Life Science Standards - Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Diversity of Life

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

A great variety of kinds of living things can be sorted into groups in many ways using various features to decide which things belong to which group. Features used for grouping depend on the purpose of the grouping.

NatureWorks Episodes

6. Marine Communities
7. Fresh Water Communities
8. Terrestrial Communities
9. The Wildlife Web I
10. The Wildlife Web II
11. Decomposers and Scavengers
13. Species Diversity
14. Niche
15. Invasive Species
16. Life at Risk

By the end of Grade Eight students should know that
One of the most general distinctions among organisms is between plants, which use sunlight to make their own food, and animals, which consume energy-rich foods. Some kinds of organisms, many of them microscopic, cannot be neatly classified as either plants or animals.

NatureWorks Episodes

9. The Wildlife Web I
10. The Wildlife Web II
11. Decomposers and Scavengers
13. Species Diversity

Animals and plants have a great variety of body plans and internal structures that contribute to their being able to make or find food and reproduce.

NatureWorks Episodes

1. Adaptation
2. Coloration
3. Natural Communication
4. Migration
5. Habitat
6. Marine Communities
7. Fresh Water Communities
8. Terrestrial Communities
9. The Wildlife Web I
10. The Wildlife Web II
11. Decomposers and Scavengers
All Animal Focus Sections

For sexually reproducing organisms, a species comprises all organisms that can mate with one another to produce fertile offspring.

NatureWorks Episodes

13. Species Diversity

All organisms, including the human species, are part of and depend on two main interconnected global food webs. One includes microscopic ocean plants, the animals that feed on them, and finally the animals that feed on those animals. The other web includes land plants, the animals that feed on them, and so forth. The cycles continue indefinitely because organisms decompose after death to return food material to the environment.

NatureWorks Episodes

9. The Wildlife Web I
10. The Wildlife Web II
11. Decomposers and Scavengers

Interdependence of Life

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that:

For any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.

NatureWorks Episodes

5. Habitat
6. Marine Communities
7. Fresh Water Communities
8. Terrestrial Communities
15. Invasive Species
16. Life at Risk

Insects and various other organisms depend on dead plant and animal material for food.

NatureWorks Episodes

11. Decomposers and Scavengers

Organisms interact with one another in various ways besides providing food. Many plants depend on animals for carrying their pollen to other plants or for dispersing their seeds.

NatureWorks Episodes

9. The Wildlife Web I
14. Niche

Changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial to it and sometimes harmful.

NatureWorks Episodes

5. Habitat
14. Niche
16. Life at Risk

Most microorganisms do not cause disease, and many are beneficial.

NatureWorks Episodes

11. Decomposers and Scavengers

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