon the living parts of the ecosystem for food and oxygen. The plants make food and oxygen which the animals use. Some animals also eat other animals. For example, a frog might eat insects at the pond. The insects might eat plants or smaller insects. Some animals such as fish find shelter among the plants.
Animals depend upon the nonliving parts of the ecosystem for water to drink and air to breathe. They also use the rocks and soil for shelter. Animals also need sunlight for energy.
c. Plants don’t really need animals to survive, but they do take in carbon dioxide which animals breathe out.
Plants depend on nonliving parts of the ecosystem such as soil. The plants grow in the soil and take in minerals from the soil. The soil also provides a place for roots to grow and anchor the plant. Plants also need air, water, and sunlight to carry out photosynthesis, or the process of making food.
Conclusion: Both plants and animals depend on fungi and bacteria to decompose waste and dead material in order to recycle nutrients and energy.
Essential Vocabulary:
Living
Nonliving
Ecosystem
Decomposers
Photosynthesis
Food Chain
Energy Flow
Resources/Technology: McGraw/Hill Science
National Geographic for Kids
Grade 5 – Subject: ScienceQuestion / First
A.E. / First CC / Second A.E. / Second CC / DOK
Level of MC Question / Answer
Key / Rational/Annotation for MC Questions
1 / 3.2, 3.3 / SC-04-4.6.1
Students will analyze patterns and make generalizations about the basic relationships of plants and animals in an ecosystem (food chain).
Plants make their own food. All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants. Basic relationships and connections between organisms in food chains, including the flow of energy, can be used to discover patterns within ecosystems. / 2 / C / All others choices eat other organisms.
2 / 3.2, 3.3 / Same as above / 3 / C / The sun provides all heat and light in our universe.
3 / 3.2, 3.3 / Same as above / 3 / C / The deer must have food to survive under any conditions.
4 / 3.2, 3.3 / Same as above / 2 / D / Beavers are adapted to life in a water environment.
5 / 3.2, 3.3 / Same as above / 2 / B / Is the correct flow of energy.
6 / 3.2, 3.3 / Same as above / 2 / D / By definition.
7 / 3.2, 3.3 / Same as above / 3 / C / More birds more food for predators.
8 / 3.2, 3.3 / Same as above / 3 / D / The sun’s energy has traveled through a producer and at least 2 consumers before reaching the tiger.
Multiple Choice Item Information: