HS-LS2-3 | Matter and Energy in Ecosystems

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Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in ecosystems.

Clarification statement: Emphasis is on conceptual understanding of the role of aerobic and anaerobic respiration and photosynthesis within ecosystems.

Assessment boundary: Assessment does not include the specific chemical processes of aerobic respiration, anaerobic respiration, and photosynthesis.

Assessment

What assessment of HS-LS2-3 might look like on a NY state exam.

Exam Cluster Question
August 2026 Deep-Sea Dilemmas Question 6
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June 2026 Buzzy Bees Question 28
The Forest Gardener Question 33
The Forest Gardener Question 37
January 2026 Purple Insect Eater Question 39
June 2025 Does It Matter? Question 34

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.

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Level 1: Identify the explanation or evidence, from those provided, for the cycling of matter and/or flow of energy in ecosystems related to photosynthesis and/or cellular respiration.
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Level 2: Support a given explanation by providing/identifying evidence for the cycling of matter and/or flow of energy in ecosystems related to photosynthesis and/or cellular respiration.
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Level 3: Construct or revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and/or flow of energy in ecosystems related to photosynthesis and/or cellular respiration.
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Level 4: Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in ecosystems.
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Level 5: Construct and revise an explanation, based on evidence obtained from a variety of reliable sources, for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in ecosystems.

Vocabulary

Terms from the Biology Glossary that come from this standard or from the released exam questions that assess it.

From this standard
  • aerobic respiration
  • anaerobic respiration
  • cellular respiration
  • chemical process
  • cycling of matter
  • ecosystem
  • energy transfer
  • flow of energy
  • investigation
  • life processes
  • matter
  • matter cycle
  • photosynthesis
From released exam questions

Resources

Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of HS-LS2-3.

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NGSS Dimensions

Performance expectation HS-LS2-3 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:

Science and Engineering Practices
  • 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.
Disciplinary Core Ideas
  • LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
    • Photosynthesis and cellular respiration (including anaerobic processes) provide most of the energy for life processes.
Crosscutting Concepts
  • Energy and Matter
    • Energy drives the circulation of matter within and between systems.
Page contributors: Conrad Richman, Caroline Leonard
Biology | HS. Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems
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