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A. The distribution and abundance of organisms is determined by the interactions between organisms, and between organisms and the non-living environment.
B. Energy and nutrients move within and between biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems via physical, chemical and biological processes.
C. Human activities and natural events can have profound effects on populations, biodiversity and ecosystem processes.
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Also Assesses:
- Clarification :
Students will describe the energy pathways through the different trophic levels of a food web or energy pyramid.
Students will analyze the movement of matter through different biogeochemical cycles.
- Content Limits :
Items referring to organisms in food webs are limited to the impact of changes in matter or energy in trophic levels.
Items addressing food webs will require application of the knowledge of roles of organisms in a food web to describe energy pathways rather than the identification of producers, consumers (primary, secondary, tertiary), and decomposers.
Items will not require knowledge of specific organisms or their feeding habits.
Items assessing biogeochemical cycles are limited to the water cycle and the carbon cycle.
Items referring to the biogeochemical cycles may address but will not assess photosynthesis and cellular respiration in isolation.
- Stimulus Attributes :
Scenarios will express energy in joules (J). - Response Attributes :
None specified - Prior Knowledge :
Items may require the student to apply scientific knowledge described in the NGSSS from lower grades. This benchmark requires prerequisite knowledge of SC.7.L.17.1, SC.7.L.17.2, SC.8.L.18.3, SC.8.L.18.4, SC.6.E.7.4, SC.8.P.9.1, SC.7.P.11.2, and SC.7.P.11.3.
SC.912.E.7.1 Analyze the movement of matter and energy through the different biogeochemical cycles, including water and carbon.
- Test Item #: Sample Item 1
- Question:
A team of ecologists observed feeding patterns of several populations in the desert. The energy pyramid shown below depicts the feeding patterns the ecologists observed.
Which of the following best explains the difference in the amount of available energy in the trophic levels of the desert ecosystem?
- Difficulty: N/A
- Type: MC: Multiple Choice
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Tutorials
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Original Student Tutorials Science - Grades 9-12
Explore species interdependence focusing on roles played by periphyton in the Everglades ecosystem with this interactive tutorial.
Learn how living organisms can be organized into food webs and how energy is transferred through a food web from producers to consumers to decomposers. This interactive tutorial also includes interactive knowledge checks.
Student Resources
Original Student Tutorials
Learn how living organisms can be organized into food webs and how energy is transferred through a food web from producers to consumers to decomposers. This interactive tutorial also includes interactive knowledge checks.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Explore species interdependence focusing on roles played by periphyton in the Everglades ecosystem with this interactive tutorial.
Type: Original Student Tutorial
Tutorials
When you picture the lowest levels of the food chain, you might imagine herbivores happily munching on lush, living green plants. But this idyllic image leaves out a huge (and slightly less appetizing) source of nourishment: dead stuff. John C. Moore details the "brown food chain," explaining how such unlikely delicacies as pond scum and animal feces contribute enormous amounts of energy to our ecosystems.
Type: Tutorial
This short video opens up the oceans' microscopic ecosystem, revealing its beauty and complexity. Footage from the Plankton Chronicles Project is used to create a video designed to ignite wonder and curiosity about this hidden world that underpins our own food chain.
Type: Tutorial
