HS-LS2-3 | Matter and Energy in Ecosystems · NYS standard · Regents questions

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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.

Regents Exam Questions

Released New York State Regents exam questions that assess HS-LS2-3 are listed here by exam and question cluster. Each link opens the question with its answer key.

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

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

Performance Level Descriptions

Every Regents exam question on HS-LS2-3 is written to match one of the performance level descriptions (PLDs) below.

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. Aug 2026 · Q6 Aug 2026 · Q33 June 2026 · Q37
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. June 2026 · Q28 Jan 2026 · Q39
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. June 2026 · Q33 June 2025 · Q34
Level 4: Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in ecosystems.
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.
Notice: PLD levels!

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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