HS-LS1-3

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Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis

Clarification statement: Examples of investigations could include heart rate response to exercise, stomate response to moisture and temperature, and root development in response to water levels.

Assessment boundary: Assessment does not include the cellular processes involved in the feedback mechanism.

Regents Exam Questions

Released New York State Regents exam questions that assess HS-LS1-3 are listed here by exam and question cluster. Each link opens the question with its answer key.

Exam	Cluster	Question
August 2026 Biology Regents	Homeostasis in Plants	Question 32
	Homeostasis in Plants	Question 34
June 2026 Biology Regents	A Seasonal Strategy for Survival	Question 2
	A Seasonal Strategy for Survival	Question 4
	Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)	Question 16
January 2026 Biology Regents	Diabetes	Question 25
August 2025 Biology Regents	Trees Have Organ Systems	Question 2
June 2025 Biology Regents	Drinking Water Is Just The Beginning!	Question 8
	Drinking Water Is Just The Beginning!	Question 9
	Drinking Water Is Just The Beginning!	Question 10

Vocabulary

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

From this standard

• antibiotic
• behavior
• claim
• disease
• feedback mechanism
• heart rate
• homeostasis
• internal and external conditions
• investigation
• living system
• negative feedback
• positive feedback
• root development
• stability and change
• stomata response
• stomate
• structure and function
• vaccination

From released exam questions

• average – Aug 2026
• blood – June 2026, Jan 2026, June 2025
• body temperature – June 2026
• breathing rate – June 2026
• carbon – Aug 2025
• carrying capacity – June 2025
• cell – June 2026, Jan 2026, Aug 2025, June 2025
• cell membrane – June 2025
• cellular respiration – Aug 2025
• compound – Aug 2025
• conservation of energy – June 2026
• dependent variable – Aug 2026
• egg (egg cell) – June 2026
• epidermis – Aug 2026
• feedback loop – Jan 2026
• follicle – June 2026
• hibernation – June 2026
• hormone – June 2026
• immune system – June 2026
• independent variable – Aug 2026
• kidney – June 2025
• leaf – Aug 2026
• mammal – June 2026
• menstrual cycle – June 2026
• metabolism – June 2026
• ovulation – June 2026
• oxygen – Aug 2025, June 2025
• photosynthesis – Aug 2025
• plant cell – Aug 2025
• protein – June 2025
• red blood cell – June 2025
• root – Aug 2025
• root hair – Aug 2025
• set point – Jan 2026, June 2025
• soil – Aug 2025
• sugar – Aug 2025
• white blood cell – June 2026

Performance Level Descriptions

Every Regents exam question on HS-LS1-3 is written to match one of the performance level descriptions (PLDs) below.

Level 1: Given an investigation with data, identify an explanation for how a feedback mechanism maintains homeostasis. June 2026 · Q4 Aug 2025 · Q2 June 2025 · Q9

Level 2: Given an investigation with data, provide/identify the evidence that supports a claim that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis. June 2026 · Q2 June 2026 · Q16 Jan 2026 · Q25 June 2025 · Q10

Level 3: Plan an investigation that could provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis or given a plan and the results of an investigation, describe the evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis. Aug 2026 · Q32 Aug 2026 · Q34 June 2025 · Q8

Level 4: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

Level 5: Plan, conduct, and evaluate an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis.

Notice: PLD levels!

Resources

Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of HS-LS1-3.

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

NGSS Dimensions

Performance expectation HS-LS1-3 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:

Science and Engineering Practices

• Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
  • Plan and conduct an investigation individually and collaboratively to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence, and in the design: decide on types, how much, and accuracy of data needed to produce reliable measurements and consider limitations on the precision of the data (e.g., number of trials, cost, risk, time), and refine the design accordingly

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• LS1.A: Structure and Function
  • Feedback mechanisms maintain a living system’s internal conditions within certain limits and mediate behaviors, allowing it to remain alive and functional even as external conditions change within some range. Feedback mechanisms can encourage (through positive feedback) or discourage (negative feedback) what is going on inside the living system.
  • (NYSED) Disease is a failure of homeostasis. Organisms have a variety of mechanisms to prevent and combat disease. Technological advances including vaccinations and antibiotics have contributed to the prevention and treatment of disease.

Crosscutting Concepts

• Stability and Change
  • Feedback (negative or positive) can stabilize or destabilize a system.

Page contributors: Conrad Richman, Caroline Leonard

Biology | HS. Structure and Function