National Science Standards - National Academy of Science |
Grades K-4The Characteristics of OrganismOrganisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light. Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met. The world has many different environments, and distinct environments support the life of different types of organisms. NatureWorks Episodes5. Habitat6. Marine Communities 7. Fresh Water Communities 8. Terrestrial Communities 14. Niche All Animal focus Sections Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking. NatureWorks Episodes1. Adaptation2. Coloration 3. Natural Communication 4. Migration All Animal Focus Sections The behavior of individual organisms is influenced by internal cues (such as hunger) and by external cues (such as change in the environment). Humans and other organisms have senses that help them detect internal and external cues. NatureWorks EpisodesAll Animal Focus SectionsLife Cycles of OrganismsPlants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms. Plants and animals closely resemble their parents.NatureWorks EpisodesAll Animal Focus SectionsOrganisms and Their EnvironmentsAll animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.NatureWorks Episodes9. The Wildlife Web I10. The Wildlife Web II An organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's environment, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the physical characteristics of the environment. When the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce, and others die or move to new locations. NatureWorks Episodes5. Habitat12. Population Dynamics 13. Species Diversity 15. Invasive Species 16. Life at Risk All organisms cause changes in the environment where they live. Some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, whereas others are beneficial. NatureWorks Episodes5. Habitat14. Niche 15. Invasive Species 16. Life at Risk Humans depend on their natural and constructed environments. Humans change environments in ways that can be either beneficial or detrimental for themselves and other organisms. NatureWorks Episodes5. Habitat15. Invasive Species 16. Life at Risk
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Grades 5-8Structure and Function of Living ThingsLiving systems at all levels of organization demonstrate the complementary nature of structure and function.NatureWorks Episodes1. AdaptationCells carry on the many functions needed to sustain life. They grow and divide, thereby producing more cells. This requires that they take in nutrients, which they use to provide energy for the work that cells do and to make the materials that a cell or an organism needs. NatureWorks Episodes9. The Wildlife Web I10. The Wildlife Web II Reproduction and HeredityReproduction is a characteristic of all living systems; because no individual organism lives forever, reproduction is essential to the continuation of every species. Some organisms reproduce asexually. Other organisms reproduce sexually.NatureWorks EpisodesAll Animal Focus SectionsThe characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits. Some traits are inherited and others result from interactions with the environment. NatureWorks Episodes1. AdaptationRegulation and BehaviorAll organisms must be able to obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce, and maintain stable internal conditions while living in a constantly changing external environment.NatureWorks Episodes1. AdaptationAll Animal Focus Sections Behavior is one kind of response an organism can make to an internal or environmental stimulus. A behavioral response requires coordination and communication at many levels, including cells, organ systems, and whole organisms. Behavioral response is a set of actions determined in part by heredity and in part from experience. NatureWorks Episodes1. AdaptationAll Animal Focus Sections An organism's behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment. How a species moves, obtains food, reproduces, and responds to danger are based in the species' evolutionary history. NatureWorks Episodes1. Adaptation2. Coloration 3. Natural Communication 4. Migration 9. The Wildlife Web I 10. The Wildlife Web II Population and EcosystemsA population consists of all individuals of a species that occur together at a given place and time. All populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem.NatureWorks Episodes5. Habitat6. Marine Communities 7. Fresh Water Communities 8. Terrestrial Communities 9. The Wildlife Web I 10. The Wildlife Web II 11. Decomposers and Scavengers 12. Population Dynamics 14. Niche Populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem. Plants and some micro-organisms are producers--they make their own food. All animals, including humans, are consumers, which obtain food by eating other organisms. Decomposers, primarily bacteria and fungi, are consumers that use waste materials and dead organisms for food. Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem. NatureWorks Episodes9. The Wildlife Web I10. The Wildlife Web II 11. Decomposers and Scavengers 12. Population Dynamics For ecosystems, the major source of energy is sunlight. Energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis. That energy then passes from organism to organism in food webs. NatureWorks Episodes9. The Wildlife Web I10. The Wildlife Web II The number of organisms an ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and abiotic factors, such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition. Given adequate biotic and abiotic resources and no disease or predators, populations (including humans) increase at rapid rates. Lack of resources and other factors, such as predation and climate, limit the growth of populations in specific niches in the ecosystem. NatureWorks Episodes12. Population DynamicsDiversity and Adaptations of OrganismsMillions of species of animals, plants, and microorganisms are alive today. Although different species might look dissimilar, the unity among organisms becomes apparent from an analysis of internal structures, the similarity of their chemical processes, and the evidence of common ancestry.NatureWorks Episodes13. Species DiversityBiological evolution accounts for the diversity of species developed through gradual processes over many generations. Species acquire many of their unique characteristics through biological adaptation, which involves the selection of naturally occurring variations in populations. Biological adaptations include changes in structures, behaviors, or physiology that enhance survival and reproductive success in a particular environment. NatureWorks Episodes1. Adaptation2. Coloration 3. Natural Communication 4. Migration 13. Species Diversity All Animal Focus Sections Extinction of a species occurs when the environment changes and the adaptive characteristics of a species are insufficient to allow its survival. Fossils indicate that many organisms that lived long ago are extinct. Extinction of species is common; most of the species that have lived on the earth no longer exist. NatureWorks Episodes16. Life at RiskImage Credits: Clipart.com
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