Difference between revisions of "HS-LS4-4"

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{{learningstandard
 
{{learningstandard
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| topic = Natural Selection and Adaptation
 
| ls = Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
 
| ls = Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
 
| cs = Emphasis is on using data to provide evidence for how specific biotic and abiotic differences in ecosystems (such as ranges of seasonal temperature, long-term climate change, acidity, light, geographic barriers, or evolution of other organisms) contribute to a change in gene frequency over time, leading to adaptation of populations.
 
| cs = Emphasis is on using data to provide evidence for how specific biotic and abiotic differences in ecosystems (such as ranges of seasonal temperature, long-term climate change, acidity, light, geographic barriers, or evolution of other organisms) contribute to a change in gene frequency over time, leading to adaptation of populations.
 
| ab =  
 
| ab =  
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}}
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== {{Assessmentheading}} ==
 +
{{assessmentmessage}}
 +
 +
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center"
 +
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Exam
 +
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Cluster
 +
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Question
 +
|-
 +
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:white;" | [[August 2026 Life Science: Biology Exam|August 2026 Biology Regents]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Colorful Guppies|Colorful Guppies]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Colorful Guppies#q2|Question 18]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Frog Development|Frog Development]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Frog Development#q3|Question 28]]
 +
|-
 +
| rowspan="3" style="background-color:white;" | [[June 2026 Life Science: Biology Exam|June 2026 Biology Regents]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs|Green and Black Frogs]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q3|Question 12]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs|Green and Black Frogs]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q5|Question 14]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Australian Adaptations|Australian Adaptations]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Australian Adaptations#q4|Question 45]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[January 2026 Life Science: Biology Exam|January 2026 Biology Regents]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Baboon Evolution|Baboon Evolution]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Baboon Evolution#q4|Question 36]]
 +
|-
 +
| rowspan="4" style="background-color:white;" | [[August 2025 Life Science: Biology Exam|August 2025 Biology Regents]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species|Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species#q6|Question 10]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Ivory and Elephants|Ivory and Elephants]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Ivory and Elephants#q3|Question 17]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?|How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?#q2|Question 30]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction|Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|Question 42]]
 +
|-
 +
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:white;" | [[June 2025 Life Science: Biology Exam|June 2025 Biology Regents]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau|Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q1|Question 17]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau|Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q4|Question 20]]
 +
|-
 +
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:white;" | [[Biology Sample Questions|Biology sample clusters]] (Spring 2024)
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Dinosaurs Evolution Sample Cluster|Dinosaurs-Evolution]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Dinosaurs Evolution Sample Cluster#q4|Question 4]]
 +
|-
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Coral Reefs Sample Cluster|Coral Reefs]]
 +
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Coral Reefs Sample Cluster#q5|Question 5]]
 +
|}
 +
 +
== Vocabulary ==
 +
Terms from the [[Biology Glossary]] that come from this standard or from the released exam questions that assess it.
 +
 +
<div class="vocab-subhead">From this standard</div>
 +
<div class="vocab-list" style="column-width:14em;">
 +
* acidity
 +
* adaptation
 +
* advantageous heritable trait
 +
* claim
 +
* climate change
 +
* correlation (versus cause)
 +
* differential survival and reproduction
 +
* ecosystem
 +
* empirical evidence
 +
* environmental factor
 +
* evolution
 +
* gene
 +
* gene frequency
 +
* generation
 +
* geographic barrier
 +
* investigation
 +
* natural selection
 +
* population
 +
* proportion
 +
* selection
 +
* trait
 +
* trait frequency
 +
</div>
 +
 +
<div class="vocab-subhead">From released exam questions</div>
 +
<div class="vocab-list" style="column-width:20em;">
 +
* [[Questions:Coral Reefs Sample Cluster#q5|algae]] – Sample 2024
 +
* [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q5|allele]] – June 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q1|altitude]] – June 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Australian Adaptations#q4|appendage]] – June 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Australian Adaptations#q4|average]] – June 2026, [[Questions:Baboon Evolution#q4|Jan 2026]], [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|Aug 2025]]
 +
* [[Questions:Baboon Evolution#q4|behavior]] – Jan 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q4|behavioral adaptation]] – June 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|biodiversity]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?#q2|blood]] – Aug 2025, [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q1|June 2025]]
 +
