LS.2: The student will investigate and understand that all living things are composed of cells.

LS.2.a: cell structure and organelles (cell membrane, cell wall, cytoplasm, vacuole, mitochondrion, endoplasmic reticulum, nucleus and chloroplast);

Cell Energy Cycle
Cell Structure
Paramecium Homeostasis
RNA and Protein Synthesis

LS.2.b: similarities and differences between plant and animal cells;

Cell Structure

LS.2.d: cell division (mitosis and meiosis).

Cell Division

LS.3: The student will investigate and understand that living things show patterns of cellular organization.

LS.3.b: life functions and processes of cells, tissues, organs, and systems (respiration, removal of wastes, growth, reproduction, digestion, and cellular transport).

Cell Structure
Circulatory System
Digestive System

LS.4: The student will investigate and understand that the basic needs of organisms must be met in order to carry out life processes.

LS.4.a: plant needs (light and energy sources, water, gases, nutrients);

Forest Ecosystem

LS.6: The student will investigate and understand the basic physical and chemical processes of photosynthesis and its importance to plant and animal life.

LS.6.a: energy transfer between sunlight and chlorophyll;

Cell Energy Cycle

LS.6.b: transformation of water and carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen; and

Photosynthesis Lab

LS.6.c: photosynthesis as the foundation of virtually all food webs.

Forest Ecosystem

LS.7: The student will investigate and understand that organisms within an ecosystem are dependent on one another and on nonliving components of the environment.

LS.7.a: the carbon, water, and nitrogen cycles;

Plants and Snails

LS.7.b: interactions resulting in a flow of energy and matter throughout the system;

Food Chain

LS.7.d: energy flow in food webs and energy pyramids.

Food Chain
Forest Ecosystem

LS.9: The student will investigate and understand interactions among populations in a biological community.

LS.9.a: the relationship among producers, consumers, and decomposers in food webs;

Forest Ecosystem

LS.9.b: the relationship of predators and prey;

Food Chain
Prairie Ecosystem

LS.9.e: niches.

Food Chain

LS.10: The student will investigate and understand how organisms adapt to biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.

LS.10.b: characteristics of land, marine, and freshwater ecosystems; and

Pond Ecosystem
Prairie Ecosystem

LS.10.c: adaptations that enable organisms to survive within a specific ecosystem.

Natural Selection

LS.11: The student will investigate and understand that ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms are dynamic and change over time (daily, seasonal, and long term).

LS.11.b: factors that increase or decrease population size; and

Rabbit Population by Season

LS.12: The student will investigate and understand the relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

LS.12.b: change in habitat size, quality, and structure;

Rabbit Population by Season

LS.12.c: change in species competition;

Food Chain

LS.12.d: population disturbances and factors that threaten and enhance species survival; and

Pond Ecosystem
Rabbit Population by Season

LS.12.e: environmental issues (water supply, air quality, energy production, and waste management).

Pond Ecosystem
Water Pollution

LS.13: The student will investigate and understand that organisms reproduce and transmit genetic information to new generations.

LS.13.b: the function of genes and chromosomes;

Human Karyotyping
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

LS.13.c: genotypes and phenotypes;

Chicken Genetics
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

LS.13.d: factors affecting the expression of traits;

Chicken Genetics
Inheritance
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

LS.13.e: characteristics that can and cannot be inherited;

Inheritance
Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

LS.13.g: historical contributions and significance of discoveries related to genetics.

Mouse Genetics (One Trait)
Mouse Genetics (Two Traits)

LS.14: The student will investigate and understand that organisms change over time.

LS.14.a: the relationships of mutation, adaptation, natural selection, and extinction;

Evolution: Mutation and Selection
Evolution: Natural and Artificial Selection
Natural Selection
Rainfall and Bird Beaks

LS.14.b: evidence of evolution of different species in the fossil record; and

Human Evolution - Skull Analysis

LS.14.c: how environmental influences, as well as genetic variation, can lead to diversity of organisms.

Evolution: Mutation and Selection