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Subject Area - 4:
Environment and Ecology
  • Standard Area - 4.1: Ecology
  • Grade Level - 4.1.4: GRADE 4
Standard - 4.1.4.A

Explain how living things are dependent upon other living and nonliving things for survival. 

  • Explain what happens to an organism when its food supply, access to water, shelter or space (niche / habitat) is changed.
  • Identify similarities and differences between living organisms, ranging from single-celled to multi-cellular organisms through the use of microscopes, video, and other media.

Eligible Content:
23 Total
Assessments
Materials & Resources
  • Assessment Anchor - BIO.A.1

    Basic Biological Principles
    • Anchor Descriptor - BIO.A.1.1

      Explain the characteristics common to all organisms.
      • Eligible Content - BIO.A.1.1.1 Describe the characteristics of life shared by all prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms.
    • Anchor Descriptor - BIO.A.1.2

      Describe relationships between structure and function at biological levels of organization.
      • Eligible Content - BIO.A.1.2.1

        Compare cellular structures and their functions in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
      • Eligible Content - BIO.A.1.2.2 Describe and interpret relationships between structure and function at various levels of biological organization (i.e., organelles, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and multicellular organisms).
  • Assessment Anchor - BIO.B.4

    Ecology
    • Anchor Descriptor - BIO.B.4.1

      Describe ecological levels of organization in the biosphere.
      • Eligible Content - BIO.B.4.1.1 Describe the levels of ecological organization (i.e., organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere).
      • Eligible Content - BIO.B.4.1.2 Describe characteristic biotic and abiotic components of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
    • Anchor Descriptor - BIO.B.4.2

      Describe interactions and relationships in an ecosystem.
      • Eligible Content - BIO.B.4.2.1 Describe how energy flows through an ecosystem (e.g., food chains, food webs, energy pyramids).
      • Eligible Content - BIO.B.4.2.2 Describe biotic interactions in an ecosystem (e.g., competition, predation, symbiosis).
      • Eligible Content - BIO.B.4.2.3 Describe how matter recycles through an ecosystem (i.e., water cycle, carbon cycle, oxygen cycle, nitrogen cycle).
      • Eligible Content - BIO.B.4.2.4 Describe how ecosystems change in response to natural and human disturbances (e.g., climate changes, introduction of nonnative species, pollution, fires).
      • Eligible Content - BIO.B.4.2.5 Describe the effects of limiting factors on population dynamics and potential species extinction.
  • Assessment Anchor - S4.A.3

    Systems, Models, and Patterns
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.A.3.1 Identify systems and describe relationships among parts of a familiar system (e.g., digestive system, simple machines, water cycle).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.1.1 Categorize systems as either natural or human-made (e.g., ballpoint pens, simple electrical circuits, plant anatomy, water cycle).
        • Alternate Eligible Content - S4.A.3.1.1a Identify whether a system is natural or human-made (e.g., plants vs. electrical systems).
          Alternate Eligible Content is designed for students assessed using the PA Alternate System of Assessment (PASA). Essentialized Example resources assist teachers in designing instruction that reduces content complexity while maintaining alignment to academic standards.
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.1.2 Explain a relationship between the living and nonliving components in a system (e.g., food web, terrarium).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.1.3 Categorize the parts of an ecosystem as either living or nonliving and describe their roles in the system.
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.1.4 Identify the parts of the food and fiber systems as they relate to agricultural products from the source to the consumer.
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.A.3.2 Use models to illustrate simple concepts and compare the models to what they represent.
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.2.1 Identify what different models represent (e.g., maps show physical features, directions, distances; globes represent Earth; drawings of watersheds depict terrain; dioramas show ecosystems; concept maps show relationships of ideas).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.2.2 Use models to make observations to explain how systems work (e.g., water cycle, Sun-Earth-Moon system).
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.2.3 Use appropriate, simple modeling tools and techniques to describe or illustrate a system (e.g., two cans and string to model a communications system, terrarium to model an ecosystem).
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.A.3.3 Identify and make observations about patterns that regularly occur and reoccur in nature
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.3.1 Identify and describe observable patterns (e.g., growth patterns in plants, weather, water cycle).
        • Alternate Eligible Content - S4.A.3.3.1a Identify patterns, cycles or trends seen in nature (e.g., seasonal, day/night, life cycles).
          Alternate Eligible Content is designed for students assessed using the PA Alternate System of Assessment (PASA). Essentialized Example resources assist teachers in designing instruction that reduces content complexity while maintaining alignment to academic standards.
      • Eligible Content - S4.A.3.3.2 Predict future conditions/events based on observable patterns (e.g., day/night, seasons, sunrise/sunset, lunar phases).
  • Assessment Anchor - S4.B.1