* [[Questions:Australian Adaptations#q4|body temperature]] – June 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q4|burrow]] – June 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q3|cell]] – June 2026, [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q1|June 2025]]
 +
* [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q3|coloration]] – June 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|conservation]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Coral Reefs Sample Cluster#q5|coral reef]] – Sample 2024
 +
* [[Questions:Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species#q6|DNA]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Australian Adaptations#q4|environmental change]] – June 2026, [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|Aug 2025]]
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|extinction]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q4|foraging]] – June 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species#q6|genetic diversity]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species#q6|genetic variation]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|habitat]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|habitat loss]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q1|heart]] – June 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q1|herbivore]] – June 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|human activity]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species#q6|hunting]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|interbreeding]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?#q2|kidney]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q1|lung]] – June 2025
 +
* [[Questions:How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?#q2|mammal]] – Aug 2025, [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q4|June 2025]], [[Questions:Dinosaurs Evolution Sample Cluster#q4|Sample 2024]]
 +
* [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q5|mutation]] – June 2026, [[Questions:Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species#q6|Aug 2025]]
 +
* [[Questions:How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?#q2|nephron]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?#q2|nephron loop]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Dinosaurs Evolution Sample Cluster#q4|niche]] – Sample 2024
 +
* [[Questions:Dinosaurs Evolution Sample Cluster#q4|omnivore]] – Sample 2024
 +
* [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q1|oxygen]] – June 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Ivory and Elephants#q3|poaching]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Colorful Guppies#q2|predation]] – Aug 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Colorful Guppies#q2|predator]] – Aug 2026, [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q4|June 2025]]
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|prey]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q5|probability]] – June 2026, [[Questions:Baboon Evolution#q4|Jan 2026]]
 +
* [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q3|radiation (radioactive)]] – June 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|reproductive rate]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Frog Development#q3|reproductive success]] – Aug 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q3|skin]] – June 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Baboon Evolution#q4|social behavior]] – Jan 2026
 +
* [[Questions:How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?#q2|species]] – Aug 2025, [[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q4|June 2025]], [[Questions:Dinosaurs Evolution Sample Cluster#q4|Sample 2024]]
 +
* [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q5|survival]] – June 2026
 +
* [[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|territory]] – Aug 2025
 +
* [[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q3|trend]] – June 2026, [[Questions:Coral Reefs Sample Cluster#q5|Sample 2024]]
 +
</div>
 +
 +
<div class="vocab-subhead">Implied by this standard</div>
 +
<div class="vocab-list">
 +
* selection pressure (environmental pressure) – implied by "biotic and abiotic differences in ecosystems"
 +
</div>
 +
 +
{{PerformanceLevel}}
 +
{{PLTable
 +
| Level5 = Construct an explanation based on evidence obtained from a variety of reliable sources that identifies cause and effect relationships for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations and predicts changes relating to gene or trait frequencies.
 +
| Level4 = Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
 +
| Example4 = <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Colorful Guppies#q2|Aug 2026 · Q18]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q5|June 2026 · Q14]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q1|June 2025 · Q17]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau#q4|June 2025 · Q20]]</span>
 +
| Level3 = Construct and/or identify an explanation based on evidence that natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.
 +
| Example3 = <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert?#q2|Aug 2025 · Q30]]</span>
 +
| Level2 = Identify an evidence-based explanation that an environmental factor could affect a population (due to a change in gene frequency).
 +
| Example2 = <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Frog Development#q3|Aug 2026 · Q28]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Australian Adaptations#q4|June 2026 · Q45]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Baboon Evolution#q4|Jan 2026 · Q36]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction#q1|Aug 2025 · Q42]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Coral Reefs Sample Cluster#q5|June 2025 · Q5]]</span>
 +
| Level1 = Identify the evidence that an environmental factor can cause a change in a population (gene frequency).
 +
| Example1 = <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Green and Black Frogs#q3|June 2026 · Q12]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Ivory and Elephants#q3|Aug 2025 · Q17]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species#q6|Aug 2025 · Q10]]</span> <span class="pld-chip pld-chip-bio">[[Questions:Dinosaurs Evolution Sample Cluster#q4|June 2025 · Q4]]</span>
 
