MS-LS1-5

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Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

Clarification statement: Examples of local environmental conditions could include availability of food, light, space, and water. Examples of genetic factors could include the genes responsible for size differences in different breeds of dogs. Examples of evidence could include drought decreasing plant growth, fertilizer increasing plant growth, different varieties of plant seeds growing at different rates in different conditions, and fish growing larger in large ponds than they do in small ponds.

Assessment boundary: Assessment does not include genetic mechanisms, gene regulation, biochemical processes, or natural selection.

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 4Level 3Level 2Level 1

Construct scientific explanations, using multiple sources of evidence, for how local environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.

Given a scientific explanation, identify the supporting evidence in the explanation that shows how an environmental or genetic factor influences the growth of organisms.

Given a scientific explanation and evidence, identify an environmental or a genetic factor that can affect the growth of organisms.

Resources

Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of MS-LS1-5.

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Assessment

What assessment of MS-LS1-5 might look like on a NY state exam.

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NGSS Dimensions

Performance expectation MS-LS1-5 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 a scientific explanation based on valid and reliable evidence obtained from sources (including the students' own experiments) 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

• LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
  • Genetic factors as well as local conditions affect the growth of the adult plant.

Crosscutting Concepts

• Cause and Effect
  • Phenomena may have more than one cause, and some cause and effect relationships in systems can only be described using probability.

Connections to Other Standards

MS-LS1-5 connections to ELA, math, and other science standards as outlined by the NYS Education Department:

Page contributors: Caroline Leonard, Conrad Richman, Shirley Shameen

P-8 | MS. Growth, Development, and Reproduction of Organisms