3-LS4-4 | Environment Change · NYS standard · Grade 5 test questions

Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.

Clarification statement: Examples of environmental changes could include both natural and human-influenced changes in land characteristics, water distribution, temperature, food, and other organisms.

Assessment boundary: Assessment is limited to a single environmental change. Assessment does not include the greenhouse effect or climate change.

Grade 5 Science Test Questions

Released New York State Grade 5 science test questions that assess 3-LS4-4 are listed here by test and question cluster. Each link opens the question with its answer key.

Exam	Cluster	Question
Spring 2025 Grade 5 Test	The Albany Pine Bush Ecosystem	Question 25
Spring 2024 Grade 5 Test	Meerkats	Question 29

Vocabulary

Terms from the Elementary Science Glossary that come from this standard or from the released Grade 5 Science Test questions that assess it.

From this standard

animal
claim
climate change
constraint
criteria
environment
environmental change
evidence
food
greenhouse effect
human-influenced change
land characteristic
merit
natural change
organism
plant
solution
temperature
water distribution

From released test questions

adaptation – Spring 2024
burrow – Spring 2024
controlled burn – Spring 2025
desert – Spring 2024
ecosystem – Spring 2025
food source – Spring 2024
habitat – Spring 2025
leaf – Spring 2025
native plant – Spring 2025
population – Spring 2024
rainfall – Spring 2024
sandy soil – Spring 2025
seed – Spring 2025
seed pod – Spring 2025
soil – Spring 2025
survival – Spring 2024
underbrush – Spring 2025
water – Spring 2024
wildfire – Spring 2025

Performance Level Descriptions

Every Grade 5 Science Test question on 3-LS4-4 is written to match one of the performance level descriptions (PLDs) below.

Level 1: Identify the problem caused when the environment changes, from those provided, that matches the given solution to that problem.

Level 2: Identify the given claim and solution, that matches the problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change. Spring 2025 · Q25 Spring 2024 · Q29

Level 3: Make a claim about the merit of a solution to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change.

Level 4: Make a claim about the merits of multiple solutions to a problem caused when the environment changes and the types of plants and animals that live there may change. Cite relevant evidence about how the solution meets the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Resources

Examples and discussion of resources for the learning, teaching, and assessment of 3-LS4-4.

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Page contributors: Conrad Richman

Grades 3–5 science standards | 3. Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems