HS-LS2-4

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Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.

Clarification statement: Emphasis is on using a mathematical model such as a pyramid of biomass/energy to describe the transfer of energy from one trophic level to another and that matter and energy are conserved as matter cycles and energy flows through ecosystems. Emphasis is on atoms and molecules such as carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen being conserved as they move through an ecosystem.

Assessment boundary: Assessment is limited to proportional reasoning to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy.

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.

Level 5Level 4Level 3Level 2Level 1

Revise a mathematical representation to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.

Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.

Use a mathematical representation to make a qualitative or quantitative claim that matter cycles and/or energy flows among organisms in an ecosystem.

Use a mathematical representation to identify a qualitative or quantitative claim that matter cycles or energy flows among organisms in an ecosystem.

Use a mathematical representation to identify a qualitative or quantitative evidence, from those provided, that matter cycles or energy flows among organisms in an ecosystem.

Resources

Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of HS-LS2-4.

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Assessment

What assessment of HS-LS2-4 might look like on a NY state exam.

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NGSS Dimensions

Performance expectation HS-LS2-4 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:

Science and Engineering Practices

• Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
  • Use mathematical representations of phenomena or design solutions to support claims

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
  • Plants or algae form the lowest level of the food web. At each link upward in a food web, only a small fraction of the matter consumed at the lower level is transferred upward, to produce growth and release energy in cellular respiration at the higher level. Given this inefficiency, there are generally fewer organisms at higher levels of a food web. The chemical elements that make up the molecules of organisms pass through food webs and into and out of the atmosphere and soil, and they are combined and recombined in different ways. At each link in an ecosystem, matter and energy are conserved.
  • (NYSED) When matter is cycled through organisms and ecosystems, some of the matter reacts to release energy for life functions, some is stored in newly made structures, and some is eliminated as waste.

Crosscutting Concepts

• Energy and Matter
  • Energy can be transferred between one place and another place, between objects and/or fields, or between systems.

Page contributors: Caroline Leonard, Conrad Richman

Biology | HS. Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems