HS-LS1-6 | Synthesis of Biomolecules
Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for how carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen from sugar molecules may combine with other elements such as nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus to form amino acids and other carbon-based molecules.
Clarification statement: Emphasis is on using evidence from models and simulations to support explanations for the synthesis of lipids, starches, proteins, and nucleic acids.
Assessment boundary: Assessment does not include the details of the specific chemical reactions or identification of structural and molecular formulas for macromolecules.
Assessment
What assessment of HS-LS1-6 might look like on a NY state exam.
| Exam | Cluster | Question |
|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | A Unique Relationship: Mulberries and Silk | Question 12 |
| June 2025 | Does It Matter? | Question 35 |
| Does It Matter? | Question 36 |
Performance Level Descriptions
PLDs communicate the knowledge and skills expected of students to demonstrate proficiency in each Learning Standard. NYS assessments classify student performance into one of five levels.
Vocabulary
Terms from the Biology Glossary that come from this standard or from the released exam questions that assess it.
- amino acid
- carbon
- carbon-based molecule
- chemical bonding
- claim
- DNA
- energy flow
- hydrocarbon backbone
- hydrogen
- investigation
- lipid
- living system
- macromolecule
- matter
- nitrogen
- nucleic acid
- oxygen
- phosphorus
- protein
- starch
- sugar
- sulfur
- compound – June 2025
- metabolism – June 2025
Resources
Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of HS-LS1-6.
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NGSS Dimensions
Performance expectation HS-LS1-6 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
- Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
- Construct and revise an explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from a variety of sources (including students' own investigations, models, theories, simulations, peer review) and the assumption that theories and laws that describe the natural world operate today as they did in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
- LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
- As matter and energy flow through different organizational levels of living systems, chemical elements are recombined in different ways to form different products. As a result of these chemical reactions, energy is transferred from one system of interacting molecules to another.
- (NYSED) Sugar molecules contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Their hydrocarbon backbones combine with other elements to make amino acids and other carbon-based molecules that can be assembled into larger molecules, such as proteins or DNA.
- Energy and Matter
- Changes of energy and matter in a system can be described in terms of energy and matter flows into, out of, and within that system.