P-LS1-2
Plan and conduct an investigation to determine how familiar plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive in the environment.
Clarification statement: Emphasis should be on the relationships between the physical and living environment. Examples of external parts could include roots, stems, leaves for plants and eyes, ears, mouth, arms, legs for animals.
Note: this is a NYSED-specific performance expectation that is different from the Next Generation Science Standards.
Resources
Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of P-LS1-2.

Assessment
What assessment of P-LS1-2 might look like on a NY state exam.

NGSS Dimensions
Performance expectation P-LS1-2 was developed using the following elements from the NRC document A Framework for K-12 Science Education:
- Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
- With guidance, plan and conduct an investigation in collaboration with peers.
- LS1.A: Structure and Function
- All organisms have external parts. Different animals use their body parts in different ways to see, hear, grasp objects, protect themselves, move from place to place, and seek, find, and take in food, water, and air. Plants also have different parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits) that help them survive and grow.
- LS1.D: Information Processing
- Animals have body parts that capture and convey different kinds of information needed for growth and survival. Animals respond to these inputs with behaviors that help them survive. Plants also respond to some external inputs.
- Cause and Effect
- Events have causes that generate observable patterns.
- Systems and System Models
- Systems in the natural and designed world have parts that work together.
- Structure and Function
- The shape and stability of structures of natural and designed objects are related to their function(s).
Connections to Other Standards
P-LS1-2 connections to ELA, math, and other science standards as outlined by the NYS Education Department: