Alaska Science
Key Element A12

A student who meets the content standard should distinguish the patterns of similarity and differences in the living world in order to understand the diversity of life and understand the theories that describe the importance of diversity for species and ecosystems (Diversity).

Performance Standard Level 2, Ages 8–10

Students categorize groups of plants and animals according to external features and explain how these features help organisms survive in different environments.

Sample Assessment Ideas

• Students match a given external feature (for example, feet, ears, teeth, leaves, roots) with their use; describe how this external feature helps the organism to survive in its environment.

• Students design an animal that can survive in a particular environment.

Standards Cross-References
( Alaska Department of Education & Early Development Standards)

National Science Education Standards

Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking. (Page 129)

Plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms. (Page 129)

Benchmarks

A great variety of kinds of living things can be sorted into groups in many ways using various features to decide which things belong to which group. (Page 103)

Features used for grouping depend on the purpose of the grouping. (Page 103)