PreK-2

B1: Identify ways that organisms depend upon their environment.

Curriculum Organizing Questions	In what ways do the organisms depend on the plants in this environment? In what ways do humans depend on plants? In what ways do the organisms in this environment depend on each other? What things could be changed in this environment without harming the organisms that live there? What do the animals in this environment eat?
Elaboration	Making sense of the way organisms live in their environments will develop some understanding of the diversity of life and how all living organisms depend on the living and nonliving environment for survival. NSES Standard C essay p. 128 Students should investigate the habitats of many different kinds of local plants and animals, including weeds, aquatic plants, insects, worms, and amphibians, and some of the ways in which animals depend on plants and on each other. Children should begin to be aware of the basic parts of the food chain. Benchmarks p.116
Specific Ideas	Organisms can only survive in environments in which their needs can be met. NSES C1a All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants. NSES C3a Plants and animals depend on physical characteristics of their environment like how warm it is, amount of sunlight, how much water there is, and what the soil is like. NSES C3b Animals need air, water, and food. NSES C1a Plants need air, water, nutrients,and light. NSES C1a People need water, food, air, waste removal, and a particular range of temperatures in their environment, just as other animals do. Benchmarks 6A3
Developmental & Instructional Implications	Because the child's world at grades K-4 is closely associated with home, school, and immediate environment, the study of organisms should include observations and interactions within the natural world of the child. Lower elementary-school students can understand simple food links involving two organisms, yet they often think of organisms as independent of each other, but dependent on people to supply them with food and shelter. The idea that organisms depend on their environment (including other organisms in some cases) is not well developed in young children. In lower grades the primary focus should be on establishing the primary association of organisms with their environments and the secondary ideas of dependence on various aspects of the environment and of behaviors that help various animals survive. NSES Standard C essay p. 128
Examples

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