From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

  • 1

    Match different cell types to the specific functions they perform. (E)HS-LS1-1a

  • 2

    Identify evidence to support an explanation of the relationship among DNA and genes in making the different proteins needed for cells to function. (E) HS-LS1-1b

  • 3

    Use a model to identify a part of a multicellular organism and the process it performs.HS-LS1-2a

  • 4

    Identify the components in a model of interacting hierarchical systems that perform specific functions within multicellular organisms. HS-LS1-2b

  • 5

    Conduct an investigation and use evidence to describe how positive and negative feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis. HS-LS1-3a

  • 6

    Given a model, describe that cellular division (mitosis) and/or differentiation leads to producing and/or maintaining complex organisms. (E)HS-LS1-4a

  • 7

    Use a model to describe how photosynthesis results in the transformation of light energy to stored chemical energy. (E)HS-LS1-5a

  • 8

    Use evidence or a model to show that organisms take in matter and rearrange elements and molecules for growth and/or maintenance of large carbon-based molecules. (E)HS-LS1-6a

  • 9

    Use a model to illustrate the chemical processes in cellular respiration. HS-LS1-7a

Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics

  • 1

    Use a graphical representation to explain changes in the population size of an animal species over time. HS-LS2-1a

  • 2

    Connect the limits of an ecosystem's carrying capacity (the number of organisms it can support) to the availability of living and nonliving resources and other challenges (e.g., predation, competition, disease).HS-LS2-1b

  • 3

    Use mathematical representations (e.g., trends, averages, graphs) to support how biodiversity is dependent on the resources available in its ecosystem. HS-LS2-2a

  • 4

    Explain the expected effect on the number and/or types of organisms in an ecosystem given a modest versus an extreme change/disturbance. HS-LS2-2b

  • 5

    Use evidence to explain that energy is the driving force in the cycling of matter in aerobic or anaerobic conditions. (E)HS-LS2-3a

  • 6

    Identify the changes in the amount of matter (biomass) as it travels through a food web.HS-LS2-4a

  • 7

    Identify the changes in the amount of energy as it travels through an ecosystem using a model (e.g., energy pyramid, food chains, food webs, and biomass pyramids).HS-LS2-4b

  • 8

    Illustrate the path of carbon as it is exchanged between living and nonliving systems (biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere) using a model.(E)HS-LS2-5a

  • 9

    Identify relevant components (i.e., inputs and outputs of photosynthesis; inputs and outputs of cellular respiration) of a model of the exchange of carbon between organisms and the environment.HS-LS2-5b

  • 10

    Explain how living things in an ecosystem are affected by changes in the environment based on provided data.HS-LS2-6a

  • 11

    Support or refute a claim regarding how a modest change versus an extreme change will affect stability of an ecosystem using evidence. HS-LS2-6b

  • 12

    Describe how human activity affects Earth's environment and biodiversity and how people can help reduce their impact. [Clarification Statement: Examples of human activities can include urbanization, building dams, and dissemination of invasive species.] (E)HS-LS2-7a

  • 13

    Identify evidence supporting the outcome of group (flocking, schooling, herding) or cooperative (hunting, migrating, and swarming) behavior on species’ chances to survive and reproduce. HS-LS2-8a

Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

  • 1

    Explain that DNA molecules in all cells contain the instructions (genes) for traits passed from parents to offspring. HS-LS3-1a

  • 2

    Use evidence to defend a claim that parents and offspring may have different traits as a result of genetic combinations, errors during replication, or mutations caused by environmental factors. HS-LS3-2a

  • 3

    Classify examples of variations of traits in a population (mutations in DNA) caused by new genetic combinations (meiosis), errors during replication, and/or mutations caused by environmental factors.HS-LS3-2b

  • 4

    Calculate the probability of a particular trait in an offspring or the occurrence of a variation in a population.HS-LS3-3a

Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity

  • 1

    Identify patterns of (homologous) structures (e.g., fossil records, DNA sequences, amino acid sequences, anatomical and embryological evidence) as evidence to a claim of common ancestry and biological evolution.HS-LS4-1a

  • 2

    Identify evidence that biological evolution results from (1) potential for a species to increase in number, (2) heritable genetic variation of individuals in a species, (3) competition for limited resources, and (4) organisms with advantageous traits are better able to survive and reproduce in the environment. (E)HS-LS4-2a

  • 3

    Use data to explain how organisms' traits that allow them to survive better in a specific environment are more common in the population. HS-LS4-3a

  • 4

    Use calculations to explain how the population of organisms with advantageous heritable traits will increase over time to organisms without these traits. HS-LS4-3b

  • 5

    Explain the cause-and-effect relationship between natural selection due to specific biotic and abiotic differences in ecosystems (e.g., ranges of seasonal temperature, long-term climate change, acidity, light, geographic barriers, evolution of other organisms) that leads to an increasing proportion of individuals within a population with advantageous characteristics (adaptation). HS-LS4-4a

  • 6

    Use evidence to describe the cause-and-effect relationship of changes in the environment to the emergence of a new species or changes in the number, survival, or extinction of some species. HS-LS4-5a

  • 7

    Generate a solution addressing adaptation to reduce the effects of a human activity that decreases biodiversity. HS-LS4-6a

  • 8

    Determine which human actions help versus harm a threatened or endangered species.HS-LS4-6b

Frequently asked questions

What grade levels do these standards cover?
Grade 9, Grade 10, Grade 11, and Grade 12
Where can I read the official document?
2024 Indiana Content Connectors: Biology