}}
 
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| SEP1 = Constructing explanations and designing solutions: Construct 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.
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| SEP1 = Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
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| DCI1 = Adaptation: Natural selection leads to adaptation that is, to a population dominated by organisms that are anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. That is, the differential survival and reproduction of organisms in a population that have an advantageous heritable trait leads to an increase in the proportion of individuals in future generations that have the trait and to a decrease in the proportion of individuals that do not.
+
* Construct 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.
−
| CC1 = Cause and effect: Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
+
| DCI1 = LS4.C: Adaptation
 +
* Natural selection leads to adaptation that is, to a population dominated by organisms that are anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. That is, the differential survival and reproduction of organisms in a population that have an advantageous heritable trait leads to an increase in the proportion of individuals in future generations that have the trait and to a decrease in the proportion of individuals that do not.  
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| CC1 = Cause and Effect
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* Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
 
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<metadesc>NYS Standard HS-LS4-4: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.</metadesc>
 

Latest revision as of 09:47, 18 October 2026

← HS-LS4-3
HS-LS4-5 →

Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations.

Clarification statement: Emphasis is on using data to provide evidence for how specific biotic and abiotic differences in ecosystems (such as ranges of seasonal temperature, long-term climate change, acidity, light, geographic barriers, or evolution of other organisms) contribute to a change in gene frequency over time, leading to adaptation of populations.

Regents Exam Questions

Released New York State Regents exam questions that assess HS-LS4-4 are listed here by exam and question cluster. Each link opens the question with its answer key.

Exam Cluster Question
August 2026 Biology Regents Colorful Guppies Question 18
Frog Development Question 28
June 2026 Biology Regents Green and Black Frogs Question 12
Green and Black Frogs Question 14
Australian Adaptations Question 45
January 2026 Biology Regents Baboon Evolution Question 36
August 2025 Biology Regents Strategies for Survival in Different Animal Species Question 10
Ivory and Elephants Question 17
How Do Kangaroo Rats Survive in the Desert? Question 30
Driving the Florida Panther to Extinction Question 42
June 2025 Biology Regents Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau Question 17
Organisms of the Tibetan Plateau Question 20
Biology sample clusters (Spring 2024) Dinosaurs-Evolution Question 4
Coral Reefs Question 5

Vocabulary

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

From this standard
  • acidity
  • adaptation
  • advantageous heritable trait
  • claim
  • climate change
  • correlation (versus cause)
  • differential survival and reproduction
  • ecosystem
  • empirical evidence
  • environmental factor
  • evolution
  • gene
  • gene frequency
  • generation
  • geographic barrier
  • investigation
  • natural selection
  • population
  • proportion
  • selection
  • trait
  • trait frequency
From released exam questions
Implied by this standard
  • selection pressure (environmental pressure) – implied by "biotic and abiotic differences in ecosystems"

Performance Level Descriptions

Every Regents exam question on HS-LS4-4 is written to match one of the performance level descriptions (PLDs) below.

Level 1: Identify the evidence that an environmental factor can cause a change in a population (gene frequency). June 2026 · Q12 Aug 2025 · Q17 Aug 2025 · Q10 June 2025 · Q4
Level 2: Identify an evidence-based explanation that an environmental factor could affect a population (due to a change in gene frequency). Aug 2026 · Q28 June 2026 · Q45 Jan 2026 · Q36 Aug 2025 · Q42 June 2025 · Q5
Level 3: Construct and/or identify an explanation based on evidence that natural selection leads to adaptation of populations. Aug 2025 · Q30
Level 4: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations. Aug 2026 · Q18 June 2026 · Q14 June 2025 · Q17 June 2025 · Q20
Level 5: Construct an explanation based on evidence obtained from a variety of reliable sources that identifies cause and effect relationships for how natural selection leads to adaptation of populations and predicts changes relating to gene or trait frequencies.
Notice: PLD levels!

Resources

Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of HS-LS4-4.

Pixel beaver This section could be expanded upon. You can help out by adding to this section.


NGSS Dimensions

Performance expectation HS-LS4-4 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 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
  • LS4.C: Adaptation
    • Natural selection leads to adaptation that is, to a population dominated by organisms that are anatomically, behaviorally, and physiologically well suited to survive and reproduce in a specific environment. That is, the differential survival and reproduction of organisms in a population that have an advantageous heritable trait leads to an increase in the proportion of individuals in future generations that have the trait and to a decrease in the proportion of individuals that do not.
Crosscutting Concepts
  • Cause and Effect
    • Empirical evidence is required to differentiate between cause and correlation and make claims about specific causes and effects.
Page contributors: Conrad Richman, Caroline Leonard
Biology | HS. Natural Selection and Evolution
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