    Structure and Function of Organisms
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.B.1.1 Identify and describe similarities and differences between living things and their life processes.
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.1.1.1 Identify life processes of living things (e.g., growth, digestion, respiration).
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.1.1.2 Compare similar functions of external characteristics of organisms (e.g., anatomical characteristics: appendages, type of covering, body segments).
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.1.1.3 Describe basic needs of plants and animals (e.g., air, water, food).
        • Alternate Eligible Content - S4.B.1.1.3a Identify basic needs of plants or animals (limited to air, water, nutrients, sun, and shelter).
          Alternate Eligible Content is designed for students assessed using the PA Alternate System of Assessment (PASA). Essentialized Example resources assist teachers in designing instruction that reduces content complexity while maintaining alignment to academic standards.
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.1.1.4 Describe how different parts of a living thing work together to provide what the organism needs (e.g., parts of plants: roots, stems, leaves).
        • Alternate Eligible Content - S4.B.1.1.4a Identify how parts of plants or animals work together to meet basic needs (e.g., roots and leaves or appendages and coverings).
          Alternate Eligible Content is designed for students assessed using the PA Alternate System of Assessment (PASA). Essentialized Example resources assist teachers in designing instruction that reduces content complexity while maintaining alignment to academic standards.
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.1.1.5 Describe the life cycles of different organisms (e.g., moth, grasshopper, frog, seed-producing plant).
        • Alternate Eligible Content - S4.B.1.1.5a Recognize the stages of development of an organism (limited to butterfly, ladybug, frog, grasshopper, and seed-producing plant).
          Alternate Eligible Content is designed for students assessed using the PA Alternate System of Assessment (PASA). Essentialized Example resources assist teachers in designing instruction that reduces content complexity while maintaining alignment to academic standards.
  • Assessment Anchor - S4.B.3

    Ecological Behavior and Systems
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.B.3.1 Identify and describe living and nonliving things in the environment and their interaction.
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.1.1 Describe the living and nonliving components of a local ecosystem (e.g., lentic and lotic systems, forest, cornfield, grasslands, city park, playground).
        • Alternate Eligible Content - S4.B.3.1.1a Categorize the parts of an ecosystem as either living or non-living (e.g., forest, city, park).
          Alternate Eligible Content is designed for students assessed using the PA Alternate System of Assessment (PASA). Essentialized Example resources assist teachers in designing instruction that reduces content complexity while maintaining alignment to academic standards.
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.1.2 Describe interactions between living and nonliving components (e.g. plants – water, soil, sunlight, carbon dioxide, temperature; animals – food, water, shelter, oxygen, temperature) of a local ecosystem.
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.B.3.2 Describe, explain, and predict change in natural or human-made systems and the possible effects of those changes on the environment.
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.2.1 Describe what happens to a living thing when its habitat is changed.
        Assessments
        Continuum of Activities
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.2.2 Describe and predict how changes in the environment (e.g., fire, pollution, flood, building dams) can affect systems.
        Assessments
        Continuum of Activities
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.2.3 Explain and predict how changes in seasons affect plants, animals, or daily human life (e.g., food availability, shelter, mobility).
        Assessments
        Continuum of Activities
        • Alternate Eligible Content - S4.B.3.2.3.a Identify how seasons affect trees or animals (e.g., temperature, migration, hibernation).
          Alternate Eligible Content is designed for students assessed using the PA Alternate System of Assessment (PASA). Essentialized Example resources assist teachers in designing instruction that reduces content complexity while maintaining alignment to academic standards.
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.B.3.3 Identify and describe human reliance on the environment at the individual or the community level.
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.3.1 Identify everyday human activities (e.g., driving, washing, eating, manufacturing, farming) within a community that depend on the natural environment.
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.3.2 Describe the human dependence on the food and fiber systems from production to consumption (e.g., food, clothing, shelter, products).
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.3.3 Identify biological pests (e.g., fungi – molds, plants – foxtail, purple loosestrife, Eurasian water milfoil; animals – aphides, ticks, zebra mussels, starlings, mice) that compete with humans for resources.
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.3.4 Identify major land uses in the urban, suburban and rural communities (e.g., housing, commercial, recreation).
      • Eligible Content - S4.B.3.3.5 Describe the effects of pollution (e.g., litter) in the community.
        • Alternate Eligible Content - S4.B.3.3.5a Identify the impact of one type of pollution on a community.
          Alternate Eligible Content is designed for students assessed using the PA Alternate System of Assessment (PASA). Essentialized Example resources assist teachers in designing instruction that reduces content complexity while maintaining alignment to academic standards.
  • Assessment Anchor - S4.C.2

    Forms, Sources, Conversion, and Transfer of Energy
    • Anchor Descriptor - S4.C.2.1 Recognize basic energy types and sources, or describe how energy can be changed from one form to another.
      • Eligible Content - S4.C.2.1.1 Identify energy forms, energy transfer, and energy examples (e.g., light, heat, electrical).
      • Eligible Content - S4.C.2.1.2 Describe the flow of energy through an object or system (e.g., feeling radiant heat from a light bulb, eating food to get energy, using a battery to light a bulb or run a fan).
      • Eligible Content - S4.C.2.1.3 Recognize or illustrate simple direct current series and parallel circuits composed of batteries, light bulbs (or other common loads), wire, and on/off switches.
      • Eligible Content - S4.C.2.1.4 Identify characteristics of sound (e.g., pitch, loudness, reflection).
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